The production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the Greek National Opera's artistic outreach.

Production sponsor

An Opéra de Paris production / Original production of the Royal Opera House, London

The Greek National Opera will present a great world-class artistic event in May 2020. Jules Massenet's Werther brings the top mezzo-soprano of our time, Anita Rachvelishvili, to the Greek National Opera. She will tackle for the first time in her career the role of Charlotte in an already legendary production directed by the great French film director Beno?t Jacquot.

One of the most popular operas in the French repertoire, Werther was written about a century after Goethe's epistolary novel of the same title, upon which it is based, and it describes the dead-end love story between young Werther and Charlotte. The operatic Werther, which was met with huge success when it was written and has been translated in many languages and influenced the morals and fashion of the time, follows its own rules, keeping a distance from the original. It preserves the conflict with the social environment and social conventions, but sets aside the philosophical questions. The story of Goethe's hero inspired the French composer to write music of high lyricism and rare tenderness, with intense dramatic outbursts.

Jacquot's famous production first premiered in 2003 at the Royal Opera House, London, and then at the Opéra National de Paris. Critics and audience have repeatedly praised the suggestive scenic rendition of the dead-end love and the atmosphere created by each scene, following the mood shifts of Massenet's music. 

Anita Rachvelishvili, a true opera star, carves out a spectacular trajectory at the world's top opera houses with huge success and triumphant reviews by the biggest media of the planet. After her first enthralling appearance in Greece last July in GNO's production as Carmen, the sought-after Rachvelishvili -whom Riccardo Muti characterized as the «best mezzo on the planet nowadays» in a New York Times article titled «A young singer enthrals the world of opera»- received a standing ovation at the Metropolitan Opera House in the productions Aida and Adriana Lecouvreur, where she co-starred with Anna Netrebko, and at the Opéra National de Paris as Carmen. She also gave concerts with Jonas Kaufman and Daniel Barenboim, while next July she will make her Salzburg debut.