Organization

Wagner in Budapest

Conductor

György Vashegyi

Singer

Mezzo-soprano

Véronique Gens

Charlotte

Tenor

Tassis Christoyannis

Werther

Soprano

Hélène Carpentier

Sophie

Baritone

Thomas Dolié

Albert

Bass

Patrick Bolleire

The bailiff

Artavazd Sargsyan

Schmidt

Laurent Deleuil

Bruhlmann

Johann

Chorus master

Ferenc Sapszon

Borbála Sapszon

Orchestra

Hungarian National Philharmonic

Müpa Budapest

Palazzetto Bru Zane

Others

Choir of the Zoltán Kodály Hungarian Choir School

Budapest

Hungary

Werther Massenet

Public

Private

Approved

Who would have thought that the Leipzig Book Fair was already being held in 1774? This was the year when Goethe's epistolary novel The Sufferings of Young Werther was published, which - in today's parlance - immediately became a bestseller (and was first translated into Hungarian by Ferenc Kazinczy). It was followed by a devastating Werther mania that spread across Europe, launching a wave of suicides among world-weary unrequited lovers.
Jules Massenet, the French composer who set it to music, was already the child of a different era, having been born in 1842, the year of Goethe's death. Although his operatic output was prolific - he wrote more than 30 such works - only two of them were actually highly successful: Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). The latter received its world première not in Paris, but in Vienna, since the Opéra Comique proved unwilling to stage this four-act drame lyrique owing to its "overly serious” plot. This meant it was the audience at the Hofoper that got the first chance to applaud the opera based on this still-popular work, on 16 February 1892.
The international cast of soloists for this performance by the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by György Vashegyi consists of leading singers, most of whom are already familiar to the Hungarian audience from the conductor's previous productions.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer