Massenet's Werther at Lyric Opera of Chicago
Matthew Polenzani Wows in Title Role
By: Susan Hall - Nov 24, 2012
Werther
by Jules Massenet
Based on the novel by Goethe
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Matthew Polenzani (Werther); Sophie Koch (Charlotte); Kiri Deonarine (Sophie); Craig Verm (Albert); Philip Kraus (Bailiff).
Francisco Negrin (Director); Sir Andrew David (Conductor); Louis Desire (Designer); Duane Schuler (Lighting).
November 23, 2012
Dan Rest (photos)
A new co-production of Werther, shared by San Francisco and Chicago, arrived this fall at the Lyric Opera House. Massenet’s gorgeous music glistens under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis and was the foundation of a highly successful musical performance.
While the costumes were period, the setting evoked the emotional context of the times and flowed on as many levels as the music does. Direction highlighted emotions, underlining them the way the physical performance of a play does. This heightened the pleasure of seeing and hearing a world which moves easily between the real and the dream.
The set had many components. Dominating the stage was a five-foot high platform, wrapped by a wall of steel. Set designer Louis Desire successfully conjures up the restricted small town atmosphere or Wetzlar near Frankfurt at the turn of the 18th century.
Projections start with the town's ordinary, but stifling houses. The Bailiff’s home is made of stacks of trunks half open to reveal the garments of his recently deceased widow, a woman whose wishes will be followed even though she is no longer on earth.
Commencing the opera with a rehearsal of children singing Christmas carols in July tips us off to the crazy events to follow. The pastor rehearsing the choir slaps a child who is misbehaving, a slap, which points to the ever larger than life emotions of the opera.
At the center of the town is a stand of seven trees, now in full green photographic bloom. Not only do the colors change with the seasons until they are barren for Christmas, but at one point they turn into a Henri Rousseau wild place, a dream.
A stripe of either blue or red streaks across the wall at the rear of the stage, blue for ordinary froideur and red for the heat of passion.
Tucked into the very front of the stage, but below the town, is Werther’s small room, whose walls are covered with pictures of Charlotte, his unrequited love. The staging is a rich representation of the music’s world: the conflict of pedestrian society and the impractical, emotionally overflowing world of the poet. It succeeds admirably and on its own would make for a thrilling evening of opera.
To the provocative set is added the formidably moving dramatic and singing performance of Matthew Polenzani, his role debut. All the roles in the opera are very demanding in acting, range and dramatic singing. Because the opera is through-composed, characters move through set pieces at emotional highpoints. The joints between the arias and the linking material are well disguised.
Polenzani sings with a fine-grained lyric tenor. He has just the right touch of squillo, or edge, to pierce a large hall and ensure the subtle nuances of his voice are heard. He is perfect for the role, mastering the wide pitch ranges with seeming ease. His romantic good looks give us just the right picture of the tortured poet whose love is rebuffed.
Massenet wrote Werther in the middle of a highly successful career. While he continued to compose his voluptuously perfumed melodies, he plunged into deep emotional territory. Both Werther and the object of his fixation, Charlotte, have been interpreted by an unusually wide range of singers whose other roles range from Radames to Lohengrin to Nemorino, and Amneris and Carmen.
Sophie Koch has become the go-to mezzo for the role of Charlotte over the past five years. She is French and a talented interpreter. Her voice, while solid in the middle, sounds pressed at the top when she tries to push it out. However, her descent into distress and madness in the final acts of the opera are sung with compelling intensity. It is a lovely performance on a small scale.
Charlotte’s spirited sister Sophie is sung by Kiri Deonarine, who is in her second year at the Ryan Center. Her voice is bright and dances along with her. Surely she is a talent who deserves to be heard often. The thankless role of Albert, Charlotte’s dull but steady husband, is sung by Craig Verm in a rich and dramatic baritone. You can’t help but be attracted to him, even if Charlotte isn’t. But how can her mother’s preference possibly be more attractive than a besotted poet?
Debussy wrote in his obituary of Massenet that he was the most beloved of musicians, but his colleagues never forgave him his power to please. He painted in pastel colors and whispered melodies in the works he composed. In this mounting at the Lyric, Werther's suave melodies, the intimacy of his characters, and the elegance of the music are realized in a fresh, apt and highly entertaining production.