Clik here to view.
Royal Opera House, London
This revival of Massenet's Werther marks the return of Rolando Villazón to Covent Garden after his much publicised bad patch, which involved serious vocal problems and a controversial appearance on Popstar to Operastar. There was concern whether he would be able to sustain the opera's demanding title role, particularly in Benoît Jacquot's sparse production, which digs remorselessly into the characters' psyches but gives the performers nowhere to hide.
No one need have worried: Villazón gives one of his most remarkable performances to date. His voice has lost some of its sheen, though you also notice a newfound security in his singing, particularly at the top. His artistry, however, is as astonishing as ever, fusing sound, sense and gesture in an uncompromising quest for veracity. His Werther is more complex, if at times less sympathetic than some. The grandeur of the man's passions is balanced by morbidly adolescent self-pity. His final declaration of love to Charlotte brims with the terrifying potential for sexual assault, while his suicide is messy and unromanticised.
Sophie Koch, sumptuous in tone, is equally unflinching in her portrayal of Charlotte's conflict between her fear of Werther's emotions and her unwillingness to let him go, particularly as we begin to sense the rot in her marriage to Audun Iversen's rigid Albert. Antonio Pappano's conducting emphasises the score's dark Wagnerisms, but also elevates a work sometimes seen as dreary to the level of genuine tragedy. It's a powerful evening, and to have Villazón back on form is wonderful indeed.
