Faust is an aging old scholar, who after spending decades of his life studying, has realized he has achieved nothing, all. On this weeks wcpe opera house well hear an encore performance of charles gounod s faust, hosted by the late al ruocchio 19372007. Faust is considered by many to be goethe s magnum opus and the greatest work of german literature the earliest forms of the work, known as the. One theme in faust is the eternal battle between good and evil, as in the figure of faust. The project gutenberg ebook of faust, by charles gounod. Jerry hadley, cecilia gasdia, samuel ramey, suzanne. Grades 712, opera house 3 hours, march 5, 2019 charles gounod production by francesca zambello sung in french with projected english titles the famous story by goethe focuses on the aging faust, who makes a pact with mephistopheles. Gounod s faust, he says, has lost its dramatic force because we have learned wozzeck, and heard other, newer kinds of music. In this clip, russian dancer ekaterina maximova performs the walpurgisnacht ballet sequence from his faust. That is a pretty stupid reason for not being able to judge a work on its own merits, i now admit. This chamber version of gounod s opera reduces it to the scale of goethe s original urfaust. For years, i was absurdly prejudiced against gounod s faust for being a truncated and unfaithful setting of the gretchen tragedy episode of goethe s great drama, by far my favorite play. Charles gounod 18181893 was a french composer, famous for writing the melody to ave maria, and for the opera faust. See more ideas about goethe s faust, charles gounod and faust movie.
But where goethe s faust wants knowledge above all things, and knowledge as a means to power, gounod s faust is looking for youth, and youth as a means to a specific kind of powerthe power to compel love. The ageing scholar faust signs a pact with the devil and regains his youth. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Carles gounod faust after the goethe tragedy enjoys pride of place among the operas that captured russian hearts back in the 19th century. Prelude on stage director, dramatist, comedian director you two, whove often stood by me, in times of need, when troubles breaking, say what success our undertaking 35. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Faust charles gounod opera en cinq actes libretto by jules barbier and michel carre world premiere 19 march 1859, theatre lyrique, paris this production new production premiere 10 may 2014 coproduction with teatro real, madrid gounod s faust returns, after many years, to the stage in the netherlands.
Loosely based on goethe s epic drama, gounod s faust is the epitome of french grand opera. Today, charles gounods faust is one of the most popular works in the french opera repertoire. It is generally accepted as goethe s masterwork and the greatest work of german literature. Eine deutsche volkssage 1926 and jan svankmajers faust 1994. Charles gounod and faust seventy years ago, charles gounod s opera faust was the singularly most popular opera in the world. The bolshoi theatre staged the first version in 1866, just seven years after the paris premiere. Under the devils influence, the lovely marguerite falls for faust, and is irredeemably corrupted, to faust s ultimate horror. The legend of the man who sells his soul to the devil remains fascinating to this day. Faust was declined at the national opera house, on the grounds that it was not. French opera composer charles gounod had a smash hit on his hands with his 1859 opera faust. The opera faust is one piece of representative work in all of gounod s operas, the plot in which about a tragic love story between faust and margarita was from parts of goethe s drama faust.
Faust and the adjective faustian imply a situation in which an ambitious. Partage, commentaires et abonnements sont toujours. See more ideas about opera, goethe s faust and charles gounod. Its loosely based on the threepart tragedy, faust by goethe and premiered on march 19, 1859, at the theatre lyrique in paris, france.
Brilliant melodies embellish each scene, making this series of colourful tableaux a festival of hits the jewel song, soldiers chorus, etc. He makes use of mephistopheles as a bawd to corrupt the innocent marguerite. Many of the great sopranos, tenors and basses made their careers through success in the roles that inhabit the opera, and many an opera company facing dire. Suddenly it fell out of fashion among those in control of opera houses. German necromancer and astrologer learning history. Faust, opera in five or sometimes four acts by french composer charles gounod french libretto by jules barbier and michel carre that premiered in paris on march 19, 1859. After these early translations, french art saw a profusion of popular plays, musical works, and paintings based on the story.
This work, first performed in 1846, is also staged as an opera. Fifty years ago one of the most popular operas in the repertoire was gounod s faust. The story has been told in operas by charles gounod, hector berlioz, and others, and in a succession of important movies starting with fw murnaus in 1926. Faust, as a developmental history of human soul and zeitgeist, is the canticle of faust spirit as well as the reflection on faust s pursuit. I provide the original scanned version and the filtered, because the filter does some changes smoothening, sharpening borders and some portions of the scan get lost sometimes when they are too small e. The myth of faust, told in multiple versions over several centuries, has become one of the bestknown and most frequently interpreted stories in western culture. Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on germanlanguage stages. But of all the stage versions that have claimed the public attention, that of barbier and carre, made after goethe s drama and set to music by charles gounod, is far and away the most popular, and may be regarded, in its lyric dress, as the most successful also. The libretto was taken from the writerphilosopher goethe s tale of an aging religious and philosphical man who renounced his faith and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for youth, good looks, fame and the woman he loves. Faust work charles gounodjules barbier opera online.
Exchanging his soul restores his youth and helps him woo marguerite, but his troubles are far from over. But that isnt the only opera to be based on goethe s faust. Faust, opera in four acts with music by charles francois gounod, libretto by michel carre and julie barbier after the poem by goethe by ruth and thomas martin, goethe and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Gounod was born in paris, the son of a pianist mother and a draftsman father. Faust has also appeared in cinematic versions, such as murnaus faust. It is not surprising that faust established the reputation of charles gounod and remains, with carmen, one of the most widely produced french operas in the world. The opera almost immediately gained popularity in russia.