Lyrical drama by JULES MASSENET | semi-concert performance
Text by ÉDOUARD BLAU, PAUL MILLIET and GEORGES HARTMANN
based on the epistolary novel by JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE
in French with surtitles
Werther meets Charlotte and immediately falls in deep, rapturous love with her. Charlotte, however, is torn between her feelings for Werther and the vow to marry Albert, which she made to her mother on her deathbed. Werther cannot free himself from his emotional entanglement and sees suicide as the only way out.
Inspired by Goethe’s epistolary novel, Jules Massenet composed one of the most popular operas in the French repertoire, which only became popular in Germany at a late stage out of reverence for the great poet. Massenet’s score traces the tragic emotional drama in both tender lyricism and passionate outbursts. The great power of the melodies in particular immediately captivates the audience emotionally. »Werther« was composed immediately after Massenet’s other worldwide success ‘Manon’ between 1884 and 1886, but was not premiered in Vienna until 1892. The opera was subsequently celebrated in French opera houses like only Bizet’s »Carmen« or Gounod’s »Faust«.
From age 14
