ReviewKorea National Opera reimagines ‘Werther’ through new lens

A scene from the opera "Werther" by the Korea National Opera at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater, Thursday / Courtesy of Korea National Opera

On Thursday, the Korea National Opera staged one of literature's most famous tragedies as a cinematic meditation, pairing soaring vocals with images from film and ballet to explore love, duty, sincerity and death in contemporary Korea.

Based on Goethe’s 18th-century novel “The Sorrow of Young Werther,” the four-act French opera "Werther" premiered in Vienna in 1892 before being staged in Paris the following year. The work is considered composer Jules Massenet’s best and most famous work, finely wrought with a psychologically insightful score.

In Seoul, the company has refocused the opera through the often-overlooked perspective of Charlotte, casting a mezzo-soprano in the role and emphasizing the conflict the character feels as she is torn between passion and responsibility.

Thursday's performance also stood out for its unique production, acting as the opera debut for Park Jong-won, the veteran filmmaker behind titles such as “Guro Arirang” (1989) and “Our Twisted Hero” (1992).

In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Park said he structured “Werther” with what he calls cinematic continuity, using careful blocking, reactions and transitions to create a linear emotional thread he felt is missing in more conventional opera staging.

“In films, the story must flow shot by shot so viewers keep wondering what this person will do next,” Park told The Korea Times before the performance, saying that he hoped opera audiences would feel the same sense of suspense around the characters’ psychology.

The cast rotates tenors Lee Bum-joo and Kim Yo-han in the title role and mezzos Jeong Ju-yeon and Karis Tucker as Charlotte.

The Korea National Symphony Orchestra provides the music, led by conductor Hong Seok-won, who served as chief conductor at the Tyrolean State Theatre in Innsbruck, Austria and artistic director of the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra, is currently the principal guest conductor for the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and is perhaps best known locally for conducting “La Traviata” in celebration of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

Park's innovations include using video projections between scenes to suggest shifting time and a flux in the characters' inner states, rather than simply decorating the set.

A video of Charlotte's wedding with Albert is projected on to a screen during Korea National Opera's production of "Werther" at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater, Thursday / Courtesy of Korea National Opera

The production’s boldest experiment was using ballet doppelgangers for the two main characters. Werther and Charlotte are each accompanied by a designated dancer when they perform arias, using the dancers to express each character's sorrow, agony and jealousy. While ballet is frequently part of opera productions, it is rarely used to provide a constant psychological mirror for specific roles, but Park was committed to finding new ways to make emotional turmoil visible.

“Opera has this incredible music and voice, but I always wanted the emotions to be seen more clearly,” Park said about his experiment. He also noted that “visualizing the music” through bodies onstage could “move the audience’s hearts more deeply.”

Choreographer Jo Ju-hyun, a professor at the Korea National University of Arts, devised detailed ballet choreography to trace the characters’ emotional arcs.

Ballerino Sung Jae-seung, left, dances as tenor Lee Bum-joo sings the lead in "Werther" at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater, Thursday. Courtesy of Korea National Opera

Acutely aware of the impact of the original story on young readers in Europe, where the novel famously inspired some young readers to commit suicide — and in light of Korea's notoriously high suicide rates — Park made it clear that his work doesn't glorify the titular character's choices.

Park's adaptation is also influenced by his personal beliefs from growing up in a Christian household and suicide-prevention work. "I never wanted to glorify suicide,” he said. He interpreted the death of Werther as “a passage toward a purer love” where he can reunite with Charlotte, beyond earthly constraints. He complicates the scene by emphasizing Charlotte's complex emotions, including her hesitation, pushing back against the familiar trope where a woman is held responsible for a man’s downfall.

Park said he wanted the audience “to rethink what genuine passion and sincerity mean today," noting that contemporary Korea often treats purity as “foolish” and channels passion into short-lived trends.

Drawn to Goethe’s story as a dialogue with God about “human limits and the desires we dare to voice in prayer, protest and longing,” he said, “I wanted to capture how human desire collides with the order and hierarchy that God has set, and to show that struggle onstage, because the heart of that conflict hasn’t changed since Goethe’s time.”

“Werther” runs through Sunday at the Seoul Arts Center Opera Theater.