Werther from Vienna

 

Bertrand de Billy (conductor)
Andrei Serban (stage director), 

Piotr Beczała | Werther 
Clemens Unterreiner | Albert 
Gaëlle Arquez | Charlotte 
Daniela Fally | Sophie 

The Wiener Staatsoper has live streamed Werther with Piotr Beczala.  I have only really liked this opera with Jonas Kaufmann, but Piotr seems like the right type to carry it off.  We have soccer balls and hula hoops, so it must be at least the 1950s.  The stage is filled with a gigantic tree which stays through all the scenes.  Do they live in a tree house?  I am pleased to see a piano in Charlotte's bedroom. 

Charlotte seems to be seriously leading him on while telling him she has to marry Albert.  She blows him kisses.  Hmmm.  We are ambiguous about Charlotte.  Werther loves her for her responsible, motherly qualities.  She has married Albert because she promised her mother, but now she seems not to like him.  This Albert is nasty.  She is serious and sad.  Werther has ruined her life.  When one loves someone who cannot love you in the same way, one is obligated to pretend that all is well.  Piotr is excellent in this role but one does not love his Werther.  It is nevertheless a great role for him. 

I have not pictured Charlotte as the mature woman that she is here.  I prefer her as simply the older sister of her mother's many children.  It's too sad.  The emotional dynamic is very strong here.  In life this is too hard.  In opera it is perfect.  They are messing up everything.  

If you want a serious, intense Werther, this is for you.

Werther

👍🏻
Conductor: Alain Altinoglu
Production: Richard Eyre
Set and Costume Designer: Rob Howell

Werther:  Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Charlotte:  Sophie Koch (mezzo-soprano)
Sophie:  Lisette Oropesa (soprano)
Albert:  David Bizic (baritone)

Goethe was 24 when he wrote his novel Die Leiden des Jungen Werther, 1774.  Thus he was virtually a child himself.  It was a raging success which made him very famous for the rest of his life.  For us Goethe is Faust, written later.  For that era he was Werther.

So what is Jules Massenet's excuse?  He was 50 when he wrote his opera Werther, 1893.  This Werther, 2014, when seen from the view of 2020 is simply a sexual harasser.  We know that unrequited love is painful, but do we need to spread the pain to everyone else?  So the question arises:  is he a cad?

Part of our problem with this opera is what a wonderful job Jonas is doing arousing our sympathy.  This is indeed a beautiful version of the opera.  Now that I know who she is, I especially enjoy Lisette Oropesa as Sophie.

Manon with Lisette Oropesa

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Conductor...............Maurizio Benini
Production..............Laurent Pelly

Manon...................Lisette Oropesa
Des Grieux..............Michael Fabiano
Lescaut.................Artur Rucinski
Count des Grieux...Kwangchul Youn
Guillot.................Carlo Bosi
Brétigny................Brett Polegato
Poussette...............Jacqueline Echols
Javotte.................Laura Krumm
Rosette.................Maya Lahyani

Nadine Sierra.....hostess

I love knowing things.  I can't help it.  In this performance of Massenet's Manon from the Metropolitan Opera in HD I noticed for the first time that there was quite a bit of melodrama.  This does not mean corny, overacted soap operas, but instead refers to spoken dialog with orchestral accompaniment instead of recitative or spoken dialog.  Since the orchestra never stops playing, it is easy to overlook that occasionally the actors are speaking.  Then I read that Manon was a mainstay of the Opéra-Comique in Paris after it premiered in 1884.  The original novel is from 1731.  The only problem with the opera is that it is too long.

I didn't realize it has been already 7 years since this production debuted.   The basketball is still there, but there have been hints that it is supposed to be a hot air balloon.  Hot air balloons are not precisely spherical.  Enough.  Please read the other review for more discussion of the production.

I have only seen Artur Rucinski before in Lucia with Lisette from Madrid.  He is very attractive on camera and sings beautifully.

But the performance belonged to Manon and her Des Grieux who received much loud shouting in their bows.  This is a great opera for Michael Fabiano, suiting both his voice and his personality to a T.  You believe in his love.  He made the initial pickup very believable.  More Michael please.

Lisette Oropesa precisely embodies the 15 year old innocent who arrives on the train on her way to the convent.  It is impossible to picture this lively, passionate and curious girl cut off completely from life.  Des Grieux has only good intentions toward her and she towards him.  When she learns that Des Grieux's father intends to kidnap him, she knows she must make other plans.  Lisette is physically trained and fully capable of the physical requirements of the staging.  She ran up and down stairs, fell down and was dragged about, all while singing strongly.

I don't see the diabolical Manon, the evil Manon.  I see only someone who wants to enjoy her life, to have fun while she is still young.  Everyone seems to work against this.  Lisette Oropesa changes as the opera progresses to acquire less innocence and more sophistication.  This is an opera for our time, because she is destroyed by a rich old man.  Her cheers were well deserved.

I still don't see the bed in the sanctuary.  This is bogus.

Cendrillon in HD

A carriage in the form of the French word for carriage.

👍🏻
Conductor...............Bertrand de Billy
Production..............Laurent Pelly

Cendrillon (Lucette)....Joyce DiDonato
Prince Charming.........Alice Coote
Fairy Godmother.........Kathleen Kim
Pandolfe................Laurent Naouri
Madame de la Haltière...Stephanie Blythe

Today we were treated to the first production of Massenet's Cendrillon ever to appear on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.  We begin with a French conductor, a French production and a Frenchman to speak the only spoken dialog heard in the opera.  The rest of the cast is not French but is nevertheless spectacular.

The story divides into three contexts:  1. The home of Pandolfe, his wife Madame de la Haltière, his daughter Lucette and his two stepdaughters.  2.  The palace of the King and his son Prince Charming.  3.  A dream-like fairy land populated by the Fairy Godmother and her minions.

Blogging

This was a really busy weekend for me.  I went to 4 performances in 3 days.

1. Manon in San Francisco on Thursday


2. Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill at Sac State on Friday


3. The Exterminating Angel on Saturday morning


4. Sacramento Philharmonic on Saturday night

So if my reviews seem scattered, that's my excuse.  Berlin to Broadway was a student offering that made of Kurt Weill's songs a sort of biography by presenting 25 different songs in chronological order.  Some were familiar, some were not.  I love Weill and found this fun.  Everything was sung in English, including this one.




I reviewed Manon.  It's hard to direct opera because there are usually so many people on the stage.  It needs to be easy to pick out the main characters and to show how they relate to one another.

I ended up with ambiguity in my reaction to The Exterminating Angel.  I think the content is fascinating.  An HD performance is directed on two levels:  the listed stage director and the camera director.  The first might well have shown who each character is and who they came in with while the camera director might have cut too many people out of the picture to leave much meaning.

I liked the idea of it more than the reality.  I did not like the super high notes--highest ever heard on the stage of the Metropolitan.  Maybe you never heard it because it's hideous.  Get rid of that and I'll think it over.  The ending I liked. This gives an idea.



The Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera presented a concert of Gioachino Rossini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart called "A Night at the Opera."  There was singing by Alyssa Martin, mezzo soprano, and Steven LaBrie, baritone.   They sang bits from Barber of Seville, Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Rossini was represented by an arrangement by Benjamin Britten called Soirées musicales.  Mozart was represented by the Prague Symphony.  The philharmonic is playing well now. The guest conductor was Sameer Patel.  I would have preferred more singing.

Manon at the San Francisco Opera

👍🏻
Conductor: Patrick Fournillier
Director: Vincent Boussard

Manon Lescaut: Ellie Dehn
Chevalier des Grieux: Michael Fabiano
Lescaut: David Pershall
Comte des Grieux: James Creswell
Guillot de Morfontaine:  Robert Brubaker
De Brétigny:  Timothy Mix
Poussette:  Monica Dewey *
Javotte:  Laura Krumm
Rosette:  Renée Rapier

Last night was the fourth performance of Massenet's Manon at the San Francisco Opera.

I find it helpful to contrast the plot of this opera with Puccini's Manon Lescaut.  To begin Massenet's heroine arrives in town on the "coach" on her way to the convent.  In our production she looks like Eliza Doolittle.  Puccini is similar.  In Puccini Lescaut is Manon's brother while in Massenet he is her cousin.  In both versions there are rich old men who want Manon.  In our production virtually all the characters are introduced in the first act but no effort was made to clarify who they were and how they relate to the story.  There was just a lot of meaningless milling around until Manon and des Grieux arrive.

In Massenet we see des Grieux and Manon living together and see that their separation was caused by the elder des Grieux kidnapping of his son.  In Puccini we go immediately to Manon living with one of the two old men as the result of her brother's dealings.  And when she attempts to escape her keeper, he has her arrested and shipped to America.

Massenet focuses on the relationship between des Grieux and Manon, a much more romantic and appealing approach.  After des Grieux's departure, Manon takes up with one of the old men.  The staging of Manon's gavotte is the highlight of the production.  She is seen high above the stage holding a large bunch of balloons and then floats down to the floor.  Fun.  I was worried she would have to sing from the flies, an acoustic dead spot.

When des Grieux is kidnapped by his father, he goes into the religious life and orates on the meaning of life.  This allows for the sexiest scene in all of opera:  the scene at Saint-Sulpice.  Manon has not forgotten des Grieux and goes to the church to seduce him away from his religious calling.  She succeeds.  "Isn't this my hand?"

The couple get involved in gambling and are arrested for cheating.  They have created their own fate, far less depressing than Puccini where they both die in Louisiana.

This performance was saved by music.  Our lovely French conductor kept the action moving and supported our romantic pair.  Ellie Dehn handled well all the changes of style of her role and sounded lovely.  Michael was intense and exciting as always.  His voice fills our house with ease.  Together they made a very romantic couple and brought the audience to applause over and over.  I loved it.

Thaïs on the Radio

Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume
Production: John Cox

Thaïs:  Ailyn Pérez
Nicias: Jean-François Borras
Athanaël: Gerald Finley
Palémon: David Pittsinger

Because I am an admirer of Ailyn Pérez, I am listening to the Saturday radio broadcast of Jules Massenet's Thaïs.  This production debuted with Renée Fleming in an HD simulcast, so I can still visualize the sets to a limited extent.  Ailyn begins the opera in the blond wig seen below.

Towards the end her hair gets shorter and rattier.  I've been following Ailyn Pérez since almost the beginning of the blog, and I am a fan.  This is a perfect role for her.  Finley is also very good.  The applause was enthusiastic.

Michael Fabiano at Mondavi

I went out in the pouring rain to see Michael Fabiano at Mondavi in Davis. His accompanist was Laurent Philippe.  He said they'd been working together 12 years.  We were seated at small tables on the stage.  This is an enjoyable intimate arrangement.

I have seen Michael live at the San Francisco Opera in Lucrezia Borgia, Luisa Miller, and Don Carlo.  In 2014 I predicted he would win the Richard Tucker Prize, and he did.  That was fun.  Next season in SF he will sing in Manon opposite Nadine Sierra, and at the Met next season he will simulcast in La Boheme.

I got the impression that Michael very much loves his chosen repertoire for this recital.

Four songs by Puccini (Italian)

Four songs by Duparc (French)
    Duparc is not performed nearly enough.  These were virtually theatrical performances.

An aria: "Ne pouvant reprimer les elans" from Hérodiade by Massenet. (French)

Five songs by Toscanini (Italian)
    Who knew Toscanini composed?

"Kuda, Kuda, kuda" Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky (Russian)
     This is very timely since it is currently playing at the Met.

Three songs by Barber, including "I hear an army" for a rousing finish.  (English)

He is a serious artist and does not hesitate to use his operatic voice in song repertoire when suitable.  It was very much worth the trip.  There were two encores:

Duparc's "La vie anterieure" (French)
'Lamento di Federico' from Cilea's L'arlesiana (Italian)

 

Werther from the ROH

Conductor:  Antonio Pappano
Production:  Benoît Jacquot  (same as Paris)

Werther: Vittorio Grigòlo
Charlotte: Joyce DiDonato

It was interesting to me when the announcer explained that it took a long time for Massenet's Werther to become truly popular.  Now it is the most frequently performed of Massenet's operas, passing Manon.

I am not going to write a long review.  This is the same production as the one I saw in Paris.  The music was French enough, but the acting was a bit over the top.  I love Vittorio, but I don't feel that I want Werther to be quite so mad.  Maybe I truly love this opera only when it is Jonas.  I want him to be unhappy but not mad.

Christine Goerke wants to be sure that reviewers don't blame the actors for the acting.  The director, Jacquot, must have approved it.  Some will prefer it this way.

Fantasy cast for Werther

Werther:  Jonas Kaufmann
Charlotte:  Elīna Garanča
Sophie:  Lisette Oropesa
Albert:  Ludovic Tézier

This is a reaction to seeing a film from Vienna with Garanča and Matthew Polenzani.  Matthew is very romantic but occasionally loses control of the phrase.

The production is very dark, too dark for a computer screen.  The costumes are 50s and there are beds in most of the scenes.  The Albert is nasty and mean.  The final scene begins with Werther already shot.  Albert looms in the background, leaving the impression that he may have shot Werther.

Elina is incredible.  I think I begin to love this opera.

Sophie Koch in Opera News

I enjoyed very much reading the interview in Opera News before Sophie Koch's performance of Werther.  I was especially pleased to read her discussion of the Paris performance and the unusual and noteworthy conducting of Michel Plasson.  So it isn't just me.

I wonder what she would say now.

Jonas Kaufmann's Werther

👍🏻
Conductor: Alain Altinoglu
Production: Richard Eyre
Set and Costume Designer: Rob Howell

Werther:  Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Charlotte:  Sophie Koch (mezzo-soprano)
Sophie:  Lisette Oropesa (soprano)
Albert:  David Bizic (baritone)

If you have read this blog for long, you will know that I flew to Paris a few years ago to see Jonas Kaufmann sing Werther.  I loved it even more this time live from the Metropolitan Opera in HD.

I liked the production, which moved the time to the late 19th century, very much.  It did what I always say the production is for:  it explained the action.  They staged the overture to show Charlotte's mother dying at Christmas just as they began to sing carols.  This explains why father is teaching the children Christmas carols in the summer.

We know why Werther is at Charlotte's house--he is her date for the ball.  The production shows a small bit of the ball before returning us to the house.  Every scene shows this attention to detail without becoming distracting.  There's a harpsichord because the libretto says there is, but in the 1890s no one would have owned a harpsichord. 

I enjoyed Lisette Oropesa's Sophie very much and find that I could not forgive Werther when he made her cry.  Sophie Koch warmed slowly into the role exactly as a proper Charlotte should.

But you know we are here for Jonas Kaufmann.  This is the main opera where the person who has the mad scene is the man.  In fact the entire opera is about a man going mad for love.  If Jonas wasn't so good looking, we might be more afraid than attracted.  He overwhelms us with his intensity.  If you have seen Werther without Jonas you will know that it needs this intensity.

She called herself SHAR-LOT, while he occasionally called her car-LOT-tuh.  In other words she pronounced her name French and he pronounced it German.  Curious. In his interview he greeted his fans in Germany and Austria and mentioned that opera is the greatest of all art forms.  I couldn't agree more.

(Spoiler alert) The sound went out in the final scene, but we saw after he is dead she walked over and picked up the gun.

I couldn't help noticing things talked about on Twitter.  Perhaps I'll have to stop reading it.  I noticed when the couple who had no other dialog talked about Klopstock.  Klopstock and Ossian were writers who were talked about in Goethe's time. 

I think Kaufmann is the best thing going, and I'm glad there are so many ways for me to see his work.

_________________

I went again.  You knew I would.  Seeing the ending without the rest of the opera just didn't work for me, so I went to see the whole thing again.  He is a genuine phenomenon.  He treats each aspect of the Gesamtkunstwerk that is opera as its own individual art form, raising it to new levels of beauty and brilliance. I think the one in Paris was sweeter.

Klopstock.

Lovely Rita

 Efrain, Maria, Thomas

Saturday night, day of the Chinese new years parade, I drove to San Francisco to see Donizetti's Rita, subtitled the Beaten Husband (1841). This is a buffa for three characters by Gaetano Donizetti.  They are

Rita:  Maria Valdes, soprano
Beppe:  Thomas Glenn, tenor
Gasparo:  Efrain Solis, baritone

Rita is a domestic abuse plot.  At the beginning Rita is with Beppe.  They wake up in the morning, and he immediately begins to give her a pedicure, done with one of her legs on each of his shoulders.  He puts in the spacers and paints on the color while she sings an aria.  The second abuse incident is when she burns his face with a hot iron.  Caution!  No tenors were harmed in the playing of this opera.

Then her ex husband Gasparo shows up.  They are only ex because Rita and Gasparo each think that the other is dead.  Gasparo is back to find the marriage certificate so he can destroy it and marry a rich Canadian woman.  Beppe and Gasparo fight in slow motion so no one will hurt the other.  Cute.

The singing was in Italian and the dialog was in English.  Two of the singers are current Adler Fellows and Thomas Glenn is a past Adler Fellow.  Thomas is a very funny guy, and all three were fun to watch and listen to.

This was presented by the New Century Chamber Orchestra led by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.  Nadja is famous for behaving like a normal person in her performances.  In the classical world this is considered remarkable.  She is an exciting player and coaxes the same kind of emotional involvement from her fellow players.

In the first half of the program they played:

Mascagni (arr. Assad): Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
Verdi: Prestissimo from String Quartet in E minor
Massenet (arr. Assad): Meditation from Thais, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin
J. Strauss (arr. Lindstrom): Overture to Die Fledermaus

I detected no coordination problems with the singers facing the audience most of the time and Nadja conducting the orchestra at the back of the stage.  I enjoyed it very much and can add this opera to my list.

Something to listen to

Last Night of the Proms

Like New Years Eve in Vienna, in London it's Last Night of the Proms.




Joyce DiDonato is peaking now.  Or she could go on to....



I like it very much that she sings it as herself, one of the great opera divas of today.

Poeme D'Un Jour

My copy arrived today.  The whole thing is in French and Spanish, and all of it is gorgeous.

Ailyn Pérez is a lyric soprano with a range of colors at her disposal.  In her 40s she will probably become more of a spinto, but for now she is firmly in the lyric Fach.  She probably most closely resembles Victoria de los Angeles who sang a little Wagner for no reason that anyone can recall.  Ailyn is already slightly heavier, slightly darker than Victoria.

They also share the gift for French and Spanish repertoire.  Ailyn uses her colors to great effect in this very stylish album.
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Ranking the Simulcasts 2011-12

I am not going to be able to rank the simulcasts from the Metropolitan Opera because nothing hit it out of the park for me this year.

I adored The Enchanted Island with Joyce DiDonato, and I liked very much Rodelinda with Renée Fleming, but, nevertheless, they are Baroque operas, and how far can you really go with that?

Mozart was well represented by Magic Flute with Nathan Gunn (I'm counting it because it was new for me) and Don Giovanni with Mariusz Kwiecien. I liked Flute for the production, but nothing really wowed me.

Bel canto was represented by Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko.  Verdi was represented by Ernani with Angela Meade and La Traviata with Natalie Dessay.  What can I say?  Anna was too heavy, Angela was too blah, and Natalie was a disaster such as seldom happens at the Met.  I think Anna Bolena just missed.

Jay Hunter Morris saved both Siegfried and Götterdämmerung and became the sexiest Wagnerian since Peter Hoffmann, or perhaps ever.  I liked the bird in the production, but that's about it.  I continue to regret missing the San Francisco Ring.

Saryagraha is more of an event than an opera.  I liked it, but it isn't really in the running.

That leaves Manon with Anna Netrebko and Faust with Jonas Kaufmann.  Jonas isn't really the main character in Faust, despite the title, and I wasn't really crazy about Marina.  Good but no cigar.  I liked it better in Santa Fe.

That leaves Anna Netrebko as the Manon for the ages.  I love this performance so much.  The peak experience is the DVD.  Buy one.  Anna's problem for the rest of her career is going to be the trail of DVDs she has left behind.



This is a sample of the "Elizabeth Taylor" scene.

When it's Saturday, and there's no opera, I feel empty and disappointed.  I'm looking forward to next season.

Manon in HD

Conductor...............Fabio Luisi
Production..............Laurent Pelly

Manon...................Anna Netrebko
Des Grieux..............Piotr Beczala
Lescaut.................Paulo Szot
Count des Grieux........David Pittsinger
Guillot.................Christophe Mortagne
Brétigny................Bradley Garvin
Poussette...............Anne-Carolyn Bird
Javotte.................Jennifer Black
Rosette.................Ginger Costa-Jackson


Before we get started I have just one question:  what was the basketball in Act III about?  Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe it's left over from March madness.

Today live from the Metropolitan Opera in HD featured Massenet's Manon in a new production by Laurent Pelly, starring Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała, (pronounced pyOtr betchAwa) who is Polish.  Did I know this opera was a comique?

Since we are seeing it next week, I was curious about some of the features Pelly's Manon has in common with Decker's La Traviata.  There are six different sets for Manon with basically only two for Traviata, but both are extremely bare bones.  Both operas have crowds of men in tuxedos and top hats that include cross-dressed women from the chorus.  Other reviewers have complained that the sloping stage ramps look like the handicapped entrance.  The austere last scene was very effective, but in general the sets are big, cumbersome and boring.  And I completely did not buy the bed in the transept, though it made for a nice finish for the scene.

The main difference between the two productions is the presence of women in Manon.  In Traviata Violetta is the only woman.  I rather liked the ballet made up of young women dressed like the dancers from Degas paintings, but I didn't like that they were all carried off screaming when they finished dancing.  I see no reason why rich men couldn't afford to bribe their way to affection.

Paulo Szot (shot) is an excellent actor and a pretty fair singer.  For me Manon really only works if the acting is intense.  Christophe Mortagne was very nasty as Guillot, the villain, but was having a lot of trouble with his English when Debbie Voigt was interviewing him.  We miss Renée.

Beczała is an excellent tenor who projects a very sentimental quality in the role of des Grieux.  He completely lost his sense of the correct pitch in his big aria.  And the Netrebko has it all.  I thought she looked, sounded, and acted beautifully.  I can't really imagine this opera with anyone else in it.  In the Marilyn Monroe scene (you know what I'm talking about) she lost her earring and then threw the other one across the room. 

This was Fabio Luisi's first Manon, and he conducted like it was an old friend.  He's setting records at the Met for most performances conducted in a single month.

[See Kinderkuchen History 1870-90]

Werther the DVD

God in heaven, he is so dreamy. And with a DVD you get closeups.  Remember, watch out for those good girls.

And Ludovic Tézier who sings Albert is no slouch either.

For an actual review of this performance see here. It is a Werther for the ages.
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Two Werthers

You see, there's the opera, and then there's what they make out of it.  The two Werthers are the one in Paris in February and the one in San Francisco in September.  It would be difficult to imagine the same opera could be so different.

Usually reviewers save the singers for last, but I want to make clear both casts were very fine. In Paris Sophie Koch sang Charlotte and Jonas Kaufmann was Werther. In San Francisco Alice Coote was Charlotte and Ramón Vargas sang Werther. All four of them are very fine performers. Koch and Coote are great lyric mezzos. I enjoyed hearing Alice Coote very much.

Jonas and Ramón are both excellent tenors, but stylistically they are at opposite ends of the Fach. Jonas is cool and German. Ramón is hot and Latin. These factors all by themselves are going to change the quality of the experience. The musical quality of each performance was fully in synch with the style of its tenor. In Paris the very cool, very inwardly passionate Jonas Kaufmann was perfectly matched by the inward, lush, cool and impressionistic performance of the Paris Opera orchestra.

In San Francisco the more overtly passionate and southern Ramón Vargas was matched by the far more traditionally Romantic playing of the San Francisco Opera orchestra. In Paris the orchestra never covered Jonas no matter how loudly or softly he sang. In San Francisco they frequently played over Ramón, something that happens unacceptably often in San Francisco.

Werther in San Francisco was musically a pleasure but not the miracle of Paris.

Before I leave the music, "Va! laisse couler mes larmes" was beautifully sung by Alice Coote with an incredible accompaniment on the saxophone. Saxophone at the opera. It completely transformed my sense of the aria.



So that leaves the production. It is a lot easier for me to understand the titles and follow the plot when the titles are in English.

The Paris production was just a collection of large rooms conventionally but sparsely furnished. In SF we have a big square stage with neon all around, and only two ways on and off: a big hole in the floor and a narrow, cluttered obstacle course in one corner. There are telephone poles that turn into trees.

Toward the end there was a WTF moment when three guys line up and shoot themselves all at the same time. Then one of them stayed on the floor and played dead while Vargas got up and finished singing the rest of his part. Charlotte sang to the super on the floor.

Werther is a serious tragedy brought on by trying to do the right thing when emotions don't support it. This Werther is just a bunch of people screwing around. Or dreaming they are screwing around. Or hallucinating they are screwing around. Or some damn thing.

[See Kinderkuchen History 1890-1910]