Gounod: Faust (complete original opera production from 1859)
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CHARLES GOUNOD
Gounod: Faust (complete original opera production from 1859)
Véronique Gens, Andrew Foster-Williams; Benjamin Bernheim; Jean-Sébastien Bou /Flemish Radio Choir, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
[ Bru Zane / 3 CD/Book ]
Release Date: Friday 23 August 2019
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Gounod contemplated a Faust opera as early as his residence in Rome in the 1840s. But almost twenty years were to elapse before one of the most famous works of French Romanticism was premiered at the Théâtre-Lyrique (1859). Its debut at the Opéra in 1869 propelled the work into theatres all over the world, but numerous modifications were the price of achieving that fame.
Between the Faust of 1859 and its counterpart of 1869, some of the spirit has evaporated: the spontaneity of the spoken dialogue and melodrama, the pawky humour of Dame Marthe, the cynicism of Méphistophélès. We have forgotten the charm of the first tenors who sang 'Salut, demeure chaste et pure' with the timbre typical of the voix mixte of opéra-comique. Moreover, a large number of pieces were consigned to oblivion by these modifications. To discover this first Faust is to gain a deeper insight into the French aesthetic of demi-caractère, so specific to Paris in the 1850s.
BBC Music Magazine Awards 2020 Finalist - Opera
"It emerges spring-cleaned of 150 years of Victorian accretions and cobwebs in Rousset's hands...There's wonderful singing from Benjamin Bernheim as Faust, an immaculate stylist who crowns the famous air Salut, demeure with a perfectly placed high C in voix mixte. Véronique Gens's lyric Marguerite and Andrew Foster-Williams's wittily sardonic Méphistophélès are excellent. A revelation." Sunday Times
"It's little short of a revelation, in which some century and a half of performance tradition is scraped away to reveal a witty, fleet-footed work that comes close to the composer's (and librettists') original conception...It also happens to be a terrific recording on its own terms...Rousset underpins it all with conducting that is fleet and dramatically engaged." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short list - Opera
"Christophe Rousset uses period instruments and creates an astonishingly different sound world: harder, less swooning, sharper. Benjamin Bernheim is a relatively light-voiced Faust, ardent and fresh. Véronique Gens' soprano has the right vocal weight and plush tone for Marguerite but she is occasionally pushed at the very top. Andrew Foster- Williams is debonair and louche, and his lithe bass-baritone fits Méphistophélès' tessitura perfectly." Opera Now
"Tenor Benjamin Bernheim is a superb Faust, with a bright and lovely lyric voice that is also comfortable in the lower tessitura of act I. As Marguerite, soprano Véronique Gens is an ideal romantic partner, with a rich and beautiful voice. The recorded sound is marvelous, with the performance showcased to the utmost both in tonal beauty and dramatic impact. For someone like me who has treasured Faust his entire life, this magnificent representation of the opera's original version is a gift beyond description." Fanfare
