Swept Away: “Werther” at the Met

I spent the afternoon sitting in the Carib Cinema weeping blissfully. At one point in the final act of Massenet’s “Werther,” I had the urge to throw myself down in the aisle and sob loudly. I am not sure if the small but devoted Jamaican audience would have approved – but some might perhaps have joined me.

Werther reminds Charlotte of his literary inspiration – the writings of a legendary Gaelic poet called Ossian –  singing “Tout mon ame est la!” (All of my soul is there). His emotional aria “Pourquoi me reveiller” nearly brought the house down at today’s performance.

The brief, candlelit ball scene in this production of “Werther”- not a part of the original libretto, but done with great delicacy.

We were watching another in the series of Metropolitan Opera of New York’s live broadcasts, which are seen in some sixty countries around the world. There are just three left in the current series. There is little variety in musical offerings in Kingston – there is a dearth of classical music of any kind, and even anything approaching jazz seems to have died a death. So we are grateful, and lucky, and thank our local Palace Amusement Company for making it all possible.

The beautiful Werther, sung by Jonas Kaufmann. As you can see here, the sets depicting the changing seasons in the earlier part of the opera made very effective use of video. Crows  flew to their perches in wintry trees, burnt-orange leaves fell; and here was the dappled green of springtime on a country estate.

Very grateful, indeed, for the  extraordinarily beautiful performances in the nineteenth-century French composer’s opera “Werther.”  This transported me back to my high school days, when I studied German for Advanced Level and was obsessed by the music, literature and art of the European fin de siècle. The heightened emotions, the melancholia, the world-weariness, the love of nature and beauty. As a teenager I just lapped it all up.

A young Goethe, painted in 1787 by Angelika Kauffmann. By the way, there was a 2011 film, “Young Goethe in Love.” Please try to avoid it…

I was very fond of the German poet, writer, lawyer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was actually pre-turn of the century, but working up to that same spirit of the times. At the age of 25 Goethe was already a superstar, with the 1775 publication of his first novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” on which the opera is loosely based. The vaguely autobiographical work (it is a “love triangle” of sorts)  was a huge European hit. And yes, Goethe himself fell in love a great deal, as you might expect. “Sorrows” is a classic example of the “Sturm und Drang” artistic movement of the time. It’s really hard to translate; but basically this was all about the individual and the vehement expression of one’s emotions, in response to the cool rationalism of the Enlightenment period (OK, it’s more complex than that, but in the interests of time and space…) In short, Sturm und Drang was a kind of eighteenth century punk rock movement (without the spitting).

Jonas Kaufmann in this production of “Werther.” (Photo: Brigitte Lacombe/Metropolitan Opera)

Well, let us look at this fictional poet Werther, in the handsome person of Jonas Kaufmann, the German tenor. Both Kaufmann and Sophie Koch, a wonderful French mezzo soprano who played Charlotte, have sung these roles together several times before, and it showed. There was nothing stilted about their acting; and as Charlotte sang, “Que ton âme en mon âme éperdument se fonde!” (“Let your soul and my soul merge desperately!”) their performances really did blend together effortlessly. (By the way, Werther was bleeding pretty badly at this point).

Charlotte (Sophie Koch) with Werther in the final scene.

The New York Times recently described Kaufmann as “currently the most in-demand, versatile and exciting tenor in opera.”  Well, he’s in demand with me, all right. I would run a hundred miles and cross many seas to see and hear him perform again. His voice has been described as having “dark” tones. In the final act, his soft notes were as exquisite as his earlier passionate ones. And he is simply quite beautiful (see: http://www.jonaskaufmann.com/en/) I am quite tempted to go and see the encore performance, which will take place in Kingston at the Cineplex Cinema and in Montego Bay at the Multiplex on Sunday, March 23 at 11:30 a.m. 

The art direction included frames (sometimes asymmetrical and tilted) to create more intimate settings on the huge stage. Here in the final act, Charlotte gets ready to go and find Werther, who is already rather ominously contemplating a box of pistols in his room. This is a piercing moment when she stands outside in the darkness, fearful for Werther, while he moves about his room.

You get the feeling that poor Werther is ready to end his own life from the beginning of this story. He is as much wrapped up in himself as he is in Charlotte. As Jonas Kaufmann himself jokingly said during an interview, you keep wanting to tell him, “Get over it… Give us a break.” 

But that wasn’t the way of the Romantics. They wanted to keep that candle burning. As well they should.

An image of the first edition of “Die Leiden des jungen Werthers” (The Sorrows of Young Werther) by Goethe. Actually “Leiden” means more than sorrows. It means suffering.