Jules Massenet: WERTHER

The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel by JW Goethe about a noble and passionate young man who is torn by the sorrows of unhappy love, until he finally chooses voluntary death. This story had an impact in Germany at the end of the 18th century like a small earthquake: it became a "cult" book for the young generation of that time and fundamentally influenced its sense of life. Werther became the embodiment of unbridled emotionality, which frees itself from the shackles of social conventions. However, he paid for his inner freedom with tragic loneliness in the ordered, "reasonable" world of bourgeois morality. Jules Massenet expressed in his music the ecstasy of love intoxication and the hopeless sadness of unfulfilled desire in a captivating way. In doing so, he placed the figure of Charlotte, whose prototype became one of Goethe's youthful loves. A charming and wise girl renounces her love for Werther, remaining faithful to her husband; she decides to express her feelings only when it is too late...

Location : National Theatre / Historic Building