DVD + Blu-Ray:
Juan Diego Flórez in Massenet’s “Werther”

Recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich and staged by Tatjana Gürbaca, this “Werther” with star tenor Flórez is an epiphany – a recording for the ages.

Forbidden love, wrongdoings and anguish: the Opernhaus Zürich ventures into late 19th-century French romanticism with “Werther“ by French composer Jules Massenet. A loose adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s epistolary novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, the opera is conducted by 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 Flórez 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 Zürcher Zeitung in a rave review. At Flórez’s side, Franco-British mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany sang her role début as Charlotte. The one-room staging by Tatjana Gürbaca cleverly makes the social stranglehold of oppression tangible. Should one come into the fold or escape?

This is the fourth release of Accentus Music from the Opernhaus Zürich, following the acclaimed releases of Alban Berg’s “Wozzeck with Christian Gerhaher, Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” featuring Joyce DiDonato and Verdi’s “Messa da Requiem” in a choreography by Christian Spuck.

Recorded at the Opernhaus Zürich, April 2017

Jules Massenet
Werther

Juan Diego Flórez, Anne Stéphany, Mélissa Petit et al.

Philharmonia Zürich
Cornelius Meister
Tatjana Gürbaca

ACC20427 (DVD) – EAN: 4260234831481
ACC10427 (Blu-ray) – EAN: 4260234831498