Recordings
A well-regarded recording of the complete opera was made in January 1931 by French Columbia with a French cast and the orchestra and chorus of the Opéra-Comique under the direction of Élie Cohen. Henry Fogel of Fanfare magazine, writing in 1992, counted 14 complete recordings and considered it the finest of the lot. His colleague, James Camner, reviewing the Opera d'Oro reissue in 2003, called it "one of the treasures of recorded opera. ... Unfortunately, the transfer is over filtered. The high frequencies are lost, giving the performance an unwarranted flatness. Happily, Naxos offers the same recording expertly transferred by Ward Marston, and acquiring it is a must." Alan Blyth, while giving a very positive review of the reissue of the recording with Albert Lance as Werther and Rita Gorr as Charlotte in 2004, nevertheless pointed out that "neither quite has the ideal subtlety of the best Massenet singers, such as Vallin and Thill on the classic, pre-war set, now on Naxos".
In addition, many of the greatest French and Italian singers of the past century or more have recorded individual arias from Massenet's masterwork.
Year | Cast (Charlotte, Sophie, Werther, Albert) |
Conductor, Opera House and Orchestra |
Label |
---|---|---|---|
1931 | Ninon Vallin, Germaine Féraldy, Georges Thill, Marcel Roque |
Élie Cohen Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra-Comique |
Audio CD: Opera d'Oro Cat: OPD 1366 |
1953 | Pia Tassinari, Vittoria Neviani, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Marcello Cortis |
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli Coro di Voci Bianchi, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino |
Audio CD: Warner-Fonit Cat: 8573 87494-2 |
1953 | Suzanne Juyol, Agnes Léger, Charles Richard, Roger Bourdin |
Georges Sébastian Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra-Comique |
Audio CD: Andromeda Cat: ANDRCD 5073 |
1964 | Rita Gorr, Mady Mesplé, Albert Lance, Gabriel Bacquier |
Jésus Etcheverry Orchestra and Chorus of the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française |
CD: Accord Cat: 472 917-2 |
1968-69 | Victoria de los Ángeles, Mady Mesplé, Nicolai Gedda, Roger Soyer |
Georges Prêtre Orchestre de Paris |
Audio CD: EMI Cat: 562 6272 |
1979 | Tatiana Troyanos, Christine Barbaux, Alfredo Kraus, Matteo Manuguerra |
Michel Plasson London Philharmonic Orchestra |
Audio CD: EMI Cat: 7 49610-2 |
1979 | Elena Obraztsova, Arleen Augér, Plácido Domingo, Franz Grundheber |
Riccardo Chailly Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra |
Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 477 5652-1 |
1980 | Frederica von Stade, Isobel Buchanan, José Carreras, Thomas Allen |
Sir Colin Davis Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden |
Audio CD: Philips Cat: 475 496-2 |
1985 | Brigitte Fassbaender, Magdéna Hajossyová (vocals), Peter Dvorský, Hans Helm (vocals) |
Libor Pesek Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chorus of the Bambini di Praga (Television film directed by Petr Weigl) |
CD (soundtrack): Supraphon Cat: 11 1547-2 632 LD: Amadeo PHLK 7503 DVD: Image Entertainment |
1998 | Vesselina Kasarova, Dawn Kotoski, Ramón Vargas, Christopher Schaldenbrand |
Vladimir Jurowski Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin |
Audio CD: RCA Victor Cat: 74321 58224-2 |
1998 | Angela Gheorghiu, Patricia Petibon, Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson |
Antonio Pappano Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin |
Audio CD: EMI Cat: EMI 81849 |
2004 | Julia Gertseva, Magali Leger, Andrea Bocelli, Natale De Carolis |
Yves Abel Orchestra E Coro Di Voci Di Treato Comunale Di Bologna |
Audio CD: Decca Cat: 789965 |
2005 | Elīna Garanča, Ileana Tonca, Marcelo Álvarez, Adrian Eröd |
Philippe Jordan Vienna State Opera (Video of a performance in March) |
DVD: TDK Cat: DVWW-OPWER |
2004 | Susan Graham, Sandrine Piau, Thomas Hampson, Stéphane Degout |
Michel Plasson Théâtre du Châtelet (Video of a concert performance on 29 April of the version for baritone) |
DVD: Virgin Classics Cat: 359257-9 |
2010 | Sophie Koch, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier |
Michel Plasson Opéra National de Paris |
DVD: Decca Cat: B0014794-09 |
2012 | Sophie Koch, Eri Nakamura, Rolando Villazón, Audun Iversen |
Antonio Pappano Orchestra of the Royal Opera House |
Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 0289 477 9340 3 |
Read more about this topic: Werther
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