Dutch National Opera presents

Faust Charles Gounod (1818-1893)

This show was to been seen in May 2014

Pact with the devil

FAUST

Charles Gounod
Opéra en cinq actes
Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
World premiere 19 March 1859, Théâtre Lyrique, Paris

THIS PRODUCTION

New production
Premiere 10 May 2014
Co-production with Teatro Real, Madrid

Gounod’s Faust returns, after many years, to the stage in the Netherlands. The legend of the man who sells his soul to the devil remains fascinating to this day. Gounod’s splendid music makes this a favourite of the operatic repertoire.

In short

The devil
Frustrated by his unsuccessful quest for knowledge, the elderly Dr. Faust calls on Satan, asking him for eternal youth. In return, Méphistophélès, the devil, may claim him after his death. As a handsome young man, Faust seduces Marguerite, who bears him a son. Marguerite is condemned to death for the murder of her child, but rather than be saved by Faust and Méphistophélès she prays to God and her soul ascends to heaven.

Background

La Fura dels Baus
Conductor Marc Minkowski has a keen affinity for Gounod, and he conducted Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at DNO. He now teams up with stage director Àlex Ollé from the renowned collective La Fura dels Baus (DNO debut). They are known for their modern approach – including the use of video – while remaining faithful to the work in question, and their interpretations appeal to a wide audience. La Fura dels Baus has already staged many Faust-themed works. Ollé: ‘Faust is important to our life and in our artistic career.’

Team, Cast and Chorus

Conductor 
Marc Minkowski

Stage Director 
Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus)
Set Designer 
Alfons Flores
Costume Designer 
Lluc Castells
Lighting Designer 
Urs Schönebaum
Dramaturg 
Alfons Flores
Orchestra 
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Chorus 
Dutch National Opera Chorus
Chorus Master 
Ching-Lien Wu

Le docteur Faust 
Michael Fabiano

Méphistophélès 
Mikhail Petrenko

Valentin 
Florian Sempey
Wagner 
Tomislav Lavoie
Marguerite 
Irina Lungu
Siebel 
Marianne Crebassa
Marthe 
Doris Lamprecht

Creation

Torn between worldly and sacred
Throughout his life, Gounod was torn between the sacred and the worldly; as a young man he even considered joining the priesthood. He read Goethe’s Faust tragedy as a youth, but it was the boulevard play by Michel Carré that would serve as the basis for the libretto. Faust enjoyed immense popularity in France and abroad from the 1860s, but after WWII its reputation waned.

Jewel aria
The title role in Gounod’s masterpiece Faust is more a youthful lover than a sage, and the opera could just have well have been entitled Marguerite due to the female heroine’s key role in the narrative. Her music is sublime, for instance the famously exuberant Jewel Aria ‘Ah, je ris de me voir si belle’ or the prayer ‘Seigneur, daignez permettre’. In its day Faust, composed in a very personal style, was considered quite modern.

ORCHESTRA

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

Following Death in Venice and Faust the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra will return for Benvenuto Cellini in 2015. The Rotterdam Philharmonic, one of the world’s top symphony orchestras since its inception in 1918, is known for the intensity of its concerts, its colourful sound and its daring and innovative audience approach.

Introductions

Every performance of National Opera & Ballet is preceded by an introductory talk. Learn more, enjoy more. The introduction begins 45 minutes before curtain and is held in the foyer of the second balcony. The introduction is free of charge to everyone attending the performance, and amplification is used to enhance audibility. Several days prior to the premiere, the introduction will be made available digitally as a podcast. Check the performance page of the production in question to see if the podcast has already been made available.

Program book

To accompany every performance, Dutch National Opera provides a printed programme in Dutch, with the synopsis in English. 

View the programme for Faust here (PDF, 320 kb): 

Program book

WITH SUPPORT FROM:

    Mon 12 May De Telegraaf (May 12, 2014)

    ***** Faust: an experience

    Mon 12 May De Volkskrant (May 12, 2014)

    ***** A stroke of genius to entrust this opera to Ollé, his stagedesign is enthralling.

    Mon 12 May Trouw (May 12, 2014)

    **** An awe-inspiring spectacle

    Mon 12 May Theaterkrant (May 12, 2014)

    A visually and musically arresting spectacle ****

    Mon 27 Jan Trouw, on Roméo et Juliette 2010

    ‘Minkowski earned the loudest bravos’

    Mon 27 Jan Opera Today on Les Troyens by La Fura dels Baus, 2011

    ‘The visual elements become a second orchestra, telling what Berlioz’s staging was (in Berlioz’s time) unable to show.’