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This article is about the opera by Massenet. For other uses, see .
Werther is an
(drame lyrique) in four acts by
to a French
(who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on the German
by , which was based both on fact and on Goethe's own early life. Earlier examples of operas using the story were made by
(1792) and
poster for 1893 French premiere of Werther
Massenet started composing Werther in 1885, completing it in 1887. He submitted it to , the director of the Paris , that year, but Carvalho declined to accept it on the grounds that the scenario was too serious. With the disruption of the fire at the Opéra-Comique and Massenet's work on other operatic projects (especially ), it was put to one side, until the Vienna Opera, pleased with the success of , asked the composer for a new work. Werther received its premiere on 16 February 1892 (in a German version translated by Max Kalbeck) at the Imperial Theatre
The French-language premiere followed in
on 27 December 1892. The first performance in France was given by the Opéra-Comique at the
on the Place du Ch?telet in Paris on 16 January 1893, with
as Charlotte and Guillaume Ibos in the title role, conducted by , but was not immediately successful.
Werther entered the repertoire at the Opéra-Comique in 1903 in a production supervised by , and over the next half-century the opera was performed over 1,100 times there, Léon Beyle becoming a distinguished interpreter of Werther.
premiere with the
took place in
on 29 March 1894 and then in the company's main house in
three weeks later. The UK premiere was a one-off performance at , London, on 11 June 1894 with
as Charlotte,
as Sophie, and
in the title role.
Werther is still regularly performed around the world and has been recorded many times. Although the role of Werther was written for a , Massenet adjusted it for a , when
sang it in
in 1902. It is very occasionally performed in this version, in which the changes affect only the vocal line for the title character. There are no other changes to the words, to the lines for other characters, or to the orchestration.
Voice type
Premiere Cast, 16 February 1892
(Conductor: )
Charlotte, aged 20
Sophie, her sister, aged 15
Werther, a young poet, aged 23
Albert, betrothed to C aged 25
Franz Neidl
Le Bailli, Charlotte' aged 50
Karl Mayerhofer
Schmidt, a friend of the Bailli
Anton Schlittenhelm
Johann, a friend of the Bailli
Benedikt Felix
Brühlmann, a young man
August Stoll
K?thchen, Brühlmann's fiancée of seven years
mezzo-soprano
Emma Karlona
Children of the Bailli – Fritz, Max, Hans, Karl, Gretel, Clara
children's voices
Inhabitants of Wetzlar, guests, off-stage women’s and children’s voices
(2nd doubling ), 2
(doubling ), 2
in , , 2 , 4
(doubling ), 3 , , ,
(1) (, ), , .
Time: Within the period July to December, in an undefined year in the 1780s.
in Germany.
as Charlotte in 1907
In July, the widowed Bailiff (a Magistrate, rather than one who comes to seize property), is teaching his six youngest children a Christmas carol ("No?l! Jésus vient de na?tre"). His drinking companions, Johann and Schmidt, arrive as Charlotte, the eldest daughter, dresses for a ball. Since her fiancé Albert is away, she is to be escorted by Werther, whom the Bailiff and his companions find gloomy. Werther arrives ("O Nature, pleine de gr?ce"), and watches as Charlotte prepares her young siblings' supper, just as her mother had before she died. He greets her and they leave for the ball. Albert returns unexpectedly after a six-month trip. He is unsure of Charlotte's intentions and disappointed not to find her at home, but is reassured and consoled by Charlotte's younger sister Sophie. He leaves after promising to return in the morning. After an orchestral interlude, Werther and Charlo he is already enamoured of her. His declaration of love is interrupted by the announcement of Albert's return. Charlotte recalls how she promised her dying mother she would marry Albert. Werther is in despair.
It is three months later, and Charlotte and Albert are now married. They walk happily to church to celebrate the minister's 50th wedding anniversary, followed by the disconsolate Werther ("Un autre est son époux!"). First Albert and then Sophie ("Du gai soleil, plein de flamme") try to cheer him up. When Charlotte exits the church, he speaks to her of their first meeting. Charlotte begs Werther to leave her, though she indicates that she would be willing to receive him again on Christmas Day. Werther contemplates suicide ("Lorsque l'enfant revient d'un voyage"). He encounters Sophie but the tearful girl does not understand his distressing behavior. Albert now realizes that Werther loves Charlotte.
Sung by Charlotte in Act III. Sung by Jeanette Ekornaasvaag.
Problems playing this file? See .
Charlotte is at home alone on Christmas Eve. She spends time rereading the letters that she has received from Werther ("Werther! Qui m'aurait dit ... Ces lettres!"), wondering how the young poet is and how she had the strength to send him away. Sophie comes in and tries to cheer up her older sister ("Ah! le rire est béni"), though Charlotte is not to be consoled ("Va! laisse couler mes larmes"). Suddenly Werther appears, and while he reads to her some poetry of
("Pourquoi me réveiller?"), he realizes that she does indeed return his love. They embrace for a moment, but she quickly bids him farewell. He leaves with thoughts of suicide. Albert returns home to find his wife distraught. Werther sends a messenger to Albert, requesting to borrow his pistols, explaining he is going on an extended trip. After the servant has taken them, Charlotte has a terrible premonition and hurries to find Werther. An orchestral intermezzo ("La nuit de No?l") leads without a break into the final Act.
"The death of Werther": At Werther's apartment, Charlotte has arrived too late to stop him f he is dying. She consoles him by declaring her love. He asks for forgiveness. After he dies, Charlotte faints. Outside children are heard singing the Christmas carol.
Werther: "O Nature, pleine de gr?ce"
Werther: "Un autre est son époux!"
Sophie: "Du gai soleil, plein de flamme"
Werther: "Lorsque l'enfant revient d'un voyage"
Charlotte: "Werther! Qui m'aurait dit /Ces lettres!" (Letter Scene)
Charlotte: "Va! laisse couler mes larmes"
Werther: "Pourquoi me réveiller?"
A well-regarded recording of the complete opera was made in January 1931 by French Columbia with a French cast and the orchestra and chorus of the Opéra-Comique under the direction of . Henry Fogel of
magazine, writing in 1992, counted 14 complete recordings and considered it the finest of the lot. His colleague, James Camner, reviewing the Opera d'Oro reissue in 2003, called it "one of the treasures of recorded opera. ... Unfortunately, the transfer is over filtered. The high frequencies are lost, giving the performance an unwarranted flatness. Happily, Naxos offers the same recording expertly transferred by Ward Marston, and acquiring it is a must." , while giving a very positive review of the reissue of the recording with Albert Lance as Werther and
as Charlotte in 2004, nevertheless pointed out that "neither quite has the ideal subtlety of the best Massenet singers, such as Vallin and Thill on the classic, pre-war set, now on Naxos".
In addition, many of the greatest French and Italian singers of the past century or more have recorded individual arias from Massenet's masterwork.
(Charlotte,
Conductor,
Opera House and Orchestra
Originally French Columbia
Audio CD: Naxos 8.,
Opera d'Oro OPD 1366
Vittoria Neviani,
Marcello Cortis
Coro di Voci Bianchi, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino
Audio CD: Warner-Fonit
Originally /Urania
Audio CD: Andromeda
Cat: ANDRCD 5073
Giuliana Tavolaccini,
Mario Borriello
Coro di Teatro Verdi di Trieste Orchestra e Coro
Audio CD: Opera d'Oro
In Italian
CD: Accord
Cat: 472 917-2
Cat: 562 6272
Cat: 7 49610-2
Cat: 477 5652-1
Orchestra of the , Covent Garden
Cat: 416 654-2
Magdéna Hajossyová (vocals),
Hans Helm (vocals)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Chorus of the Bambini di Praga
(Television film directed by Petr Weigl)
CD (soundtrack):
: Amadeo PHLK 7503
DVD: Image Entertainment
Cat: EMI 81849
Ileana Tonca,
(Video of a performance in March)
Cat: DVWW-OPWER
(baritone),
Stéphane Degout
(Video of a concert performance on 29 April)
Sophie Koch,
Anne-Catherine Gillet,
Ludovic Tézier
Michel Plasson
Sophie Koch,
Eri Nakamura,
Audun Iversen
Orchestra of the
. Werther. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954
Wolff, Stéphane. Un demi-siècle d'Opéra-Comique (). André Bonne, Paris, 1953.
accessed 5 September 2014.
Fogel, Henry (September/October 1992). Review of the recording with Georges Thill as Werther (EMI CHS 7 63195 2). . Accessed November 16, 2010. Subscription required.
Camner, James (July/August 2003). Review of the recording with Georges Thill as Werther (OPERA D’ORO OD 1366). . Accessed November 16, 2010. Subscription required.
Blyth, Alan (March 2004). "Werther's Return". . Accessed November 16, 2010.
Performance, both conductor and singers, are reviewed quite favorably by Matthew Gurewitsch in
(February 2011, p. 66). He has strong reservations about the production and the video direction, however.
Upton, G Borowski, Felix (1928). The Standard Opera Guide. Blue Ribbon Books, N.Y. pp. 187–8.
Kobbé, Gustav (1976). . New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 864–9.
Huebner, Steven (2006). . Oxford Univ. Press, US. pp. 113–34.  .
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