The Sorrows of Massenet's 'Werther' at Metropolitan Opera

On Feb. 17, Jules Massenet's "Werther" will return to the Metropolitan Opera after a 10-year absence.

The opera is based on the epistolary novel by Goethe and tells the story of Werther who falls in love with Charlotte, a woman betrothed to another man.

The Met has not been consistent in presenting the work as it has an exceptionally difficult tenor role that only few singers can tackle.

The Met first presented the work back in 1894 with famed tenor Jean de Reszke in the title role and Emma Eames as Charlotte. Three years later the opera returned with the same cast.

The work later disappeared for 12 years and came back in 1909 with Edmond Clément making his Met debut and Geraldine Farrar singing Charlotte. The company also premiered a production by Kurt Stern. The production received seven performances that season including two in a double bill with the ballet "Coppelia" by Delibes.

The work did not receive a performance at the renowned opera house for another 61 years due to a lack of tenors performing the work. The Met revived the work for Franco Correlli in a production by Paul-Emile Deiber, which would also star Christa Ludwig. Oddly enough Correlli cancelled the first night and was replaced by tenor Enrico Di Giuseppe. However, Correlli went on to perform the remaining 16 performances in that season with Ludwig, Rosalind Elias and Regine Crespin.

The tenor went on to reprise the role in 1972 with Crespin and one of the performances was recorded on the Met's famous radio broadcasts.

Six years later Placido Domingo brought his acclaimed interpretation to the Met with Elena Obraztsova. The performances went on to garner rave reviews with the Time News Service writing "Miss Obraztsova's style does not adapt easily to Charlotte's self-effacingly subtle music in the first two acts, where so much depends on verbal emphasis and Gallic smoothness of phrasing. Domingo excelled in all the big moments, particularly in the 'desolation' of the second act, but he lacks the 'voix mixte' technique which would enable him to move imperceptibly from chest to head voice. Not surprisingly both artists did their best singing in the passionate final scenes."

In 1979, Alfredo Kraus made his Met role debut as "Werther" with Crespin. That run of performances saw Kathleen Battle make a breakthrough at the Met, but it was Kraus who gave a transformative performance of the role which was documented on the radio.

The opera became very popular and a season later Neil Shicoff brought his interpretation to the Met which the critics hailed. The New York Post wrote, "It's taken eight years and 29 performances but on Saturday night the Metropolitan Opera finally presented a dramatically plausible 'Werther.'" The run also starred Tatiana Troyanos who later went on to have a successful Met career.

With a series of successful runs, it was odd that the Met would wait another nine years before presenting the work yet again. Kraus reprised the work in 1988 with Federica Von Stade and in 1989 Shicoff returned in his signature role.

Ten years passed before a new production would be staged. That production was directed by John Cox and starred baritone Thomas Hampson in the title role and Susan Graham as Charlotte. The performances marked the first time the baritone version was performed at the Met. According to the Met's database, Massenet rewrote Werther's vocal lines, so that they could be sung by a lower voice. As a result, the standard orchestral scoring works for both a tenor and baritone. For contrast, the baritone role of Albert was changed as well and can be sung by a tenor.

The 2004 run of the opera was the last time the Met performed "Werther." The cast included French tenor Roberto Alagna and Latvian mezzo soprano Vesselina Kasarova.

Now in 2014 the Met is bringing the opera back with a new production by Richard Eyre, who made his debut directing an acclaimed production of Bizet's "Carmen." The cast will include the world-famous German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who made his role debut in 2009 at the Paris Opera. As Charlotte, Sophie Koch is making her Met debut in a role she has sung all over the world.

The performances will be conducted by Alain Altinoglu and on March 15 the opera will be presented live in HD.