https://youtu.be/aB4XaYjd1Dc Prologue
There is something magnificently ridiculous about this opera. Its opening scene is set in Heaven with a dialogue between God, bands of Angels and Satan/Mefistofeles – and that’s just the prologue. It recalls the (mythical?) adage of an old-timey Hollywood producer (Sam Goldwyn?) who reputedly said to his people ‘You need to start with an earthquake and then work up to a climax’.
The set was spectacular – as can be seen from the accompanying video clips, consisting of a tilted helix with a ramp running through and around it, along which the chorus frequently moved. And at the end of this scene they even had chorus members suspended from this structure – with the brass section on some of the highest parts too!
Amazingly, the rest of the show (and show it was) built on and developed this so that for every scene and act there was something more spectacular and stunning. It really was thrilling thinking ‘how is he’ (Balazs Kovalik whose reputedly famous Elektra is being revived next season) going to top this.
The costumes were highly effective – weirdly other-worldly and with the careful use of colour – Faust had red trousers and a dark pink top from the start, clearing showing his dramatic affinity with the largely red-clad Mefistofele. And for Marguerite, her understandably white dress became slowly blood-stained in the scene in her prison cell – a clever effect which recalled a similar trick in the Penn/Teller Macbeth at the Folger theatre DC a number of years back.
The singers were world-class, indisputably. Erwin Schrott was a charismatic titular figure. This role, like Don Giovanni, is, I think, necessarily dependent on the central performer having some personal charisma otherwise there is always the lingering sense of disbelief about what they are able to do. But of course, while very many can perform the role, very few have this elusive quality – but when they have, one knows it. It is also a massive part; M is rarely off stage and even when not singing, is invariably a strong dramatic presence – and being able to bring that off is a rare skill too. Vocally the role demands much, ranging from the very bottom of the bass tessitura to the highest, near baritone upper levels. But Schrott mastered it superbly. As Faust, Sung Kyu Park was superb – a voice at once sweet and often very, necessarily, powerful with just one moment of a broken upper note in an otherwise flawless performance, right to the end. And as Marguerite Letay Gabriella Kiss was wonderful – a superb voice that managed magnificently with the demands of the role – a powerful and sweet top all the way down to a dark and powerful lower mezzo range. And all three of these were fine actors and used their voices alongside their acting abilities.
So, a magnificent evening then, with not one weak element in the entire experience.