“It
may well be regarded as the inauguration of a new era in
French opera.” R.A. Streatfield on Gounod’s Faust.
This EMI Classics/Prêtre recording of Gounod’s Faust was
first issued in 1979 and digitally re-mastered in 1986. Released
several times over the years this well cast and dedicated
interpretation is regarded by many as a classic recording. The
tradition of making recordings of Faust started as
long ago as 1909 when Enrico Caruso made the first
recordings of extended highlights from the opera.
Gounod wrote twelve operas between 1851 and 1881. Faust was
the fourth
of these and took him almost three years to write. He used
a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel
Carré that combines the first part
of Goethe’s dramatic poem Faust, in the French
translation by Gérard de Nerval, with a contribution from
Michel Carré’s own adaptation Faust et Marguerite.
The hero of the classic German fable, the philosopher
and alchemist Doctor Faust makes a pact with the Devil in
exchange for superhuman knowledge and power. The Faust legend
has been the basis for many literary and musical works, such
as those by Goethe, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Mann, Berlioz,
Liszt, Wagner, Schumann and Gounod. Goethe’s dramatic poem
of the Faust legend made him Germany’s most celebrated writer;
giving him enduring worldwide literary fame.
The opera Faust is Gounod’s masterwork and was premièred
at the Théatre-Lyrique, Paris on 19 March 1859. In 1868-69,
for its new production at the Paris Opéra, Gounod made revisions
adding ballet music to the score. It rapidly achieved international
distinction and for more than half a century after its première
was probably the most popular opera in the repertoire. For
opera-lovers its elevated status, with the exception of temporary
changes in vogue, has endured. It was selected for the inauguration
of the New York Metropolitan Opera House in 1883. Evidently
its high frequency of production there led to the frivolous
idea by the New York music critic W.J. Henderson that that
the Met should be renamed the ‘Faustspielhaus’.
Writer Gervase Hughes in 1969 stated that for many, “a
mention of Faust does in the first instance call to mind
neither the Urfaust, nor Marlowe, nor Goethe, nor such
musical interpreters of the legend of Schumann, Liszt,
Berlioz and Wagner; but rather Gounod, that talented eclectic
and inconsistent French composer...” I note that writer
Alan Jefferson in The Glory of Opera (1976, rev.
1983) does not include Gounod’s Faust in his list
of the twenty-five Great Operas, although it would certainly
feature in any my list. Author Richard Somerset-Ward in The
Story of the Opera (1998) considers Faust as, “one
of the most noble French exports of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries”, also describing it as “sugary
and sentimental.”
In the opening monologue, Rien! ... En vain j'interroge and
in Mais ce Dieu, que peut-il faire pour moi? tenor Plácido
Domingo in the title role is secure, strong and passionate,
providing superbly intelligent singing.
In his cavatina Salut, demeure chaste et pure he is
memorable and equally confident. Faust’s love duet with Marguerite,
in the prima donna role, played by Mirella Freni Oui, c'est toi que j'aime is especially well performed conveying blissful happiness; tender and
mesmerising.
Freni is dignified and expressive in her eleven-minute
solo scene in Act 3 that commences with Je voudrais bien
savoir…then Il était un Roi de Thulé…and Un
bouquet!…O Dieu! que de bijoux! Her appealing account
of the conclusion of the scene, the celebrated jewel song Ah!
je ris de me voir is a highlight. In Marguerite’s aria Elles
se cachaient the soprano reaches the high notes with
rapt assurance. The baritone Thomas Allen is convincing and
telling in his role as Valentin. In Avant de quitter ces
lieux he delivers an especially proud and meaningful
performance. I enjoyed Allen’s authoritative contribution
to the virile Soldiers’ Chorus Gloire immortelle to
celebrate a victorious homecoming.
Soprano Michèle Command is a delightful and creamy-toned
Siébel as she skilfully demonstrates in her arias Faites-lui
mes aveux and Si le bonheur. The
duet between Plácido Domingo (Faust) and the marvellous
bass Nicolaï Ghiaurov (Méphistophélès) A moi les plaisirs is
notably dramatic. The Wagnerian
brass episode is quite superbly played (CD 1, track 5 at
2:52-3:29). I loved the grotesque quality that Ghiaurov
gives to Méphistophélès' serenade Vous qui faites l’endormie and
his contemptuous tirade in Le veau d’or.
The orchestra and chorus perform
to a high standard throughout. Their interpretation of
a mysterious summer’s evening in the introduction to Act
3 is exceptional. Prêtre’s forces combine to particularly
fine effect in Quand du Seigneur with the organ
at 3:55 (CD 2, track 20) making a great impression. The
opening scene of the final Act Dans les bruyères is
set on Walpurgis Night when witches gather on Brocken in
the German Harz Mountains. Here Faust and Méphistophélès
attend the revelry and we can enjoy a splendid evocation
of the fantasy world of spirits, elves and fairies echoed
from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I
loved the magical conclusion where the dying Marguerite’s
soul ascends to heaven and in despair Faust genuflects
in prayer. The exquisite entrance of the organ at (2:59,
CD3, track 15) to augment the chorus and orchestra accentuates
the emotion. The set closes with
the seven pieces of ballet music as an appendix - a lovely independent
suite.
This EMI Classics recording is impressive and well performed
and recorded. I will return to this set often. Of the several
other excellent versions in the catalogue my particular favourites
are listed in order of preference at the end of the review.
On
this reissued EMI Classics set the performance by this splendid cast is impressive. This is a version that will
stand alongside the competing sets (listed above). However, some of the satisfaction is
spoilt by the lack of full texts that should be regarded
as de rigueur for an opera release. The five page synopsis is well-cued and there
are also two pages of track numbers
containing some bewildering aria titles. Trying to connect
the two sources of information was a trial of tolerance.
Furthermore, from the track number titles it is difficult
to identify some of the popular pieces in the opera by name
such as the: Jewel Song, Drinking Chorus, Spinning
Song, The ballad of the King of Thule and the Flower
Song. I had no problem with the pleasing and clear sound
quality of the recording. The rather lacklustre presentation
includes a decent enough essay
by Richard Osborne. But it is the quality of the music and
the performances that do the talking here.
Michael
Cookson
My
favourites
1. The ‘classic’ version beautifully sung
by Victoria de los Angeles (soprano) - Marguerite; Martha Angelici
(soprano) - Siébel; Solange Michel (soprano) - Marthe; Nicolai
Gedda (tenor) - Faust; Jean Borthayre (baritone) - Valentin;
Robert Jeantet (baritone) - Wagner; Boris Christoff (bass)
- Méphistophélès; Paris Opera Chorus; Paris Opera Orchestra/André Cluytens.
Recorded Paris in 1958. EMI Classics ‘Great Recordings
of the Century’ 5679672.
2. Dramatic and expressive are the performances from Cheryl
Studer (soprano) - Marguerite; Martine Mahé (soprano) - Siébel;
Nadine Denize (soprano) - Marthe; Richard Leech (tenor) -
Faust; Thomas Hampson (baritone) - Valentin; Marc Barrard
(baritone) - Wagner; José Van Dam (bass) - Méphistophélès;
French Army Chorus; Toulouse Capitole Chorus; Toulouse Capitole
Orchestra/Michel Plasson. Recorded in Toulouse, France in
1991 on EMI 5562242.
3. The excellent and most consistently balanced cast of Cecilia
Gasdia (soprano) - Marguerite; Susanne Mentzer (soprano)
- Siébel; Brigitte Fassbaender (soprano) - Marthe; Jerry
Hadley (tenor) - Faust; Alexander Agache (baritone) - Valentin;
Philippe Fourcade (baritone) - Wagner; Samuel Ramey (bass)
- Méphistophélès; Welsh National Opera Chorus; Welsh National
Opera Orchestra/Carlo Rizzi. Recorded in 1993 at Brangwyn
Hall, Cardiff on Teldec 4509 908722.
4. Italianate and ardent in approach is the version from
Joan Sutherland (soprano) - Marguerite; Margreta Elkins (mezzo)
- Siébel; Monica Sinclair (soprano) - Marthe; Franco Corelli
(tenor) - Faust; Robert Massard (baritone) - Valentin; Raymond
Myers (baritone) - Wagner; Nicolai Ghiaurov (bass) - Méphistophélès;
Ambrosian Opera Chorus; London Symphony Orchestra/Richard
Bonynge. Recorded in London in 1966 on Decca 470
5632.
5. The satisfyingly performed and well recorded version from
Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano) - Marguerite; Francisco Araiza (tenor)
- Faust; Evgeny Nesterenko (bass) - Méphistophélès; Andreas
Schmidt (baritone) - Valentin; Pamela Coburn (soprano) -
Siébel; Marjana Lipovšek (mezzo) - Marthe; Gilles Cachemaille
(bass-baritone) - Wagner; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
and Chorus/Sir Colin Davis. Recorded in 1986 in Munich on Philips ‘The Originals’ 4757769.
Plácido
Domingo (tenor) - (Faust) 
