Werther – review

As operas go, Massenet's Werther shouldn't be a tricky one to follow. Its timeless themes (love, obsession, loyalty) don't depend on any clever plot permutations. But Scottish Opera's try-hard new production adds dreams and doppelgangers, layered realities and thick symbolism. There are some fine performances, but altogether it is an incoherent and stilted account.

Director Pia Furtado, making her main stage debut turns the focus in on Werther's disintegrating psyche. "I don't know if I'm awake or still dreaming," he sings in act one, and Furtado plays on the lines throughout. From a wintry studio Werther – here an artist rather than a poet – dreams of Charlotte and her happy, wholesome family, and these fantasies spiral him into increasing madness. He is on stage the whole night alternating voyeur and actor in his own fairytale: it is a confusing double act, especially at the beginning. The best moments come when Furtado simply lets Massenet be.

Act three's intimate duo encounters are done more-or-less straight, and make for the most touching sequence of the night. Visually, it is all a bit of a mishmash. The set (Helen Goddard) is Werther's studio around turn-of-the-20th century, with a Gaudi-esque growth to one side and a doll's house representing Le Bailli's family home to the other. Charlotte's world is bathed in warm summery hues, Werther's is cold in dour blue-greys, while costumes are a kind of peasant-cum-posh pre-Raphaelite with plenty of masks for good measure.

The production is saved by its vocal performances. Viktoria Vizin's Charlotte and Jonathan Boyd's Werther make a pair of powerful, expressive voices, hers darker-hued than his, but still well-matched. Charlotte's emotional unravelling in the final acts is compellingly portrayed by Vizin. Anna Devin's Sophie is sweet and nimble-voiced, and Roland Wood is a warm Albert. Francesco Corti conducts a workable reading from the orchestra.