classical music:

	Massenet: Werther Jules Massenet, Yves Abel, ... Decca, 2005 average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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Werther Is A Bocelli Masterpiece

Although not a purist, listening to good opera is a great pleasure. Perhaps the technical aspects are beyond my knowledge, but when Bocelli sings, I do know that his voice and interpretation of Werther go straight to the heart. As Werther one can feel the emotional impact that Bocelli gives to the role. He becomes Werther. Coupled with a great cast and Massenet's beautiful score, this version of Werther is highly recommended. It is easy to see why Bocelli's opera and classical CDs have toped the classical charts. Now the greatest treat would be to see Andrea Bocelli perform this on the live stage.

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Mr. Levine, You Just Don't Get It!

Mr. Levine, it appears impossible for you to write an unbiased review of any operatic album by Andrea Bocelli. As one of those "all-encompassing Bocelli fans" that you disdainfully refer to in your review, I take offense at your blatent attempt to market another tenor's Werther album, while summarily dismissing Andrea's performance as less than superior. Andrea Bocelli single-handedly inspired a love of opera in masses of fans (like me) who previously couldn't tell the difference between a Werther opera and a Werther's candy!
Thanks to Andrea, I can (and do) appreciate other tenors' performances, but I don't buy their albums...I buy ONLY Bocelli, because it is his voice that makes the opera magic for me. And to my fellow Bocelli fans -- I know that with or without my recommendation, you will buy this album and enjoy it! Why? Because unlike Mr. Levine, WE GET IT!

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Saw this LIVE

I saw this opera live in Bologna, Italy and have to say that these reviews are WRONG when it comes to Andrea Bocelli. He was fabulous as was the cast. Bocelli is a fabulous singer as well as person since we met him at our hotel. I belive if you were a true opera fan you could appreciate his talent even if you don't find him as your favorite singer. Watching this opera live in one of the oldest opera house's in Europe makes you appreciate the talent of everyone in this opera!!


Alas, poor Werther

I have had a revelation. After hearing this recording, I find that I no longer entirely despise Andrea Bocelli as an opera singer! Oh, his voice remains small, effortful, strained--even strangulated in some passages, remarkably free of legato and generally unpleasant, but, by heaven, he is much improved. It is actually gratifying to note his steady upward climb toward the third-rate.

The other two sides of this musical romantic triangle, Charlotte and Albert, her self-effacing but well-armed husband, are fairly good, although Charlotte is a bit over-whiny for my taste. Charlotte, it seems to me, should be a perfectly ordinary young German hausfrau (yes, even though she is singing in French), married to a perfectly ordinary husband, who has had the misfortune to become entangled with a self-dramatizing, suicidally-inclined, Romantic drip.

In general, the production is satisfactory but there are a few leaden spots. For example, the story is bookended by children singing, "Noel, noel!" This is a motif of sheer joy, and should be in stark contrast to Werther's inky gloom. It doesn't quite work here.

The previous Amazon reviews are revelatory, too. One reviewer says she has "collected over 20 complete performance CDs of this title, finding something of value in each." And I thought that I was an opera fan! I stand humbled and abashed before this mighty collector . . . although I do find it astonishing to be informed that there have been nineteen subsequent recordings since George Thill recorded the first complete "Werther" over seventy years ago. Speaking as the owner of four "Werthers," I can only wonder why anyone would want TWENTY of them? (Or, come to think of it, why FOUR?)

It is also gratifying to discover that the appreciation of the art of music drama is being enhanced. One reviewer wrote, "Andrea Bocelli single-handedly inspired a love of opera in masses of fans (like me) who previously couldn't tell the difference between a Werther opera and a Werther's candy!"

Three stars and a hearty cheer for a Bocelli recording that has actually risen to the status of mediocrity.

(For those other reviewers who assigned five stars to this production, I hasten to point out that the Werther's candy is the one you eat.)

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3



Tracks
Act 1. Prélude | Act 1. Assez! Assez! ... Noël! Noël! Noël! Jésus vient de naître ... | Act 1. Alors, c'est bien ici la maison du Bailli? ... Je ne sais si je veille ou si je rêve encore! | Act 1. Jésus vient de naître! ... Charlotte! Charlotte! | Act 1. Ô spectacle idéal d'amour et d'innocence ... Monsieur Werther ... Vivat Bacchus! | Act 1. Sophie! - Albert! Toi de retour! | Act 1. Elle m'aime - elle pense à moi ... Quelle prière de reconnaissance et d'amour | Act 1. Orchestral interlude (Clair de lune) ... Il faut nous séparer ... Ah! Pourvu que je voie ces | Act 1. Mais vous ne savez rien de moi - Mon âme a reconnu votre âme ... Si vous l'aviez connue! | Act 1. Rêve! Extase! Bonheur! ... Charlotte! Charlotte! Albert est de retour! | Act 2. Prélude ... Vivat Bacchus! Semper vivat! | Act 2. Trois mois! Voici trois mois que nous sommes unis! | Act 2. Un autre est son époux! ... J'aurais sur ma poitrine pressé la plus divine ... Si, Kätchen r | Act 2. Au bonheur dont mon âme est pleine, ami ... Mais celle qui devint ma femme ... Vous l'avez d | Act 2. Frère, voyez le beau bouquet! ... Du gai soleil, plein de flamme ... Heureux! Pourrai-je l'ê | Act 2. Ai-je dit vrai? L'amour que j'ai pour elle n'est-il pas le plus pur ... Partir! Non! ... Ah! | Act 2. Oui, ce qu'elle m'ordonne pour son repos, je le ferai ... Lorsque l'enfant revient d'un voya | Act 2. Mais venez donc! Le cortège s'approche | Act 3. Prélude | Act 3. Werther! Werther! ... Ces lettres - ah! je les relis sans cesse | Act 3. Bonjour, grande s?ur! Je viens aux nouvelles ... Ah! le rire est béni, joyeux, léger, sonore | Act 3. Va! Laisse couler mes larmes | Act 3. Ah! mon courage m'abandonne! | Act 3. Oui, c'est moi! Je reviens | Act 3. Toute mon âme est là! ... Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps? ... N'achevez pas! | Act 3. Ah! moi! moi! dans ses bras! ... Non! Vous ne me verrez plus! | Act 3. Werther est de retour; on l'a vu revenir | Act 4. Scene 1. La Nuit de Noël | Act 4. Scene 2. Qui parle? - Charlotte, ah! c'est toi, pardonne-moi! | Act 4. Scene 2. Et moi, Werther, et moi je t'aime! | Act 4. Scene 2. Noël! Noël! Noël! | Act 4. Scene 2. Ah! Ses yeux se ferment ... Là-bas, au fond du cimetière ... Jésus vient de naître!

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