Werther

By Jules Massenet
Grand Theatre of Geneva, Grand Theatre Chorus
Jean-Claude Casadesus, conductor
Performers listed below

Why would an opera about a despressed and desperate young man who eventually commits suicide begin with a Christmas carol? With bubbly children, singing a Christmas carol, in July? Well, some say that for people who are depressed, the holidays are the saddest time of year. In this opera, that’s an understatement. The unusual beginning of the drama serves notice that the “hero” we’re about to meet is so unhappy that, for him, even Christmas in July is no picnic.

The opera begins in summer, and the unfortunate protagonist is already a gloomy guy. By the time Christmas really does come around, he’s at the end of his rope, so to speak. The drama was written by Jules Massenet, a composer who reveled in bold strokes of musical and theatrical irony. So maybe by starting things off with caroling in July, Massenet was simply telling us that, for Werther, the title character of this week's opera, every season is the saddest time of year.

Massenet's Werther is a classic example of art that may help foster the strange notion that suicide, especially in the name of love, is somehow a “Romantic” thing to do. If you think about it, that truly is a strange notion. It’s hard to believe that the moment someone takes his or her own life, the act could possibly seem Romantic. The result is hardly Romantic either, especially for loved ones left behind.

Yet, this idea of Romantic suicide has been around for a long time - and Massenet’s Werther, along with the book that inspired it, prove that. The opera, completed in 1887, was inspired by a Goethe novel from 1774. The book was in turn inspired by actual events: the suicide of a young man who was in love with a married woman. Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther consists mainly of letters from the title character to his beloved. Obviously, the opera’s libretto had to go well beyond that. But, while it does flesh out the rest of the drama’s pivotal characters, the opera remains Werther’s story; we know right from its falsely cheerful beginning that it can hardly have a happy ending.

But don't worry. Knowing how it ends won't make the opera any less enjoyable for you. You'll still come away depressed! Of course we also hope you'll be moved by this production from the Grand Theatre of Geneva, on NPR WORLD OF OPERA, with Steve Curwood.



Performers:
Marcus Haddock (Werther); Beatrice Uria-Monzon (Charlotte); Brigitte Fournier (Sophie); Jacqueline Laurin (Kathchen); Gilles Cachemaille (Albert)


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