AVA's worthy 'Werther' helped by production, piano

Jules Massenet's 1887 opera Werther arises from a world so alien to our own that every theatrical means possible is needed to convincingly create a world where people get married to uphold a deathbed promise, causing everybody to end up miserable or dead.

So was Academy of Vocal Arts mildly deluded on Saturday to think its young singers could navigate such psychological depths? That the opera's aura can be conjured from piano (rather than orchestral) accompaniment?

AVA functions to give its post-graduate singers the assignments they need for their development. Vocal subtlety and theatrical subtext won't always be in the cards. Casting in this production felt more student-ish than usual, though all singers had some claim on their roles in this tale of a woman who marries out of duty, driving the rejected suitor Werther to suicide.

The production came to the rescue. Staged by Dorothy Danner and designed by Peter Harrison, the opera had the painfully sensitive Werther viewing the world through the soft-focus haze of a scrim, telling you how his idealized reality is also his source of isolation.

Elsewhere, the handsome production created an inviting environment - though the stately, candlelit library and restrictive clothing are evidence of the orderly world that drives Werther to his end. The characters are victims of fate, and here, fate resembled an era closer to the time of the opera than the Goethe novel it is based on, written a century before.

The singing was robust - more appropriate to verismo opera than Massenet's more gentle expression, and the French-language text often wilted in the heat until the later acts, when the singers were working with the words with much greater specificity.

Despite vocal mishaps, tenor Mackenzie Whitney has a good upper-range extension needed for the title role, though the statuesque Alexandra Schenck (Charlotte) had trouble sustaining a long-term vocal line. Baritone Jorge Espino as her husband, Albert, was the cast's most accomplished singer (also conveying the severity behind his gentility), while well-cast Alexandra Nowakowski (Sophie) was a vocally bright presence.

Massenet isn't always sturdy enough to survive on piano only. But even when you seemed to be missing something, Luke Housner's playing was a marvel. The final act actually thrived.

Was Housner the star of the show?

Werther

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at the Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St.

Tickets: $65-$95.

Information: 215-735-1685 or www.avaopera.org

dstearns@phillynews.com.