Most of those thronging to the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Massenet’s Werther this winter have gone to hear tenor Jonas Kaufmann’s mellifluous singing as the protagonist and the plush sounds of mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch as Charlotte. But some operagoers might also have appreciated the choreographic performance and efficiency of the set, which mechanically slides and shifts in different directions within the shallow space of the three-dimensional stage.
In recent years the Met has frequently explored the spatial dynamic of on-stage architectural elements to heighten dramatic action, most notably (and controversially) with Robert Lepage’s production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in 2011 with its 90,000-pound rotating machinery (RECORD, March 2011, page 35). Such creative explorations show that the intricate play of two-dimensional and three-dimensional space based on static and active elements–even if confined by the proscenium–might make an uninitiated audience more susceptible to architectonic notions developed in the outside world.
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