Director
David McVicar
Design
Charles Edwards
Costume
Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting
Paule Constable
Choreographer
Michael Keegan
Dolan
Conductor
Maurizio Benini
Faust
Piotr Baczala
Marguerite
Elena Kelessidi
Mephistopheles
John Tomlinson
Valentin
Dalibor Jenis
Marthe
Della Jones
Siebel
Katija Dragojevic
Wagner
Matthew Rose
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Faust
by Charles Gounod
Royal Opera
Covent Garden
4 - 28 October 2004
Many problems surround staging Gounod's Faust, most of them connected with its being derived from the first part of Goethe's Faust. For Gounod, the devout Catholic who fled France in the wake of the Franco-Prussian war and composed religious works in England which adorned Novello's shelves for many years, Mephistopheles is the devil incarnate. For Goethe he was a localised evil, even an embodiment of an element of Faust's tortured intellectual interior, almost a pre-Nietzchean Dionysos. The traditional pact with the devil is pleasure today then everlasting pain in repayment. Mephistopheles in Faust's drama offers Faust the perpetual search. Payment comes when he wants to stay still, emotionally, intellectually or in any other way. This is a much too secular devil for Gounod and his librettists to contain.
Moreover, Gounod was not in the habit of dealing with philosophical subjects on stage. Opera, he might well have argued, is hardly the place. So, picking Goethe's Faust was asking for trouble.
On the surface the solution was simple. The plot is about the love affair between Faust and Marguerite, for whom Gounod produces some of his persuasive and beautiful music. But Mephistopheles is too often a clown to be a real threat. But in the opera Faust must have a rival, an opposite to mirror and thus reveal him, so the librettists invented Siébel.
The inherent dramatic problems of Faust were not solved by this new production of Faust which opened in the summer with a glitzy cast many of whom have been replaced. John Tomlinson now sings Mephistopheles with his customary magnificent voice and able characterisation. His manner and voice suggested a creamy, but naughty uncle scolding his erring nephew, an attitude which seems absolutely consistent with Gounod's rather innocuous music (given the subject).
The star of the show, vocally and dramatically, was the Polish tenor Piotr Beczala. His beautiful voice and absolutely assured top notes gave a confidence to Faust both as an old man and in his rejuvenated form. His wooing of Marguerite was heart-stopping, as it should be, or rather dramatically as it should not be. But thank goodness he did as this more than anything showed up the focus of the opera.
Marguerite was suitably charming in the voice and manner of Elena Kelessidi, though vocally there was some nervous moments. The frailty that emerged further emphasised the strength of Faust.
Della Jones gave a feisty performance in the cameo role of Marthe Schwertlein, and Valentin and Wagner were well represented by Dalibor Jenis and Matthew Rose.
The production was in a way quite old fashioned, but the so it the opera with its French ballet for the first Walpurgisnacht.
Faust was a staple of the diet of fifty years ago and more, and many famous singers established their reputations as Faust or Marguerite. The trouble with reviving it is that is reminds too much of all the other operas that should also be revived but are not.
But with all those reservations I recommend a visit to see Faust, especially with its improved cast. It's a good night out, and very, very nice.
Roderick Swanston
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