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©2005 Sugar Srl
Opera
in Four Acts
Music by Jules Massenet
Libretto in French by
Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann
Based on Goethe's short novel
Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers
(The Sorrows of Young Werther)
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Characters:
Werther ........ Andrea Bocelli
a poet (tenor)
The Bailiff of Wetzlar ........ Giorgio Giuseppini
(bass)
Charlotte .......... Julia Gertseva
his daughter (mezzo-soprano)
Schmidt .......... Pierre Lefebvre
(tenor)
Johann .......... Armondo Ariostini
(baritone)
his friends
Sophie .......... Magali Léger
another daughter (soprano)
Albert ........... Natale de Carolis
Charlotte's fiancé (baritone)
The Bailiff's younger children
and citizens of Wetzlar
Orchestra e coro di voci del
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Conducted by Yves Abel
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Act 1:
Scene: Courtyard
of the Bailiff’s home. The
widowed Bailiff has been left with many children; and as the curtain rises
– after a very romantic prelude- it is midsummer and he is
beforehandedly rehearsing the youngest ones in a Christmas carol.
Two friends, Schmidt and Johann, join the group and discuss with
the Bailiff a young poet named Werther, who has come to town and appears
to be a very melancholy sort. They
also talk about another young man, Albert, the absent fiancé of
Charlotte, the Bailiff’s oldest child (but still in her late teens.)
The two young men are great friends, and Werther comes to call,
singing a brief ode to nature as the rehearsal is again taken up.
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Andrea Bocelli as Werther
Oct.-Nov. 1999
Michigan Opera Theater, Detroit |
There is a ball that evening in town, and when
Charlotte has prepared supper for the youngsters, she goes off to the
festivities with Werther. Soon
thereafter the fiancé unexpectedly returns and is cordially greeted by
the second-oldest daughter (she is fifteen) as her brother-in-law to be.
For a while the stage is empty as a tender intermezzo is played,
suggesting what we learn later to be true – that Werther has fallen
completely in love with Charlotte at the ball.
Night has fallen when they return, and Werther tells her of his
love; but Charlotte says she had promised to marry another, and Werther,
learning who her fiancé is, goes off brokenhearted prophesying that he
must die if Charlotte weds Albert.
Act 2:
Scene: Before the church.
It is three months later; Albert and Charlotte are now married; and
the townspeople have gathered to celebrate their pastor’s golden wedding
anniversary. Charlotte tells
Albert how happy she is as his bride, and Werther sings a heartbroken
melody known as the “Desolation Aria.”
Albert, who is really very fond of his friend, tries to comfort him
by telling him how much he himself esteems the poet; and a few moments
later the very practical Charlotte suggests that Werther might try falling
in love with her sister Sophie. When
Werther declines the offer, she insists that he go away at least until
Christmas. The despondent
Werther prays to God for help; and when Sophie comes to claim him for the
first minuet, which he had promised her, he turns violently on her, saying
that he is leaving at once and will never return.
Sophie is in tears as the act closes, and Albert is beginning to
suspect that things have gone too far for comfort between his friend and
his young wife.
Act 3:
Scene: A
room in the Bailiff’s house. After
a rather long prelude supposed to be suggestive of Werther’s aimless
three months of wandering trying to forget, we find Charlotte reading over
some letters he had sent her. Now
for the first time do we realize that Werther has really touched her
heart, and she almost give away her secret to Sophie in her song about
sorrow – the “Air des larmes.”
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Andrea Bocelli as Werther
Jan. 2004
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy |
When Sophie leaves, Charlotte appeals to God for strength to combat
this illicit love. She has
her opportunity at once, for a bedraggled Werther appears.
It is Christmas time, and he has not had the fortitude to remain
away longer than that. He
pleads with her passionately; and then, taking up a copy of Ossian (whose
poetry was practically a rallying cry for early Romantics,) he sings out
the strikingly appropriate passage beginning “Pourquoi me revellier?”
(“Why awaken me?”) This
is the most familiar aria in the opera.
For a brief moment Charlotte succumbs and finds
herself in her lover’s arms. But
recalling her duty, she directs Werther never to see her again and dashes
into another room, locking the door behind her.
Werther leaves the house, swearing that he is going to his grave.
Albert then returns, hears that Werther is back in town, finds his
wife very much troubled, and is handed a note from Werther, asking him for
a loan of his pistols as he is off for a long journey.
Without further thought, the weapons are sent off, and only then
does Charlotte realize the possible significance of the request.
Desperately hoping she may not be too late, she dashes from the
house.
Act 4:
Scene: Werther’s
room. There is no
intermission; but as the scenery is being changed, the orchestra plays a
little tone poem depicting Charlotte’s worry on her trip to try to save
her lover. Midnight is
tolling when she arrives to find that Werther has already shot himself.
Before he dies, he hears her confess that she has loved him, and he
tells her that now he is happy; life for him is only beginning.
The unhappy woman throws herself on his body, while off stage come,
ironically, the merry voices of the children singing the Christmas carol
they had been rehearsing in Act 1.
From
"The Victor Book of the Opera" 13th Edition © 1929, 1949, 1953,
1968 |
Act 1
Werther has come to the Magistrate's house
and is enjoying the fresh air, describing the
beautiful surroundings he is in.
Alors, c'est bien ici la maison du Bailli?...
Merci.
Je ne sais si je veille ou si je rêve encore!
Tout ce qui m’environne a l’air d’un paradis;
le bois soupire ainsi qu’une harpe sonore;
Un monde se révèle à mes yeux éblouis.
Ô Nature, pleine de grâce,
reine du temps et de l’espace,
daigne acceuillir celui qui passe
et te salue, humble mortel!
Mystérieux silence!... Ô calme solennel!
Tout m’attire et me plaît!...
Ce mur et ce coin sombre..
Cette source limpide et la fraicheur de l’ombre
Il n’est pas une haie, il n’est pas un buisson
où n’ éclose une fleur,
où ne passe un frisson!
Ô Nature, enivre-moi de tes parfums!
Mère, éternellement jeune, adorable et pure,
Ô Nature, Et toi, soleil,
viens m’inonder de tes rayons! |
So this is the Bailiff's house here?
Thank you.
I know not if I'm awake or still dreaming!
everything around me seems like Paradise;
the woods sigh like a vibrating harp,
a whole world is revealed to my dazzled eyes!
O Nature, full of grace,
queen of time and space,
deign to receive a humble mortal,
passing by, who greets you!
Mysterious silence! Solemn calm!
Everything attracts and charms me.
This wall and this dark corner,
this limpid spring and the cool of the shade.;
There's not a hedge, not a bush,
without a flower blooming,
a breeze stirring,
O Nature! Intoxicate me with fragrance,
mother forever young, adorable, and pure,
O Nature! An you, o Sun,
drench me in your rays! |
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Act II
Werther has just seen Charlotte and Albert walk
off. They have been married for three months
and seem to be happy. Werther is still in love
with Charlotte, though, and relates his sorrow
that he cannot ever marry Charlotte.
Un autre est son époux!
Un autre est son époux!
Dieu de bonté,
si tu m'avais permis de marcher dans la vie
avec cet ange à mon côté,
mon existence entière
n'aurait jamais été
qu'une ardente prière...
et maintenant, parfois, j'ai peur de blasphémer!
C'est moi, moi, qu'elle pouvait aimer!
J'aurais sur ma poitrine
pressé la plus divine,
la plus belle créature
que Dieu même ait su former!
C'est moi, c'est moi, qu'elle pouvait aimer!
Lorsque s'ouvrait le ciel qui s'illumine,
soudain je l'ai vu se fermer!
je l'ai vu se fermer!
C'est moi, c'est moi, qu'elle pouvait aimer!
Ah! J'aurais sur ma poitrine
pressé la plus divine,
la plus belle créature
que Dieu même ait su former!
C'est moi, c'est moi, qu'elle pouvait aimer!
c'est moi, qu'elle pouvait aimer!
Tout mon corps en frissonne, et tout mon être, tout mon être en
pleure! |
Another is her husband!
Another is her husband!
God of bounty,
had You allowed me to travel through life
with this angel at my side,
my whole existence
would never have been
anything but a fervent prayer...
yet now, at times, I am afraid of blaspheming!
It is I, I, she could have loved!
I would have held
to my breast the most divine,
most lovely creature
that God Himself knew how to form!
It was I, it was I, she could have loved!
When the sky was opening in brightness,
suddenly I saw it close!
I saw it close!
t was I, it was I, she could have loved!
Ah! I would have held
to my breast the most divine,
most lovely creature
that God Himself knew how to form!
It was I, i
It was I, she could have loved!
My whole body is racked with it, and my whole being, my whole being
weeps! |
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Act II
Charlotte has told Werther that he must
stay away from her until Christmas.
Werther is saddened and prays for strength
to follow her directive but also tells of the
happiness he will feel when he sees her
again.
Oui, ce qu’elle m’ordonne
Pour son repos, je le ferai;
et si la force m’abandonne,
Ah! C’est moi qui pour toujours me reposerai!
Pourquoi trembler devant la mort...
devant la nôtre?
On lève le rideau,
puis on passe de l’autre côté!
Voilà ce qu’on nomme mourir.
Offensons-nous le ciel en cessant de souffrir?
Lorsque l’enfant revient d’un voyage avant l’heure,
bien loin de lui garder quelque ressentiment,
au seul bruit de ses pas tressaille la demeure,
et le père joyeux l’embrasse longuement.
O Dieu qui m’as créé, serais-tu moins clément?
Non! Tu ne saurais pas, dérobé sous tes voiles,
rejeter dans la nuit ton fils infortuné! Ton fils!
Devinant ton sourire au travers des étoiles,
Il reviendrait vers toi, d’avance pardonné!
Père! Père!
Père que je ne connais pas,
en qui pourtant j’ai foi, parle à mon coeur,
Appelle-moi! appelle-moi! appelle-moi! |
Yes, for her peace I will do
what she orders me to do;
and if my strength deserts me,
ah! it is I who will be forever at peace!
Why quail before death .. .
before our own?
The curtain is lifted;
then we pass to the other side!
That's what is called dying!
Do we offend heaven by ceasing to suffer?
When a child returns from a journey before he's expected,
far from feeling some resentment towards him,
at the very sound of he step his home stirs,
and his father, in his joy, holds him in a long embrace.
O God who created me, would You be less merciful?
No! Hidden beneath Your veils, You would not cast Your hapless
son into darkness!
Divining Your smile through the stars,
he would come to You, forgiven in advance!
Father! Father!
who I do not know but in whom I have faith,
speak to my heart, summon me! |
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Act III
Werther has come back to see Charlotte, his love
who is married to another. She shows him some
of the books that they used to read together.
One book in particular, Ossain's verses, sparks
Werther to ask spring to cease its gentle
caresses upon him, for sadness and grief is now
his fate.
Pourquoi me réveller,
ô souffle du printemps?
Pourquoi me réveller
Sur mon front je sens tes caresses,
et pourtant bien proche est le temps
des orages et des tristesses!
Pourquoi me réveiller,
ô souffle du printemps?
Demain dans le vallon
viendra le voyageur
se souvenant de ma gloire première.
Et ses yeux vainement
chercheront ma splendeur.
Ils ne trouveront plus que deuil
et que misère! Hé1as!
Pourquoi me réveller,
ô souffle du printemps? |
Why do you awaken me,
o breath of Spring?
Why do you awaken me?
On my forehead I feel your caresses,
and yet very near is the time
of storms and sorrows!
Why do you awaken me,
o breath of Spring?
Tomorrow, into the valley
will come the traveler
remembering my early glory
And his eyes in vain
will look for my splendor.
They will find no more than grief
and misery. Alas!
Why do you awaken me,
o breath of Spring? |
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