Werther

Vittorio Grigolo takes the role of the despairing Romantic poet Werther, with Joyce DiDonato as his unrequited love, Charlotte. Goethe's original novel was a European sensation in its day and Massenet's opera brings out the intensity of its portrayal of dashed hope. Antonio Pappano conducts the revival of Benoît Jacquot's sumptuous, deeply romantic opera. (Sung in French; running time: three hours and five minutes.)