Opernhaus Zurich/Meister - Jules Massenet: Werther

Forbidden love, wrongdoings and anguish: the Opernhaus Z�rich ventures into late nineteenth-century French romanticism with Werther by Jules Massenet. A loose adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe�s epistolary novel 'The Sorrows of Young Werther', the opera is conducted by Germany�s Cornelius Meister. It tells the story of the impossible union of poet Werther to Charlotte, a woman of duty already promised to a wealthy businessman. Goethe�s drama is echoed in Massenet�s score by emotionally wide-ranging vocal parts written on a grand scale. Juan Diego Fl�rez is undisputedly one of the best belcanto tenors of our times and embodies a tortured and nuanced Werther. 'It�s not a profane appearance of any singer � it is an epiphany!' gushes the Neue Z�rcher Zeitung in a rave review. At Fl�rez�s side, Franco-British mezzo-soprano Anna St�phany sang her role d�but as Charlotte. The one-room staging by Tatjana G�rbaca cleverly makes the social stranglehold of oppression tangible. Recorded at the Opernhaus Z�rich, April 2017.