Staatsoper Stuttgart is set to present Massenet’s “Werther” as the first opera with an audience since October last year.

The production by Felix Rothenhäusler will be performed at Stuttgart’s historic opera house on Sunday, July 11, 2021, in front of an audience of up to 700 people and will star Arturo Chacón-Cuz in the title role and Rachael Wilson in her role debut as Charlotte.

The cast will also include Paweł Konik (Albert), Shigeo Ishino (The Bailiff), and Aoife Gibney (Sophie). Marc Piollet will conduct on the stage rather than in the orchestra pit.

The performance will be live-streamed on the company’s streaming platform.

Director Felix Rothenhäusler said, “Massenet makes everything more direct in his opera, he highlights Werther, lets the characters collide in their isolation. The opera is the phase of love that becomes radical. She wants to be nothing but that, and beyond that she does not create a social tableau, there is nothing but the desire, the radical search for a single figure,”

“Werther” was originally planned for autumn last year but postponed due to the pandemic. The opera will also be performed on July 13, 15, & 18, 2021.