# Massenet's Werther



## Sandy (Dec 23, 2009)

I just listened to this entire opera from the N.Y. Met with a baritone that took my heart. Anyone heard of Thomas Hampson? Living in the boondocks of California central coast, I have missed the Met's broadcasts until I received my satellite radio. He's handsome enough to be a Hollywood star but his voice is incredible.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

You can also watch him on Met Player in Thais with Renee Fleming:

https://www.metoperafamily.org/met_player/catalog/detail.aspx?upc=811357012208


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> You can also watch him on Met Player in Thais with Renee Fleming:
> 
> https://www.metoperafamily.org/met_player/catalog/detail.aspx?upc=811357012208


I'm hoping that one day there will be a Fleming Thais on DVD.


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## Sandy (Dec 23, 2009)

I would assume she would not do it in the nude. Some one did that opera sans costume.....

Thanks for the link.....

Sandy


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

jhar26 said:


> I'm hoping that one day there will be a Fleming Thais on DVD.












http://www.amazon.com/Massenet-Thais-Metropolitan-Renee-Fleming/dp/B002Y5FKZ4/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262298586&sr=1-12

Can't see it on Amazon UK. I have a multi-region DVD player so the Region 1 thing doesn't restrict me.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Saw _Werther_ live for the first time last autumn, with Opera North and Alice Coote, who was recovering from swine flu but still she went on. She swept all before her - it was impossible to tell that she was ill, until the end, when she seemed barely able to stand while taking applause. Massenet is one of the few composers that I'd like to have been able to spend a few hours with chatting in a pub (though I'd need to brush up my French!).


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Elgarian said:


> Massenet is one of the few composers that I'd like to have been able to spend a few hours with chatting in a pub (though I'd need to brush up my French!).


Why is that Alan? (I know very little about him).


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## Sandy (Dec 23, 2009)

Thank you Mamascarlatti. I have preordered the DVD. Sounds like a perfect Thais.

Sandy


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> Why is that Alan? (I know very little about him).


It's not based on any great knowledge - just an intuitive impression of the man, partly because of a certain gentleness and sensitivity that seems always to come through his music (at least, the small proportion of his music that I know), but also because he seems to have been one of those people who are always optimistic. His autobiography is almost ludicrously positive, as if he were determined, when looking back at the events of his life, to see only the good. He doesn't seem to have had inflated ideas about the worth of his operas - he just worked and worked and worked, agonised about how they'd be received, and felt rewarded when people enjoyed them. Yet this is the man who wrote _Manon_, which Beecham declared he'd give up all the Brandenburg concertos for.

Also, I think he'd probably buy most of the drinks.


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## jhar26 (Jul 6, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> http://www.amazon.com/Massenet-Thais-Metropolitan-Renee-Fleming/dp/B002Y5FKZ4/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262298586&sr=1-12
> 
> Can't see it on Amazon UK. I have a multi-region DVD player so the Region 1 thing doesn't restrict me.


Wow, thanks! Unfortunately I DON'T have a multi region player. I've also been wanting to order the Fleming/Rosenkavalier and Netrebko/Lucia, but they are also region 1 only.:angry: Hopefully all three will soon be available in the region 2 format also.


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

Elgarian said:


> Saw _Werther_ live for the first time last autumn, with Opera North and Alice Coote


I saw the same production! She didn't look ill to me, but I'm sorry to hear she had swine flu. The opera was really impressive, it reminded me of a Puccini opera. I'm seeing La Boheme soon in the same Leeds Grand Theatre. Should be good.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Edward Elgar said:


> I saw the same production! She didn't look ill to me, but I'm sorry to hear she had swine flu. The opera was really impressive, it reminded me of a Puccini opera. I'm seeing La Boheme soon in the same Leeds Grand Theatre. Should be good.


We saw her at the Lowry - not sure whether they did the production at Leeds before or after that, but in either case she wouldn't have had the flu then.

If you get the chance to see the production of _Cosi _at Leeds, grab it with both hands - we loved it so much last autumn that we have tickets for a repeat performance at the Lowry in Feb. And yes, I expect great things for their _Boheme_ - they have Anne Sophie Duprels (presumably as Mimi), who we saw in Edinburgh last year singing Manon (Massenet). She was electrifying!


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## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

Elgarian said:


> If you get the chance to see the production of _Cosi _at Leeds, grab it with both hands!


I have seen that as well, it was excelent and was performed in period costumes which was a refreshing change from modern productions.

I also saw Adventures of Mr Broucek by Janek. I didn't rate that, although the staging was amazing, like something out of Kubrick's 2001.


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## ConcertVienna (Sep 9, 2009)

I saw it Werther in Vienna. Loved it.

The opulent former Imperial Opera also contributes to the experience. The orchestra of the opera is fantastic ( actually it concsists of members of the Vienna Philharmonc).

if anyone should be coming to Vienna, check this out: http://www.concertvienna.com/events/54


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