What is to become of French opera if the French themselves take so little interest in it? The list of operas to be performed at the Opera-Comique next season is before me as I write, and only one French work is announced (Lakme). Before 1968, Werther was one of the cornerstones of the repertory there, notching up over 1,000 performances. One has to go back to historic discs from the 78rpm era to find any native French tenors in the title-role, and not since Rita Gorr (who is Belgian) in 1960 has there been a French-speaking Charlotte on disc. Despite this, the opera has fared extremely well on LP and CD – there are four studio recordings that would be serious contenders in any survey of the work (the versions under Pretre, Plasson, Davis and Nagano). Now comes this new Berlin-based set under Wladimir Jurowski with two of the rising stars of today, Ramon Vargas in the title-role and Vesselina Kasarova as Charlotte.
As a showcase for two young singers, this is an impressive performance. Like some of her predecessors on record, Kasarova’s voice has a contralto-like resonance that seems slightly unwieldly for the virtuous Charlotte, but her vocal acting and her diction are first-rate. She is emerging as one of the best singers of our time. The big test comes in Act 3, with the three-part scene in which Charlotte reads Werther’s letters and then abandons herself to tears and despair. The whole performance takes off here and, as is only proper, I found myself immersed in her reading and her voice, and not moved to evoke other singers.
Ramon Vargas also proves himself equal to the task vocally, but although his diction is clear enough, no one would mistake him for a Frenchman. He is, however, able to tackle those perilous high phrases where Massenet demands a soft note, and where so many tenors are seduced into giving full cry instead.
The other star of Werther is the orchestra, with Massenet supplying enough counter-melodies and little bursts of emotion to furnish several operas. Werther was first performed (in German) in Vienna in 1892, so it belongs in some ways to the age of verismo, and it’s up to the conductor to steer a course between good taste and melodrama. This Jurowski does, and the recording is clear and unfussy, favouring the voices a little.
Of studio-made versions, critical opinion has generally preferred von Stade and Carreras, with Davis, a set that had the advantage of having been made when they had all performed the work together at Covent Garden. The more recent Nagano/von Otter/Hadley set is a good rival. However, as far as I’m concerned, the two top Werthers in the catalogue are the historic recording with Ninon Vallin and Georges Thill (this is authentic Opera-Comique performance practice) and the sensational live version from Munich under Jesus Lopez-Cobos with Domingo and Fassbaender both at the peak of their form in 1977.'