On this episode of The Music Room, Mandorichard sits down with cast members Kameron Ghanavati (Werther) and Kaitlyn Tierney (Charlotte) and assistant director Cara Ferro of the UD Opera Theatre’s spring production, Werther.

French composer Jules Massenet’s Werther is a heart-breaking opera based on the semi-autobiographical German epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. “The way he marries the music with the text is unbelievable,” says Ghanavati of Massenet. The opera was completed in 1887 and premiered at the Imperial Theatre Hofoper in Vienna in 1892.

With guidance from director D. Blake Smith and music director James Allen Anderson, the UD Opera Theater will bring this 19th Century Romantic production to life on the Thompson Theatre stage at the Roselle Center for the Arts. Werther will be performed on Friday, May 13 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, May 15 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the CFA/REP Box Office. For more information about UD Opera Theatre, udoperatheatre.com.

Listen to the interview below to hear commentary from the cast members and previews of the extraordinary music performed in the UD Opera Theatre’s production of Jules Massenet’s Werther.

The Interview

Werther: Preview of UD Opera Theatre Production
Host: Mandorichard; aired May 10, 2016.
Thanks to Director D. Blake Smith, Conductor James Allen, and to our guests–Kameron Ghanavati, Kaitlyn Tierney, Cara Ferro–and to the entire cast, orchestra, and crew of UDOT’s Werther.
31:17
60.1MB
(Libretto in French, with English translation)

The Music

Ravon Middlebrooks and Kaitlyn Tierney	Werther and Charlotte’s Act I duet, after the ball	UDOT Rehearsal, May 9, 2016
Ravon Middlebrooks, Kaitlyn Tierney, and Benjamin Rowe	Completion of Werther and Charlotte’s Act I duet after the ball, ending with Le Bailli’s announcement that Albert (Charlotte’s fiance) has come home.	UDOT Rehearsal, May 9, 2016
Brian Fenderson, Kaitlyn Tierney, and Ravon Middlebrooks	Albert and Charlotte’s Act II duet in front of the church, ending with Werther lamenting Charlotte’s marriage to Albert.	UDOT Rehearsal, May 9, 2016
Jazmin Salaberrios	Sophie’s Act II aria: Du gai soleil, pleine de flamme	UDOT Rehearsal, May 9, 2016