Elizabeth – The premiere of the new production of Massenet’s Werther at the Metropolitan Opera was a bit of a star studded event. Tim Robbins, Christine Baranski and many opera fans were decked out in their finest. It was rather refreshing, after weeks of polar vortex hell and everyone tossing on Hunter boots or Uggs for the opera, to see everyone so dressed up. Walking around pre-show and feeling the excited energy got me pumped for the new production. And of course, knowing I’d get to see Jonas Kaufmann again was exciting after seeing his terrific performance in Parsifallast year.
And he did not disappoint. Jonas Kaufmann has a gorgeous voice, though people in the audience started applauding as soon as he appeared onstage, before he had even opened his mouth. He has quite the fan club. Oddly I could understand Kaufmann’s French better than the French soprano, Sophie Koch, playing the object of Werther’s affection, Charlotte. Kaufmann convincingly conveyed the self-absorbed narcissist I found Werther to be.
Sophie Koch has a rich voice. At times it was warbly and that may account for some of the lack of diction, or perhaps because she’s French she wasn’t over-enunciating her words but I couldn’t understand her French. She didn’t have much chemistry with Kaufmann and appeared a bit stiff. That said, she was good and I can imagine that she was a little nervous, especially given it was the premiere of Werther and her debut at the Met.
Lisette Oropesa, as Charlotte’s little sister Sophie was terrific. I love her warm voice. And her acting is great too. I enjoyed her sarcasm and eye rolling when she asks “Oh why the sad look, Werther?” as Werther looking pained, watches Charlotte from afar. I have seen her many times at the Met and enjoyed her in every single performance. Richard Eyre’s production itself was fine. There was essentially a prologue added to the opera spelling out that Charlotte and Sophie’s mother had died. It felt like Werther for Dummies. The audience understands from the songs and other references in the first act that the mother has died. The singing of Christmas carols behind a scrim seemed a bit like overkill. The set and costumes by Rob Howell were effective. The first act had a giant tree with swing hanging from it poking through slightly askew beams. The beams frame the stage and their misalignment threw off my visual depth perception. Everything appeared off kilter, I assume purposefully.
Later the box within a box staging for Werther’s apartment seemed apropos. It showed how much Werther has shrunk his world as he obsessed over Charlotte. I think Goethe, in his story of the Sorrows of Young Werther upon which this opera is based, imagined his readers feeling badly for Werther and Charlotte. In the end though, I think Charlotte lucked out by getting the narcissistic jerk out of her life.
Massenet’s music was beautiful and well timed with specific actions like the gunshot and the conclusion. Kudos to the conductor, Alain Altinoglu.
Shawn – Although I had never seen nor heard Werther, I approached this opening with great excitement due to Jonas Kaufmann as the lead. Last year’s Parsifal was easily one of my favorite shows of the Met season.
I anticipated and looked forward to great specificity and insight in Kaufmann’s acting. I’m unsure exactly why I expected this, perhaps off the strength of his Parsifal performance alone, but regardless I watched long sections of Kaufmann’s every move through our binoculars so as not to miss a single specific and insightful moment. (Yes I am that creepy guy overusing the binoculars.)
But aside from a few choice acting moments, Kaufmann was not all that specific acting-wise. A lot of generalized brooding and suffering generally demonstrated by head in hands and fingers rending hair. But his voice sure carries the day. It is especially perfect for this part. Dark, smoky, sexy, sultry. And a ringing, piercing top, holy cow. Just set him on the stage and let him sing and I am enrapt. With or without the binoculars.
I found less excitement in the principal duets, however, as the chemistry between Kaufmann and Sophie Koch, in her debut as Charlotte, was far less than it needs to be to sell this story. Koch fell a little flat for me over all. Her performance seemed ill focused, and she lacked the piercing power of Kaufmann’s top to save her. Without believable chemistry between Werther and Charlotte the story of Werther becomes absurd and off-puttingly self absorbed, which at its best it risks being anyway. (Spoiler Alert: Werther is a jerk and an infant. Even Goethe thought so in later life and he made him up. I used to use variations of Werther’s same pick up lines when I was 16. AND drunk, incidentally. Yuck.)
Lisette Oropesa as Sophie I believed absolutely, however. I have seen her many times at the Met and have loved her every time. She was so good in Werther, or perhaps the chemistry between Koch and Kaufmann so weak (or most likely both), that it reweighted the narrative for me. I believed Sophie loved Werther, which lent much needed weight and believability to Charlotte’s affections for him. Thus was the strength of Oropesa’s performance. A kind of emotionally authority by proxy was going on.
Enjoying both Kaufmann and Oropesa so much reminded me that in this current period of opera having TWO great performances in a single show is so rare as to be mind-boggling. I can’t imagine my reaction to there being THREE great performances in a single show, which was the basic standard of my childhood years. Kind of sad, really. I’m unsure if that is a comment on the state of singers today, or management, but I’m sure a great many people have a great many opinions on that they’d love to share with everyone in the universe.
Richard Eyre’s production and Rob Howell’s sets were okay I guess. I have nothing to compare them to, this being my first Werther. But I will say that while I have no problem in principal with staging overtures (I think it works in the Met’s current Carmen also by Eyre) I would liked to have seen how Werther played if the backstory was revealed as intended. Not spoon-fed to us through pantomime during the overture.
Alain Altinoglu, whom we heard conduct Otello last year, navigated the lovely though mostly unfamiliar to me score with great sweep and precision.
– Elizabeth Frayer and Shawn E Milnes
Photos Courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera Facebook page and Ken Howard
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