Summary: <p>A picture may paint a thousand words, but nothing compares to the intimacy and immediacy of a handwritten letter. Hearing the "Letter Aria" from Jules Massenet's <em>Werther</em> will prove it. From an opera based on the Goethe novel, <em>The Sorrows of Young Werther</em>, this scene finds the tortured heroine Charlotte re-reading the letters of the doomed poet.</p> <p><span>In this episode, host </span><span>Rhiannon Giddens</span><span> welcomes soprano Isabel Leonard, pianist Mary Dibbern and author Peter Bognanni to explore why the words we write to each other have so much power – sometimes even more than the ones we say aloud. They'll reflect on Massenet's talent for showing Charlotte's deep connection to Werther and you'll even get a real-life story about how email brought two people together. Then you'll hear Isabel Leonard sing the complete scene onstage at the </span><span>Metropolitan Opera</span><span>.</span></p>
