Magnificent Mezzo meets troubled tenor at Covent Garden – Werther evaluate

The first night time viewers at Covent Garden have been all wanting ahead to listening to the marvellous voice of German tenor Jonas Kaufman within the title function of Massenet’s Werther, however he was under his greatest and clearly affected by a chilly or throat issues.

Nevertheless his place as star of the present was brilliantly taken by the younger Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina who was stunningly spectacular within the main function of Charlotte.

The plot of the opera relies on a novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, written by Goethe within the late 18th century.

Werther and Charlotte have been childhood sweethearts however Werther went away for a while and returned to find that she had simply married the slightly stiff and pompous Albert, following a vow she made on her mom’s deathbed.

He is completely distraught, goes away once more however finally ends up killing himself.

It is all terribly melodromatic, however works suprisingly effectively as an opera. Massenet’s music modifications subtly from the joyous reunion initially, rising sadder because the plot develops and ending in a fittingly tragic fashion.

At the beginning, Kaufmann was clearly having issues rising his quantity when it was referred to as for, even typically being drowned by the orchestra.

But his gloriously silky and passionate voice got here via within the last duet with Charlotte when he’s dying after capturing himself.

The orchestra, performed by Antonio Pappano, gave a superbly delicate efficiency, the path, a revival of a 2004 manufacturing by Benoît Jacquot, captured the romance and the disappointment of the story completely, the general singing and performing have been glorious.

But the overwhelming feeling on the finish was simply how magnificent the entire thing would have been if Kaufmann had not been underneath the climate. Let us hope he recovers shortly, when he and Akhmetshina will give audiences an actual deal with.

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