Canadian Opera Company: Werther, opera by Jules Massenet. With: Russell Thomas (Werther), Victoria Karkacheva (Charlotte), Simone Osborne (Sophie), Gordon Bintner (Albert), Robert Pomakov (Le Bailli), Alain Coulombe (Johann), Michel Colvin (Schmidt). Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus, Canadian Children’s Opera Company, with Johannes Debus, conductor. Direction by Alain Gauthier. May 7, 2026 in the Four Seasons Centre. Repeats May 9, 13, 15, 17, 19, 23. Tickets here.
In a properly run universe, Werther, Jules Massenet’s richly romantic 1887 setting of the once-celebrated epistolary novel by Goethe would appear at your local opera company every decade or so. The production unveiled Thursday night at the Four Seasons Centre was the first by the Canadian Opera Company in 30 years.
It will surely be back before 2056.
The Opera
A tale of passion both repressed and expressed, this four-act tragedy requires singing of equal strength from the gloomy poet of the title and from Charlotte, the unfortunately married object of his obsessive devotion.
American tenor Russell Thomas, a COC veteran making a role debut, and mezzo-soprano Victoria Karkacheva, a Russian newcomer to the company, performed with emotional conviction and musical distinction, at least after some customary first-night warming up.
The banner headline, however, must be reserved for the production overseen by the Montreal director Alain Gauthier, which takes place, mirabile dictu, in Germany in the later 18th century — which is to say, where and when the libretto (following the novel) specifies.
Though not especially colourful or picturesque, the sets designed by Olivier Landreville permitted the action (and interactions) to unfold unencumbered by confusing temporal dislocations or other flights of fancy. It was a nice touch to have the outline of a church visible throughout the opera, given the struggles of the principal characters with family loyalties and established moral standards.
Performance Details
Those struggles are strictly latent in the first act, in which brooding Werther is coaxed out of his funk by the natural beauty of the countryside, and in particular the enchanting sight of Charlotte taking care of her younger siblings (a sweet-sounding sextet from the Canadian Children’s Opera Company).
High spirits on the part of the drinking buddies Johann (bass Alain Coulombe) and Schmidt (tenor Michael Colvin) and the good-natured Bailiff (bass Robert Pomakov) — like other secondary characters, nicely cast — add to the bucolic innocence of this environment.
An ominous note is sounded by the arrival of Albert, Charlotte’s fiancé (the rugged bass-baritone Gordon Bintner), whose suspicions are aroused. The wedding accomplished, our despondent hero, haunted by thoughts of ending it all, absents himself for a few months.
Charlotte, clearly conflicted, rereads his letters on Christmas Eve. This Letter Scene is perceived as the passionate apex of the opera, and so Karkacheva made it seem with her rich voice and urgent acting style.
Thomas also rose to the occasion, animating his essentially heroic tone by an apt touch of lyricism in Pourquoi me réveiller?, the signature aria of Act 3. While not a gifted thespian — the heavy overcoat with which he was outfitted struck me as something of a burden — he was always a plausibly tragic figure.
Soprano Simone Osborne was in fresh voice as Sophie, Charlotte’s affable sister, who is puzzled by Werther’s bleak outlook. In a way this character stands in for anyone in the audience who views life as essentially worth living.
Goethe had other ideas and it is an unfortunate fact that The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) inspired some copycat suicides in its day. Gauthier chose to enact Werther’s self-destruction on stage, which Massenet embedded in an orchestral intermezzo leading to Act 4.
This being an opera, the title character lives long enough to join Charlotte in a farewell love duet.
Final Thoughts
Werther does not equal Carmen or Eugene Onegin in emotional coherence or musical impact, but with a rich array of melodies and a colourful orchestral component (positively led on this occasion by COC music director Johannes Debus) it certainly merits a trip downtown.
The enthusiastic crowd on Thursday seemed to regard the time as well spent.
This is a co-production with the Opéra de Montréal and Vancouver Opera, so surtitles were helpfully in French as well as English. It might be a good thing to make bilingual subtitles the norm rather than the exception. The practice is common in Europe.
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