Massenet Werther

Forbidden love wrongdoings and anguish the Opernhaus Zürich ventures into late nineteenthcentury French romanticism with Werther by Jules Massenet A loose adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethes epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther the opera is conducted by Germanys Cornelius Meister It tells the story of the impossible union of poet Werther to Charlotte a woman of duty already promised to a wealthy businessman Goethes drama is echoed in Massenets score by emotionally wideranging vocal parts written on a grand scale Juan Diego Flórez is undisputedly one of the best belcanto tenors of our times and embodies a tortured and nuanced Werther Its not a profane appearance of any singer it is an epiphany gushes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in a rave review At Flórezs side FrancoBritish mezzosoprano Anna Stéphany sang her role début as Charlotte The oneroom staging by Tatjana Gürbaca cleverly makes the social stranglehold of oppression tangible