Massenet - Werther

Starring:Massenet
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Opera is almost always about the great love one cannot have. Very few--such as Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites--transcend the intimacy of love and move into a larger, even epic vision. In a sense, forbidden lust and longing is the thing that fuels opera, and it's a perfect metaphor for the fact that very few "can have" and survive being filmed. Zeffirelli's La Traviata may be one of the few that vibrantly--and exquisitely--breathed to life in the midst of death on the big screen. Czech director Petr Weigl has attempted to do the same for Jules Massenet's music for Goethe's novel, Die Leiden Des Jungen Werthers, and the results are decidedly mixed. It's a tragic story about young Werther (Peter Dvorsky) who falls in love at first sight with Charlotte (Brigitte Fassbaender). After Charlotte marries someone else in order to fulfill a promise to her recently deceased mother, Werther refuses to be deterred, and writes copious letters to his heart's desire. She sends him away in order to honor her commitment, and only when he threatens to kill himself does she rush to his side and pour her heart out to her dying beloved. Fassbaender and Dvorsky certainly heave, pose, and yearn but Werther is surprisingly stagnant in its presentation, and the continuous separation and isolation of its lovers makes their plight stillborn and remote and, by ultimately focusing so ardently on interiors and arty shots of trees, fronds, and misty grounds, Werther is deprived of its inherent passion. --Paula Nechak
Description
Jules Massanet's lyrical opera is transformed into a superb film production by Petr Weigl, shot on location in Prague, with music conducted by Libor Pesek. First produced by the Vienna Opera in February 1892, "Werther" rapidly confirmed Massanet's position on the French opera scene and achieved enormous popularity outside France, notably in Italy, America and England. The tragic story tells of Werther's intense passion for Charlotte, who has married his best friend, Albert, fulfilling a pledge to her now deceased mother. But Werther's letters of love bring Charlotte to his side when he promises to take his own life.

Massenet - Werther / Marcelo Alvarez, Elina Garanca, Adrian Erod, Ileana Tonca, Peter Jelosits, Philippe Jordan, Vienna Opera
Average customer rating:

yes it is a disturbing.

Good singing, decent production

Un 'Werther' inteligente

Good singing - questionable production.

Massenet - Werther / Marcelo Alvarez, Elina Garanca, Adrian Erod, Ileana Tonca, Peter Jelosits, Philippe Jordan, Vienna Opera
Starring: Andrei Serban , Alfred Sramek , and Markus Pelz
Manufacturer: Tdk DVD Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BK53N8
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Customer Reviews:

yes it is a disturbing........2007-03-08

And that's what director wanted to achieve I believe. I have never seen any other production of this opera, so I do not suffer any problems to take it along with the music. Singing on the leading parts is great and the rest are fairely good as well. It is disturbing, but I guess that's how it was supposed to be at the time it was written by Goette. That time was way more sencible and inocent, so the turns of director are justified.
As for the bed scene, the wound in this production is not to the head, but
a confused one to the stomach so there's no contradiction.
I had a great time watching this and I will do it again and again.
Sometimes the opera reviews are reminding me of Islamic fundamentalit's
writings. Not to mention, I am a former opera singer with 10 years of carrer. Buy it if you enjoy the fact that the opera is not something left in the past with the THREE TENORS, there's plenty of great singers in this world and Alvarez is definetly one of the best.

Good singing, decent production.......2006-02-23

I agree with the reviewer who calls this a 'questionable' production. The characters were occasionally pushed beyond their character type. For instance, Werther is extremely irritated with Sophie and her happy singing in Act 2, whereas Werther would never be so unkind. And at the beginning of the opera, Sophie and Charlotte seem to be quite annoyed with one another, whereas Charlotte is supposed to be the loving nurturer of all the younger ones in the family. She comes off as neurotic and self-centered, and I'm pretty sure that is not how Massenet intended Charlotte to be protrayed. Also, the fact that Albert seems to be present all during Act 4 is downright weird.

I thought both Alvarez and Garanca followed the direction carefully and for the most part, it did work, even if the director's ideas rubbed a bit against the music. The chemistry between the two of them seemed real and it was easy to suffer along with Werther. His singing was lovely and hers was too. Garanca has a rich, low mezzo. The Sophie sang very well also. The Bailiff and the Albert were acceptable.

There was a strange cut in Act 1: the bit where Sophie encourages her father to keep his promise and go out with Johann and Schmidt - an odd little cut.

One more odd thing - in the last act, Werther and Charlotte don't just kiss - they are actually rolling around in the bed together. That seems a bit weird since the man has a gushing hole in his head.

Since the singing is good, and it's the only commercial live production of the opera we can get so far, complete with nice subtitles, I recommend it buying it, as it is certainly one of the most lovely operas ever written.

Un 'Werther' inteligente.......2006-02-05

En esta producción de 'Werther' grabada en Viena, la parte vocal está bien servida por los estupendos Marcelo Álvarez y Elina Garanca, que demuestran ser además grandes actores, y un equipo de eficientes comprimarios. Buena lectura musical de Philippe Jordan al mando de los cuerpos estables de la ópera de Viena, una vez más, flamantes.
La producción de Andrei Serban, ambientada en los años 20, de hermosa plasticidad, está llena de ideas renovadoras de la obra, aplicadas con gran inteligencia, que demuestran conocimiento profundo de la misma. Esta es una reinterpretación del 'Werther' que conserva la más pura esencia de la obra, y que nadie debería perderse.
Se completa el producto con un interesante documental sobre el baile de gala de apertura de la temporada, con Álvarez y Garanca cantando el dúo de la zarzuela 'El dúo de la Africana'.

Good singing - questionable production........2006-01-18

The old expression "leaves a nasty taste in the mouth" came to mind after my first viewing of this new version of Werther. Serban has a view of Sophie, Albert, and Charlotte that I have not encountered before. Here, Sophie is very in love with Werther and seems to be in heat throughout the proceedings. Albert is well aware from the start of the action of what is here directed as a very tortured and neurotic relationship between Charlotte and Werther. And Charlotte herself is directed as a very unlikeable, peevish and frustrated character. Of course all of this goes right against the music even if it can be justified by a rethinking of the libretto seen in isolation from the music. The settings locate the action in the 1950's and what is now a fairly obvious interpretation of society during this period informs the thinking behind the decisions taken here. While Alvarez sings superbly, he doesn't seem to have gotten into the spirit of the production anywhere near as well as the other 3 leads. I found his performance of the more straightforward Des Grieux opposite Fleming in the Paris Opera dvd of Manon to be more convincing. The Charlotte rises to all her big moments beautifully and has the kind of darker tone I like in this role. The camera direction for this dvd focuses of close ups to a very large degree-great for individual performances.However an enormous amount of detail from a very busy production is totally lost. There are very few proscenium shots that show us the complete stage picture. And it seems to be a very elaborate Vienna production. We are not given any overall shots of what I suspect is a production very beautiful to look at.

Average customer rating:

An unjustly neglected music drama in full force
Dvorsky's Werther
Not Quite Massenet's "Werther"
Hot Romantic Opera
Werther: A Valentine's Day Opera

Massenet - Werther
Starring: Brigitte Fassbinder , and Peter Dvorsky
Director: Petr Weigl
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000JMP9
Release Date: 1999-08-24

Amazon.com

Opera is almost always about the great love one cannot have. Very few--such as Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites--transcend the intimacy of love and move into a larger, even epic vision. In a sense, forbidden lust and longing is the thing that fuels opera, and it's a perfect metaphor for the fact that very few "can have" and survive being filmed. Zeffirelli's La Traviata may be one of the few that vibrantly--and exquisitely--breathed to life in the midst of death on the big screen. Czech director Petr Weigl has attempted to do the same for Jules Massenet's music for Goethe's novel, Die Leiden Des Jungen Werthers, and the results are decidedly mixed. It's a tragic story about young Werther (Peter Dvorsky) who falls in love at first sight with Charlotte (Brigitte Fassbaender). After Charlotte marries someone else in order to fulfill a promise to her recently deceased mother, Werther refuses to be deterred, and writes copious letters to his heart's desire. She sends him away in order to honor her commitment, and only when he threatens to kill himself does she rush to his side and pour her heart out to her dying beloved. Fassbaender and Dvorsky certainly heave, pose, and yearn but Werther is surprisingly stagnant in its presentation, and the continuous separation and isolation of its lovers makes their plight stillborn and remote and, by ultimately focusing so ardently on interiors and arty shots of trees, fronds, and misty grounds, Werther is deprived of its inherent passion. --Paula Nechak

Description

Jules Massanet's lyrical opera is transformed into a superb film production by Petr Weigl, shot on location in Prague, with music conducted by Libor Pesek. First produced by the Vienna Opera in February 1892, "Werther" rapidly confirmed Massanet's position on the French opera scene and achieved enormous popularity outside France, notably in Italy, America and England. The tragic story tells of Werther's intense passion for Charlotte, who has married his best friend, Albert, fulfilling a pledge to her now deceased mother. But Werther's letters of love bring Charlotte to his side when he promises to take his own life.

Customer Reviews:

An unjustly neglected music drama in full force.......2006-11-03

Thanks heaven the opera is presented close to its original time period. Singers are first rate and even good looking (which is important here). The music is close to the masterpiece rank. Get it and emjoy! G. Koves

Dvorsky's Werther.......2005-11-06

There is one reason why I have to rate 5 stars - the Peter Dvorsky as Werther. In my opinion he was the best Werther ever. Werther is a role of great passion and so Peter is. He is glorious voice of great power, in spite of he nothing lost of his emotianl feelings, wonderful colours and exactly phrasing. Absolutely inimitable is his wonderful shining color of his voice, which makes him perfect. Every time I watch this video I am amazed of him. Every time I hear him I feel physicaly need of standing ovations..
I think the main hero of the opera Werther is the character of Werther. Therefore I don't understand why on the title of DVD is noted only Brigite Fasbaender (even though she is also very good). It's a pity that Peter Dvorsky is not well known wolrldwide. In the past he made a wonderful creations of Rodolfo, Nemorino, Faust (in which I consider him one of the best ever as well) , but nobody knows him.
I still have this recording on VHS , but now I am going to buy the DVD.

Not Quite Massenet's "Werther".......2005-10-01

The singers are splendid and the chosen settings are fine, but at least one-sixth of the opera is missing. The focus on the lovers is understandable in giving viewers the most memorable musical moments in the opera, but it violates the dramatic balance of the original opera. The love of Charlotte and Werher needs to be seen in the context of a small-city milieu (Wetzlar, Germany) where people drink, play cards, and celebrate 50th wedding anniversaries. We are shown the church and the townsfolk going and coming from the service, but we don't see the old pastor and wife who are being feted for their years of marriage. That's an important foil to the disfunctional marriage of Charlotte and Albert and to the cause of that marriage: Charlotte's promise to her dying mother to marry Albert. It's also a foil to the foolish passion of Werther and the trouble that he causes for Charlotte and Albert. In addition, the balance of the Christmas carol near the beginning of Act I (a rehearsal in June) with the performance a year and a half later when Werther lies dying of a bullet in his gut is lost because the children don't have their June rehearsal. No wonder that some of these reviewers think the opera slow-moving. Paradoxically, the opera would seem more lively if more lively scenes were included, even if the opera ran its full length.

It must also be said that, contrary to the unhistoric view of one reviewer, Massenet's opera was not a last gasp of romantic opera before Puccini, but a forward step away from the traditional 5-act French opera with its "de rigeur" ballet and 3-4 hour length. Massenet is looking forward to "Boheme" and "Butterfly," not back to "Faust" and "Le Prophete," for example. Nonetheless, I love what is here in the Weigl film and see it in light of my knowledge of the rest of the opera.

(Secondary complaints: (1) The costumes are 19th century, but the action is 18th century. (2) Werther fails to wear the costume specified by Goethe: blue jacket and yellow-buff trousers. That costume became favored by young would-be Werthers after the 1774 publication of the novel.)

Hot Romantic Opera.......2004-02-20

When I first saw this 1980's film it was as a short clip on the television channel Classic Arts Showcase, which runs 24 hrs a day and is free of charge on cable. I was breathtaken. The scene was Werther and Charlotte's encounter at the Covent (at least it looked like the interior of a convent). They sing a duet together and the music swells dramatically, as does their voices, ending climatically as they fall into each other's arms. Never before have I seen more passion in any opera, or in real life for that matter. This is a reason why lots of hopeless romantics flock to the opera. The opera is romantic. In the case of this DVD, we find the singers in top form and enough room in the film to act. They are reminiscent of the Rosi "Carmen" starring Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes Johnson as Don Jose and Carmen. Birgitte Fassbaender, formerly a mezzo soprano, takes on the lyric and dramatic role of Charlotte who struggles with feelings of love versus duty. Peter Dvorsky as the tenor hero Werther is absolutely the best. His voice and dramatic performance conveys the right depth and ardor. Jules Massenet drew this story from the novel "The Sorrows Of Young Werther" a quintessentially romantic plot in its day. Massenet knew that putting this story to opera would allow him to compose music that requires all the Romantic Era conventions- fate motifs, romantic melodies and idylls, dramatic conflict, crescendo, pumped-up orchestra and hushed pianissimo. Werther, madly in love with Charlotte, is driven to suicide because Charlotte decides to foresake his love. Suicide was a common theme in 19th century Romantic literature, plays and opera. Ophelia's Suicide in Hamlet was a darling of the day, as was the double suicides of Romeo and Juliet. Intense passions, romantic tragedy, thwarted love, beautiful scenery and excellent music makes this film one of the best.

Werther: A Valentine's Day Opera.......2004-02-14

Opera is a romantic medium. For Valentine's, why don't you attend a romantic opera or listen to one on you're sound system. Many operas of the 19th century were romantic tragedies (though there were the ocassional happy ending for the lovers) whose music and arias were stuffed with romance garaunteed to make you cry. Werther is one such opera. This DVD film stars Birgitte Fassbaender as Charlotte and Peter Dvorsky as Werther, the title hero. The opera is great to hear and is enjoyable watching the locations and scenery. Despite what one reviewer said it is passionate enough. The French composer Jules Massenet was quite good at composing this type of opera. The Romantic Movemement inspired literature and art. Suddenly, emotions, passions and feelings were all that mattered to artists and writers.

Werther was drawn from the novel "The Sorrows Of Young Werther". It tells of the frustrated love of a young man Werther for Charlotte. I forget some of the plot but I believe it ends in some death. It's a great opera to hear, especially because the French style is very romantic and lyric. If you hear this opera and get into Jules Massenet, check out recordings or films of Manon and of Thais. The best interpretor of Manon is Beverly Sills. As for the singers in this film, they are so good they can come off as actors as well as singers. They are a lot like Placido Domingo and Teresa Stratas in the Zefferelli La Traviata film. There is enough room for Peter Dvorsky to act as well as for Birgit Fassbaender. Fasbaender delivers a beautiful performance. She is both a mezzo soprano as well as soprano of higher vocal register. Her beauty and charm makes her the perfect heroine. Dvorsky is a lot like Domingo, too. Anyways, get this opera and enjoy it on the day dedicated to love, or any other day you feel romantic.

Massenet - Werther / Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Sandrine Piau, Stephane Degout, Michel Plasson, Chatelet Opera
Average customer rating:

Ainsi soit il, tous les temps

A great performance sabotaged

Beautifully Sung But be WARNED

Massenet - Werther / Thomas Hampson, Susan Graham, Sandrine Piau, Stephane Degout, Michel Plasson, Chatelet Opera
Starring: Rene Schirrer , Francois Piolino , and Laurent Alvaro
Manufacturer: Virgin Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EQHSDC
Release Date: 2006-07-18

Customer Reviews:

Ainsi soit il, tous les temps.......2007-04-19

Currently the DVD catalog holds three WERTHERS--Dvorsky (1985), Hampson (2002) and Alvarez (2005)--with fine singers in the principal roles. The DVDs differ greatly in every way, however.
Dvorsky and Alvarez are tenors, while Hampson is baritone. The original score calls for tenor, but the composer himself lowered the title role ten years later for a performance in Saint Petersburg. So there is no reason to look down one's nose at Hampson's version, and his performance is so fine that it validates the alternative.
Dvorsky appears in an opera film, severely cut--His version is only 101 minutes, while Hampson clocks in at 145 and Alvarez at 132. The film happens to be very fine, but represents only 2/3 of the opera.
Hampson's is a concert version with no staging at all, although the cast interact in front of their microphones, sometimes at a disadvantage to the pickup. There is real drama to watching the singers, even the chorus, even in close-up, for they sing their hearts out.
Alvarez has the advantage of singing onstage in a live performance, but the production is distracting with nonmusical nonsense going on from the beginning. Far better to see Hampson's young singers than to watch Alvarez' children in bathing trunks throwing beach balls around the set. In the absence of ideas for real staging, let the performance be concert.
Finally, the Hampson version is to be preferred because it takes place in France, whereas Dvorsky's team is Slovak and Alvarez' is Austrian. French texts like this one are a harder for international companies than Italian or German texts, because French has quite a few more vowel sounds that need to be distinguished with high precision. The idiomatic singing of Hampson's French chorus and secondary cast members is wonderful. And the French are notable for their fine sense of pitch in choral singing, and really shine here. Let it be so, always.

A great performance sabotaged.......2007-03-12

I have no idea how many (if any) stars to award this DVD. Take a stellar cast and a well conducted orchestra, put in a lot of microphones and cameras, and one starts with a first class performance. Then get a film editor who seems to have an attention deficit disorder(or believes that those who will watch this DVD have ADD) and who cuts and cuts from one thing to another, zooming and out; and the whole thing is sabotaged. If one has to watch with eyes shut, one might as well get a CD -- although with surround sound, this is a wonderful performance.

It is a concert performance, but the stage director has the singers interacting with each other as much as possible. However the film editor did not understand that this is, after all, an opera, a drama, with characters and a story. Why, during the wonderful solos and duets with which this opera abounds, must he cut to closeups of the conductor and the orchestra players and then cut back and forth going against the music and drama instead of with it? Why, in the first act for example, does he close in on Ms. Graham but have the conductor's arm waving around between the camera and Ms. Graham. Why, at crucial points during an aria must he cut into the conductor grimacing at the orchestra? I could go on and on with how this performance has been sabotaged, but I think I have given the idea of what went so horribly wrong.

It is very very frustrating and from my point of view completely ruins what could have been (and doubtless was for those lucky enough to have been present) a wonderful 5 star performance. I had looked forward to this DVD because I so admire Hampson and Graham, but now I am sorry I bothered.

I would recommend getting the Petr Weigl production with Brigitte Fassbaender and Peter Dvorsky. It, as with all the Weigl productions, abridged to focus entirely on the relationship between the main characters, but for sheer drama, music and setting it is the best currently available.

Beautifully Sung But be WARNED.......2006-07-19

For me the jury is still out on this. It is beautifully sung but if you are used to a tenor in the role, this is a difficult adjustment. I need to listen to it a few more times. Why the WARNING? This is a concert version. It is not staged. The only way to know that is the info provided on the back of the box. It is worth having as an alternative but I wish I had known it was not staged ahead of time.

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