Young Werther is Romantic, with a tendency towards melancholy. Staying in a small town, he falls for Charlotte, daughter of Le Bailli or local magistrate, only to discover she promised her late mother to marry Albert, a local businessman. To Werther's despair, she does so and begs Werther to leave town for her peace of mind - but allowing him to return at Christmas …

Scottish Opera continues its fiftieth anniversary season with a production of Massenet's eponymous opera. The dress is more contemporary with the opera's premiere in the 1890s rather than with Goethe's original epistolary novel of the 1770s. Despite this, Jonathan Boyd's Werther is no aesthete, flamboyant in his tortured genius. He would pass as a bank clerk, albeit in a rather nice suit. His voice is light and youthful, in contrast to the grown-up sound of Viktoria Vizin as Charlotte. Thrust into early maturity in taking the place of her late mother, she is sensible and responsible enough for both of them.

Director Pia Furtado plays with a double time scheme, slipping between the 'now' of Christmas Eve and Werther's memories of his earlier encounters with Charlotte. So the prelude to Act 1 sees him arriving back in his lodgings on Christmas Eve. Throughout, his soliloquising arias are now, signalled by snow falling outside. Also, the interiority of the story is accentuated by a silent doppelgänger.

The set, by Helen Goddard, is spare, bounded by a wall doubling both as inside the lodging and outside Le Bailli's house. So far, so relatively realistic, but there is a somewhat Gothic rustic ladder which seems to have been left from another show.

Anna Devin is a charming younger sister Sophie, more obviously happy at Albert's return and upset when Werther leaves. Her clear, lyrical voice balances with the maturer sound of her big sister. As Albert , Roland Wood is almost pompous and smugly patronises Werther by declaring that 'Au bonheur dont mon âme est pleine, ami, parfois il vient se mêler un remord …' Jonathan Best is a kindly Bailli, educating his children and enjoying a quiet drink with his pals Johann (Jonathan May) and Schmidt (Harry Nicoll) who operate like a Greek chorus, commenting on developments. The children themselves sing sweetly, play and laugh charmingly - a very nice family.

From the stalls, the orchestra - conducted by Francesco Corti - sometimes overwhelmed the singing, less so in the high emotion of the second half. There are passages of delicacy, such as Charlotte's Act 3 aria 'Va! Laisse couler mes larmes', where the voice duets with the orchestra, and in the interludes.

The emotions become more intense in Acts 3 and 4, as Charlotte realises her love for Werther. Vizin's anguish is acute - not least when Albert assents to Werther's request to borrow his pistols. She leaves her home as soon as she can, but arrives too late; Werther has already shot himself and he dies in her arms, to the sound of the children singing a carol.