Massenet: Werther – Opernhaus Zürich, Flórez

Juan Diego Flórez is undisputedly one of the best belcanto tenors of our times and embodies a tortured and nuanced Werther at the Opernhaus Zürich, which received rave reviews. At Flórez’s side, Franco-British mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany sang her role début as Charlotte. Flórez: “Werther is the masterpiece, of course. Musically, it’s beautiful, it’s gorgeous, you are transported into another dimension. It’s like a big continuous […] – and even lust and pleasure, because of the orchestration, the singing.” The one-room staging by stage director Tatjana Gürbaca cleverly renders the social stranglehold of oppression. Should one come into the fold or escape?