Tatjana Gürbaca Directs Werther at the Royal Danish Opera

French composer Jules Massenet based his opera Werther on Goethe’s epistolary novel Die Leiden des jungen Werther, a landmark of European literature. It tells the story of the young Werther, whose unrequited love for Charlotte ultimately drives him to take his own life.

When the novel was published in 1774, it caused an immediate sensation, sparking a veritable Werther fever across Europe. Young men dressed like Werther, Eau de Werther perfume was produced, and Goethe became famous across the continent. Yet not everyone welcomed a story that championed individual freedom and placed emotion above the prevailing ideals of reason and order. In Denmark, the novel was banned for more than 40 years.

Torn between passion and duty
Werther is driven by passion and emotion, but in Charlotte he encounters the constraints of reason and duty. Bound by a promise to her dying mother, Charlotte remains committed to her marriage to Albert.

German director Tatjana Gürbaca, together with set designer Klaus Grünberg, has created a claustrophobic space in which life is constrained by duty and morality, while the vast world beyond seems to press against the windows.

In his opera, Massenet gives Charlotte a far greater voice than Goethe does in the novel, where she is primarily the object of Werther’s adoration, explains Tatjana Gürbaca:

“The opera tells her story and her fate. In the novel, we never really know whether she loves Werther. In Massenet’s opera, however, there is no doubt that she has deep feelings for him. Her inner conflict therefore becomes central to the story: she is torn between the ordered, materially secure life Albert offers her and the extraordinary worlds of dreams and possibility that open up through her encounter with Werther.”

Massenet’s sensual music
In Werther, Massenet unfolds a rich tapestry of lyrical melodies and sensual orchestral music. The score lends a particular poetry to the story of Werther and Charlotte, heightening the anguish of Werther’s passionate but impossible love.

Massenet’s score is conducted by the Royal Danish Theatre’s French Chief Conductor, Marie Jacquot, leading the Royal Danish Orchestra. Jacob Skov Andersen and Elisabeth Jansson perform the roles of Werther and Charlotte, with Theodore Platt as Albert and Ava Line Shokooh as Sophie.

About director Tatjana Gürbaca
Tatjana Gürbaca, born in Berlin, studied directing at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin and attended masterclasses given by Ruth Berghaus and Peter Konwitschny. Since 2001, her work has taken her to opera houses such as Opernhaus Zürich, DNO Amsterdam, Wiener Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Den Norske Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra de Lyon, Grand Théâtre de Genève and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. From 2011 to 2014, she was Director of Opera at the Staatstheater Mainz. For her production of Richard Wagner’s Parsifal at the Vlaamse Opera, she was voted Director of the Year 2013 by the critics of Opernwelt magazine and won the International Opera Award 2014 in the Anniversary Production category.

Werther is performed at the Old Stage from 11 September to 8 October.

Find out more about Werther HERE