On track: A triumph of wit and vocal control

A new Werther, with Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham as Massenet's ill-fated lovers, is a DVD with a difference.

This is not the first and familiar version of the opera, but one with the original tenor role rewritten for baritone, an adaptation championed by Hampson, who played it opposite Graham at the Met in 1999.

Five years later, the two Americans recreated their New York triumph in concert at Paris' Theatre du Chatelet, in the company of a brilliant French cast and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under Michel Plasson.

This DVD catches that occasion for posterity.

Initially, the filming can be distracting, locked into what seems like a forest of microphone stands.

And the constant cutting from singers to orchestra only becomes a real irritation when one is confronted by the reality of a wind machine whirring away in the final act.

Apart from the occasional twee shot (please, no more filming through harp strings) Laurent Brunet's cameras do highlight Massenet's inspired writing for woodwind and, when called upon, the sheer grunt of the Toulouse strings.

The irrepressible Plasson, the perfect conductor for this project, is almost a cast member in his own right, mouthing words along with arias and finding le geste juste for every ripple and turmoil in the music.

There is a real chemistry between Hampson and Graham. The bespectacled baritone brings a rare intelligence to the rather morbid Werther and his vocal control in Pourquoi me reveiller is awe-inspiring.

Graham's Charlotte is no assembly-line heroine but a flesh-and-blood woman, lavishing her creamy tone on such well-known arias as Va! Laisse couler mes larmes.

Young French baritone Stephane Degout is a forceful Albert, while Sandrine Piau is a coy, capricious Sophie, eminently collegial whether in or out of character, and delivering some sprightly coloratura.

There's solid support, too, from Rene Schirrer, Francois Piolino and Laurent Alvaro.

For those who find Massenet's music trembles on the brink of the melodramatic, this presentation, with singers holding scores and waiting at the side to take over their mikes, has an almost Brechtian sense of distancing.

Definitely a Werther for today.

* Werther (Virgin Classics 359257, through EMI Music)