Based on Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther,, Massenet’s opera tells the story of the poet Werther’s hopeless love for Charlotte, who is committed to another man.. The music is full of lyrical beauty, passion and emotional fervour, – small wonder that Werther is often considered to be the composer’s finest work. The Royal Opera’s Music Director Antonio Pappano returns to conduct film, theatre and opera director Benoît Jacquot’s classic production. Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo stars as Werther, alongside Joyce DiDonato, who sings her first Charlotte (one of the great French mezzo roles) in this staging.