Werther pourquoi me reveiller pavarotti biography

The legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti sings Pourquoi me réveiller, one of the most famous and emotionally charged arias from Jules Massenet’s opera “Werther”, during a concert at New York’s Central Park on June 28, 1993.

New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leone Magiera. More than 500,000 listeners gathered for Pavarotti’s free performance on that day.

Massenet’s opera Werther, first performed in 1892, is based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” a seminal work of the Sturm und Drang movement (German: “Storm and Stress”), German literary movement of the late 18th century that profoundly influenced the Romantic literary and musical aesthetic.

Jules Massenet’s Pourquoi me réveiller

The aria is sung by the protagonist, Werther, in the third act of the opera.

At this point in the story, Werther is deeply in love with Charlotte, who is married to another man. The aria expresses Werther’s torment and despair as he confronts his