✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Opera

Werther, Royal Opera House

17 Sep 19 – 05 Oct 19, six performances

Massenet's romantic story of the doomed love of a passionate poet for a virtuous woman returns to Covent Garden in a visually arresting production

By Claudia Pritchard on 16/7/2019

1 CW reader is interested
Werther, as staged at the Royal Opera House in 2016. Photo: Bill Cooper
Werther, as staged at the Royal Opera House in 2016. Photo: Bill Cooper
Werther, Royal Opera House Werther, Royal Opera House Claudia Pritchard
Sometimes it's refreshing to wander off the beaten track, and in the opera house, if Mozart, Verdi, Puccini and Britten are the main roads of the repertoire, Jules Massenet is the slow, leafy country lane with pleasing views.


The first pretty pull-in of the composer's Werther is the widowed mayor's family home, where saintly big sister Charlotte is raising the younger children, ensuring they get food for body and soul, with hunks of bread and carol practice. She has promised her dying mother that she will marry sound, solid Albert. But we have already caught sight of the hunky poet Werther – and so will she.


Months later, she's married and Werther is hanging round outside the church. Will Charlotte will swop her elegant home for the poet's attic?



Baritone Jacques Imbrailo plays the decent, dull husband Albert in Massenet's Werther. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke


An example of international cooperation, this production from the Opéra National de Paris opened at Covent Garden in 2016 on the night of the Brexit referendum result, an irony not lost on its stunned audience then. Now it returns with a starry new – and international – cast.


Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Floréz takes the title role, with US mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as Charlotte, and UK-based, South African-born baritone Jacques Imbrailo as Albert. Edward Gardner conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.


The landscape's lovely in Charles Edwards's painterly design, and in the score, here's a peep through the hedgerow to Puccini, here a glimpse of Wagner, and occasionally Richard Strauss on the horizon. The libretto is by Edouard Blau and Paul Milliet.


Werther is sung in French with English surtitles. Performances are on 17, 20, 24, 27 Sept; 1, 5 Oct. General booking opens 9AM, Wed 7 Aug
by Claudia Pritchard

What Werther, Royal Opera House
Where Royal Opera House, Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9DD | MAP
Nearest tube Covent Garden (underground)
When 17 Sep 19 – 05 Oct 19, six performances
Price £8-£175
Website http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/werther-by-benoit-jacquot



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
Things to do in London this weekend: 3–5 February
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023
Culture After Dark: The Best Museum Late Night Openings
Culture After Dark: the best museum late-night openings

Editor's Picks

South African-born Jacques Imbrailo trained in London. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke
Jacques Imbrailo interview: 'I like things that are beautiful'
Vladimir Jurowski conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in music from his native Russia
Best Classical Music and Opera 2019
The BBC Proms is the biggest music festival in the world. Photo: Chris Christodoulou
The Best BBC Proms 2019: the top artists and works
Edward Gardner is a favourite conductor with London audiences. Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Edward Gardner interview: 'It's the first day at school every time!'
Hear music performed by Mandhira De Saram at Barbican Sculpture Court. Photo: Mark Allan
Play the Mile, Culture Mile
Jonas Kaufmann stars at the Royal Opera House in Fidelio, in March 2020
Opera at Covent Garden 2019/20

EDITOR'S PICKS


  • 1. TICKETS, TRAVEL TIPS AND DINING ETIQUETTE

    Glyndebourne Opera Festival 2016

    2. GLYNDEBOURNE 2017 UNVEILING

    Everything you need to know about the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 2017

    3. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

    Take a peek at what's on right now

    4. PHILIP GLASS AT 80

    Barbican Centre January 2017

Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

We recommend nearby

  • Dominique Ansel Treehouse
    Read more...
    Map
  • Petersham Nurseries, Covent Garden

    Two new Petersham Nurseries restaurants have opened in Covent Garden, and both are to die for. The Petersham offers lunch and dinner menus grounded in a slow food approach, while La Gaccia provides a more laid-back all-day affair.

    Read more...
    Book Map
  • Sushisamba, Covent Garden

    Housed at the Opera Terrace, within the central Market Building, Sushisamba comes to Covent Garden. This is its second location in London after opening at Heron tower in Liverpool street. Expect Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian fusion sushi and a truly unique culinary experience.

    Read more...
    Book Map
1

Royal Opera House

Massenet

Jacques Imbrailo

You might like

  • Joélle Harvey (Susanna) is cornered by Simon Keenlyside's Count Almaviva. Photo: Mark Douet

    The Marriage of Figaro, Royal Opera House review ★★★★★

  • Miranda Richardson takes a non-singing role in La Fille du Régiment. Photo: Tristram Kenton

    La Fille du Régiment, Royal Opera House review ★★★★★

  • Fflur Wyn (Vivetta) and Simon Sakker (Federico) in L'Arlesiana at Opera Holland Park. Photo: Ali Wright

    L'Arlesiana, Opera Holland Park review ★★★★★

  • Natalya Romaniw, radiant in a dark world in Iolanta. Photo: Ali Wright

    Il Segreto di Susanna & Iolanta, Opera Holland Park review ★★★★★

  • Nothing is quite what it seems in Glyndebourne's new Cendrillon. Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

    Cendrillon, Glyndebourne

  • Sheku Kanneh-Mason's Prom is screened on 25 Aug. Photo: Lars Borges

    BBC Proms on Television: weekend screen musical highlights



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×