Charles Gounod: Faust (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 2004)

Gounod wrote some wonderful music and I believe he has never been treated seriously. One example is his opera "Faust". It contains within its pages some of the most exquisite music ever written. Some production do leave you a little nonplus. But this production from the Royal opera house Covent Garden, really blew me away. The staging is incredible and then there is the cast.
Robert Alagna makes and incredible Faust & brought down the house with his first aria, and what better Méphistophélès could you have than the immortal Bryn Terfel. You have to see him to believe it. Then there is Alagna's beautiful wife, Angela Gheorghiu as the delicate Marguerite, beautifully sung and acted. Not to mention the best baritone on earth, Simon Keenleyside as Valentin. What a man, what a voice. Sophie Koch makes for a great Siebel, but I can not understand why they had her limping during the performance, quite off putting, but lovely voice. Then there is one of the best mezzo's on the planet, Della Jones. I love this woman and always have since I first heard her when she recorded for `Opera Rara', what a voice. It's a pity that her role as Marthe was never expanded, so we could hear more of that great voice.
The production is phenomenal, the staging exemplary and it is complete with the ballet. This you have to see: I am not going to say any more about the ballet. Easy the best production of Faust I have ever witnessed and Covent Garden should be extremely proud of it.
So! What are you waiting for! Get out there and purchase it, you won't be sorry. I cannot endorse this production of Faust enough.

This DVD recording of Gounod's Faust is based on a 2004 production from the Royal Opera House. It is certainly an improvement over the offensive 1985 production directed by Ken Russell for the Vienna State Opera (see my review). In this production, the three lead singers, Alagna as Faust, Gheorghiu as Marguerite, and Bryn Terfel as Mephistopheles, are in top voice and their acting is also convincing. If based solely on the vocal and acting qualities, this production probably deserves at least four stars. Alagna is especially dramatic in portraying the transition from an aging to a revitalized Faust. When have you experienced a young Faust, let alone a tenor, who turns a cartwheel after discovering his youth has returned? Gheorghiu successfully portrays both the lyrical and the deranged Marguerite. Terfel has a fine voice but lacks the bass resonance and mischievous sound that the late Nicolai Ghiaurov brought to the role. Sophie Koch portrays a very lively and lovesick Siebel, and Simon Keenlyside, although a bit stiff in his portrayal, conveys Marguerite's righteous and protective brother, Valentin.

While opera is first and foremost a vocal experience, it also has a strong visual dimension, especially with the intimate close ups provided on DVD's. The stage settings and costumes become an integral part of the experience. Changing or updating original opera settings seems to be a popular and often inappropriate trend among current stage directors. It may work as long as the altered staging and costumes don't distract from the story or the vocal atmosphere that the composer had in mind. In this production, cabaret Paris takes the place of Medieval Germany, the relocation works reasonably well with a few notable exceptions. For example, Marguerite first appears strolling in front of a cabaret backdrop of flashing lights instead of a town fair. The atmosphere is entertaining but rather at odds with the more innocent Marguerite who, in Gounod's version, later sings a ballad while seated by a spinning wheel. Incidentally, in Goethe's marvelous poetry, Marguerite responds to Faust's overtures by stating, "I'm neither a lady nor am I fair, And I can go home without your care." Faust realizes that she has a coy side to her personality, but is actually "virtuous and pure" and certainly not a cabaret pick up.

In the garden scene in Act III, we find that the garden has been paved over to resemble a city street--not quite the romantic atmosphere for the beautiful and very heartfelt arias that follow and what the composer and librettist had in mind. As a result, Faust sings the sublime cavatina "Salut! Demeure," which praises Marguerite's surroundings as a "chaste and pure abode" while leaning against her two story house (apartment?) on a street corner. Could the stage director have confused the garden scene in Faust with "On the Street Where You Live" in the musical My Fair Lady? And poor Siebel has to gather a few struggling flowers growing on the edge of some concrete stairs. Oh well, it appears that romanticism is out and revisionist and more glitzy settings are the current vogue.

It was a delight to learn that this production, unlike most stagings of Faust, includes the famous ballet music in Act IV. Unfortunately, not all of the pieces are included and instead of having Faust focus on the most beautiful women in history, as both Goethe and Gounod intended, the dancing and music quickly turns into a ghoulish orgy and loud laughter that obscures the music and minimizes the dancing. On the sideline, a hairy Mephistopheles appears as a transvestite in lingerie. Amusing, perhaps, but even the devil had a degree of dignity and self-pride. One wonders if Bryn Terfel looked at himself in a mirror before appearing on stage.

In conclusion, this production of Faust is probably worth purchasing if you are willing to overlook some questionable staging and costuming. Why is it that so many misguided modern directors are either unaware of what the composer and librettist had in mind or they simply don't care? However, we can only hope that we won't have to wait another 20 years for a somewhat more respectful and faithful production of one of the most popular operas ever written and clearly Gounod's most critically acclaimed opera.

I have been a fan of the opera Faust for over 60 years and for the last 30 or so years of that period have not owned a recording of the opera. It's not to say that I haven't been looking but had simply not found one that I wanted to take a chance on.

When I discovered this recording, done at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, I decided to take a chance on it and hope for the best. I have just finished watching Act 5 and am wildly enthusiastic about this recording. The sound in DTS 5.1 is flawless, the high definition video recording is crisp and clear and the soloists, chorus, and orchestra all turn in stellar performances. I was literally moved to tears at a number of points as the opera progressed. It was such a joy to hear those familiar melodies which I knew so well from the past performed again with power and emotion!

The two DVD set includes a booklet which offers a summary of the production and a brief synopsis of the 5 acts. Yes, it does include the ballet sequence which was added in 1869, ten years after its first production. The ballet sequence as performed here adds interesting ambience to the opera and helps define the depraved nature of Mephistopheles. The opera is sung in French but offers subtitles in many languages including English.

This is truly an opera in the grand tradition; if you enjoy grand opera beautifully produced, directed, and performed then you should be pleased with this recording.

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