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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lively modern production of Werther, 27 Mar 2006
This production is not as magical as the beautiful Manon staged by the Paris Opera, first of all because the opera itself is a weaker piece but also because of a somewhat unconventional staging.Marcelo Alvarez, as good as ever, stands out as an emotional Werther. His performance is the kind that haunts you long after the opera has ended. His timbre is less radiant than when he sings de Grieux but this may be simply because the score is written for a slightly lower tessitura. Elina Garanca, as excellent as she may be, is not as eerie and fascinating as Renée Fleming. She is an excellent actress though and thanks to her playful singing achieves overall a totally convincing performance (the famous "air des lettres" is particularly stunning). Adrian Eröd portrays Albert convincingly, evolving from a self-confident conqueror to a tortured soul. His voice is excellent all along, as is his French diction. Finally, Ileana Tonca does a wonderful job as Sophie, thanks to a voice of light soprano who carachterizes perfectly the role. The music direction under Philippe Jordan is colourful and subtle, especially in the 2 last acts where Alvarez is also at his best. The staging situates the story in the 1950s, using typical furniture of this period (including a TV) as if to show that the situation is a very conventional family situation rather than the exquisitely sophisticated drama depicting Goethe's 18th century. This choice is sometimes awkward and tends to reduce the characters to simplistic caricatures: the housewife, the boring chauvinist husband, the passionate lover bringing something exotic in an otherwise ordinary life and the little sister evolving from a naive girl to a sassy confident. At its best, the piece evokes Todd Haynes's movie "Far from Heaven" with Julianne Moore (think of the housewife...) ; at its worst, it is slightly reminiscent of a sitcom. The opera suffers slightly from this approach as it robs the music of its excitement and dulls its lyrical outbursts but the acting and the theatre benefit from it in that it makes the situation more vivd and credible to modern audiences. Despite the questionable staging, this production is by no means what opera reviewers sometimes like to describe as "eurotrash". It is well sung and interesting all along. Therefore, if you need to buy only one Massenet, prefer the flawless Manon with Fleming and Alvarez but if you can afford two, you can't go wrong with this Werther: you may be intrigued or amused, but you won't be disappointed assuming you keep an open mind. Technically, picture (16:9) and sound are perfect.
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