Orlando Opera presented Werther, with music by Jules Massenet libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann at Sydonie Mansion (5538 Sydonie Drive Mount Dora, FL 32757).
This mansion is just a 15 minute ride from the Yalaha Studio. The roads I traveled were the same one I take each day I head down to Orlando. The mansion is down a long dirt road and sits on a beautiful lake. It is such an unexpected beautiful surprise off of winding country roads. I am starting to fall in love with traveling these winding country roads.
There was valet parking in the parking lot and yet when I arrived the valets were off duty. A young assistant at the ticket table gave me the lowdown on how the opera would unfold but as we were speaking the music for the opera began. I jogged out back and found the audience seated as the opera unfolded on the large porch of the gorgeous home. The opera is set in the German town of Wetzlar around 1780.
I was only able to sketch the first act because the next act took place inside the home and I spent that time finishing the sketch I had started.
What I did discover is that Werther, Gabriel Preisser, falls desperately in love with Charlotte, Chelsea Laggan, a woman he could never possibly have. Their affection is mutual, but she was set up in an arranged marriage by her parents to an older man named Albert, Thandolwethu Mamba, that she would never love. The opera explores the themes of impossible love, rebellion, and the consequences of convention. I felt heart broken for Werther because societal norms would keep him from his true love.
By the time I was adding color to the sketch the actors and audience had moved inside. There was another staging area on the far side of the hose staged around a beautiful fountain. As I worked all the chairs that were in front of the porch were moved to a gorgeous sloping lawn behind be that overlooked a lake. There was lighting set up so it is possible that the opera might go until the moment the sun set.
I considered sketching the outdoor scene but the setting was so panoramic that I decided I had my sketch for the moment. It was such a beautiful setting and such a heartbreaking story. I decided my heart was full and I left before the final act. I knew that tragedy would ensure and I preferred to leave with hope in my heart that love might find a way to endure, but being an opera, I ran from what I assumed would be a tragic finale. I came to experience the beauty of the first act and I was satisfied.