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Classical Voice North America, February 20, 2014 |
By George Loomis |
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Massenet: Werther, Metropolitan Opera, 18. Februar 2014 |
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Met’s New Werther Strikingly Updated, Splendidly Sung
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NEW YORK – Ever since its 1971 production with Christa Ludwig and Franco
Corelli, Werther has been the most frequently performed Massenet opera at
the Metropolitan Opera. But, as with any production, familiarity brings the
need for renewal, and so on Feb. 18 the company introduced a new production
which updates the action from the late 18th century to Massenet’s time.
Happily, in Sophie Koch and Jonas Kaufmann, it also has a stellar pair of
singers as the central couple.
The production by Richard Eyre is
likely to engender audience pleasure as well, and in fact it did so on
opening night. With sets and costumes by Rob Howell, interestingly lighted
by Peter Mumford, this new Werther is emphatically not a case of drab
modernism replacing picturesque tradition. Especially striking, and a little
perplexing, are huge rectangular frames, arranged in a kind of skewed
concentric way in Act I. It is hard to know just what they are supposed to
represent, but they undergo striking transformation to represent briefly the
ball that Werther and Charlotte attend on their first (and apparently only)
date, something normally left to the viewer’s imagination. (From the prior
production, you might have thought they just went for a stroll in the
woods.)
Acts I and II make extensive use of projections – Wendall
Harrington is the video director – to suggest the Bailiff’s house and the
natural beauty of its surroundings, as extolled by Werther in his first
aria. Also captured are the autumnal colors of the Act II church scene, with
its linden trees. The indoor scenes of the final two acts, dominated by tall
and imposing library stacks in Albert’s house, largely do away with
projections, as if it were feared that they might detract from the impending
tragedy.
Clearly, the Met administration, encouraged by his
successful Carmen from a few years back, has confidence in Eyre, who will
also direct a new Marriage of Figaro to open the 2014-15 season.
But
anyone expecting a bold, cutting-edge take on Massenet’s operatic tale –
derived from Goethe — of true love thwarted by circumstance will have to
look elsewhere.
Nor does this new account begin promisingly. During
the prelude, a pantomime enacts the death of the mother of Charlotte and her
siblings, as well as her funeral, conveying in the process the family’s
grief. (At some point, Charlotte emits a cry, and accordingly, the program
booklet, which lists characters in order of vocal appearance, mentions her
name first.) Massenet’s operas have enough sentimentality as it is without
this sort of thing.
Otherwise, Eyre’s direction, skillful and to the
point, is free of comparable add-ons, although I could have done with more
creative details. Some moments remain etched in the memory, as when
Charlotte stands frozen at the front of the stage, while her husband,
Albert, prepares to furnish the pistols Werther requested. Werther’s demise
in Charlotte’s loving embrace is especially bloody. And as with Carmen,
which ends with a start when the stage rotates to reveal a dead bull
following Carmen’s own murder, the final moment brings a shock about
Charlotte’s possible fate.
Opinions will differ about the repertoire
that suits Kaufmann best – my predilection is for lyrical Wagner - yet most
of us wouldn’t miss an opportunity to hear him in anything. His Werther is
not particularly French-oriented, but this is one of those roles that
transcend niceties of style because of the powerful emotions in need of
expression. Kaufmann’s dark but clarion tone conveys them thrillingly at
full volume and touchingly at tender moments. There was a bit of awkwardness
in dynamic shifts in his first aria, but the expression of his initial
thoughts about suicide in Act II brings some compelling soft singing, and
his “Pourquoi me réveiller” builds arrestingly from slender tone to full
volume in both verses.
Charlotte was originally to have been sung by
Elīna Garanča, but she withdrew because of pregnancy (her second child, a
girl, was born last month). But there will be no tears shed over her
replacement, Koch, who here makes an important Met debut. Don’t be misled by
her name: she was born in Versailles and is one of today’s finest female
French singers. Her bright, radiant tone and fine diction are a pleasure to
encounter. Her big scene in Act III, beginning with her anguished perusal of
Werther’s letters, develops steadily through the saxophone-accompanied
middle section, with its passionate first cry about giving way to tears
being especially stirring, and on to the vigorous cabaletta-like close,
excitingly sung. Koch is poignant in the final scene, both in recognizing
the error of her fateful marital choice and in bringing comfort to the dying
Werther.
Lisette Oropesa, who most recently sang Nannetta in
Falstaff, is apparently the Met’s current soubrette soprano of choice, and
she chirps merrily as Charlotte’s irrepressible sister Sophie. The Serbian
baritone David Bižić, who makes his Met debut as Albert, sings with an
impressive, richly textured voice, but this is never a character who wins
much audience sympathy. On the other hand, the likable Bailiff is one who
can, and Jonathan Summers sings it well. Philip Cokorinos and Tony Stevenson
portray the tiresome oenophiles, Johann and Schmidt.
Also in the plus
column is the young French conductor Alain Altinoglu. Werther is an opera
about youthful passion, and it seems fitting that its musical direction
should be informed by youth, especially given the enthusiasm and aptitude
for precision Altinoglu brings to the task. He also ensures fine balances
between voices and instruments. This Werther is well worth a visit.
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