It is a strange reflection of the problems that beset opera and recording companies that the Lyon Opera in the first recording of Werther for 17 years, even today with something of a renewal in French singing, should choose an American tenor and a Swedish mezzo-soprano for the main roles. Since the historic Cohen recording from 1931, only one version has had French principals (Etcheverry with Albert Lance and Rita Gorr); otherwise we have had three Spanish and a Swedish Werther (Domingo, Kraus, Carreras and Gedda) and Spanish, Russian and American Charlottes (de los Angeles, Obratsova, Troyanos and von Stade).
The roles are problematic. Should Charlotte be a soprano? (It was a favourite role of Lotte Lehmann and, more significantly, Regine Crespin.) Is Werther a lyric part, or should it be assigned, as it was at its Viennese premiere, to a Wagnerian tenor? The opening scene of the new recording promises very well; the orchestra certainly know how to play Massenet and Nagano avoids the extremes of quasi-verismo style that can mar this essay in masochistic unrequited passion. The beautiful melody that accompanies Werther’s entrance, with an exquisite violin solo, brings the first challenge for Jerry Hadley. He must, and does, suggest the impulsive, romantic young poet. He dares a head tone at the words “a l’air d’un paradis” which no other tenor in any of the modern recordings achieves. He has the power in his upper register for the later outbursts, but as with Kraus on the Plasson recording, one feels that this role stretches him to the limits of his resources. No such problem with Carreras for Davis, but here the worry is that he sounds like Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana. Albert Lance for Etcheverry has the heroic sound, and it is fascinating to hear the old-fashioned manner in which he sings the music, authentic in its way but not very imaginative. Gedda achieves the hushed quality for the poetic moments and he has the metallic tone necessary for the climax of “Un autre est son epoux!”.
As Charlotte, Anne Sofie von Otter has just the right balance between sounding young (she’s meant to be 20) but emotionally mature. She and von Stade are the finest interpreters of the role among the versions under consideration. (Ninon Vallin in the historic Cohen recording is superb – anyone interested in Werther must hear this at some time, but of course the sound is fairly remote.) Rita Gorr for Etcheverry and Tatiana Troyanos for Plasson both make a wonderful noise – but Gorr sounds like Ortrud in Lohengrin and Troyanos like Amneris in Aida; hearing them makes me wonder if it’s a good idea for heavy mezzos to sing this part. Von Stade and von Otter are both singers who alternate between soprano and mezzo, as did Vallin.
Dawn Upshaw makes a very positive, flirty Sophie and Gerard Theruel a good Albert. (Thomas Allen is excellent for Davis, Gabriel Bacquier amazingly strong for Etcheverry.) But no one is going to decide on which Werther to have because of the smaller parts: as with Boheme or Tristan the performance stands or falls on the two main roles and the conductor. I adore Victoria de los Angeles for Pretre but there is no denying that she makes Charlotte sound too sensual; Gedda is nearly at the peak of his form, but the recording is almost 30 years old and shows it in places. Alfredo Kraus for Plasson doesn’t re-create the splendour of his interpretation as I remember it from seeing him at the Met and at Covent Garden.
Going to the heart of the work, Act 3, with its extraordinary three-part solo for Charlotte, the Letter Scene followed by “Va! Laisse couler mes larmes” and “Ah! mon courage m’abandonne!” and then the reading of the Ossian poem by Werther, “Pourquoi me reveiller, o souffle du printemps?”, one is conscious that the Davis recording was made under special circumstances, just after all the main singers under the same conductor had been in a production at Covent Garden. There is a grandeur about it which the new version doesn’t quite attain. However, von Otter and Hadley sound every bit as dramatic, but in a more intimate, neurotic way. In brief, the new recording can be recommended warmly; it doesn’t replace the Davis version but offers an alternative. A word is necessary about the cover: it shows not Jerry Hadley but a very 1990s-looking model, straight out of the pages of Loaded or The Face.'