Werther seems to have edged out Manon in popularity among Massenet’s operas, judging from its numerous recordings. Their many excellences, however, yield pride of place to the opera’s pioneering 1931 version. It’s a performance that is completely comfortable in its own skin, so to speak, and idiomatic to the bone. The principals, Georges Thill and Ninon Vallin, command the type of controlled fervency and conversational ease that define French opera singing at its zenith. The supporting singers are no slouches either, and the orchestra’s slightly nasal, silver-toned sonorities recall an instrumental playing style that, for better or worse, has long passed into history. Ward Marston’s truthful transfers are effected with care. To my ears, however, the EMI References edition stems from cleaner source material, and avoids the occasional blasting and distortion at loud levels here. At the same time, EMI tastefully applies a smidgen of fake reverberation to the resonant yet slightly dry originals. But whereas EMI offers no fillers, Naxos fills out disc two with six nonpareil Thill Massenet selections from Le Cid, Hérodiade, Manon, and Sapho. Naxos’ superlative annotations, moreover, compensate for the lack of a libretto. Whichever transfer you choose, if you love Werther, you can’t be without this classic.
