Werther

Werther – Jules Massenet

Lyric drama in four acts and five scenes.

Libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann based on the work Die Leiden des jungen Werthers by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Approximate running time: 2 hours 40 minutes

Conformity and the norm of convention will be an impossible prison to overcome, and it will define their destiny in confronting personal tragedy and death as the only way out.

In 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther was published, a novel with autobiographical traits by the then-unknown German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, at the age of 25. It quickly became a milestone in universal literature. It is a work that belongs to the Romantic period and is one of the best examples of the Sturm und Drang movement. An epistolary work that tells the story of Werther, a passionate young man who writes letters to his friend Wilhelm about his obsessive love for Charlotte, who rejects him to marry another man because she promised her dying mother to do so.

The success of the novel, paradoxically, turned into a significant social problem, as in January 1775, a wave of love suicides inspired by the romantic hero began. These cases continued for several years and became a phenomenon that was later extensively studied and spread throughout Europe. Passionate about the intensity of the plot, Massenet began setting it to music in 1885.

Premiered in German at the Wiener Staatsoper in February 1892, the work had a moderate success. It wasn't until the performances in Geneva and Paris in its French version that it became established as one of the composer’s best works.

The role of Werther, due to its vocal difficulty, is often referred to as the "French Tristan"; and for Charlotte, it includes some of the most intense and dramatic pages in the entire repertoire. Xabier Anduaga (in his debut role) and Matthew Polenzani will alternate with the Charlottes of Isabel Leonard and Elina Garanča. These prodigious voices will immerse us in this score, which is nothing more than an intimate confession of contained feelings, inner expressions through a poignant and delicate melodic line and an elegant orchestral backdrop.

This new production, coming from La Scala in Milan and directed by Christof Loy, is centered on the interpersonal mechanisms and psychological aspects of the characters. With an intimate focus on the protagonists, it places them in an elegant and essential set design set in the 1950s, with a large horizontal wall that dominates the stage, enclosing the central characters’ actions and suffocating them in their deepest emotions. This wall divides the world of domestic intimacy, affection, and feelings (the family’s, to which Werther will never be able to enter) from the outside world. The starkness of the space adds an additional symbolic weight to the elements.

Conformity and the norm of convention will be an unbreakable prison, shaping their destiny and confronting them with personal tragedy and death as the only way out. Charlotte will arrive too late. Werther is already dying as she desperately declares her love for him. Outside, children sing of the birth of Jesus. An impressive contrast that will send shivers down your spine.

Program and cast

Werther - Xabier Anduaga | May 4, 7, 10, 14 and 17

Werther - Matthew Polenzani | May 2, 5, 8, 11 and 16 

Albert - David Oller | May 4, 7, 10, 14 and 17

Albert - Carlos Daza | May 2, 5, 8, 11 and 16

The mayor - Carlos Chausson

Schmidt - Josep Fadó

Johann - Javier Franco

Bruhlmann - Cristofol Romaguera

Charlotte - Kristina Stanek | May 4, 7, 10, 14 and 17

Charlotte - Elmina Hasan | May 2, 5, 8, 11 and 16

Sophie - Sofia Esparza | May 4, 7, 10, 14 and 17

Sophie - Leonor Bonilla | May 2, 5, 8, 11 and 16

Kathchen - Anna Tobella

Stage direction - Christof Loy

Revival - Silvia Aurea Di Stefano

Scenography - Johannes Leiacker

Costumes - Robby Duiveman

Lighting - Roland Edrich

Co-production Teatro alla Scala and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

Cor Vivaldi - Little Singers of Catalonia

Pilar Paredes, conductor

Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Conductor: Henrik Nánási