Faust

Among the most enduringly successful operas of all time, Gounod’s Faust is rich in the sort of popular melodies people know without realising where they come from. It also haunts the fervent soundworld of a composer whose early ambitions were to write religious music and train for the priesthood. First performed in 1859 in Paris, the opera bases its plot on Goethe’s metaphysical drama about an ageing scholar who sells his soul in return for renewed youth and love. Assisted by the urbanely demonic Méphistophélès, he seduces a young innocent, Marguerite, who suffers tragic consequences, but is ultimately saved by faith in God and assumed into heaven while Faust is dragged to hell. Composed as an opéra comique with spoken dialogue, the score was aggrandised over time into five acts with sung recitatives and extra music, including a witches’ ballet. And though it remains a lightweight response to Goethe, focused on love rather than philosophy, the characters have won their way into the hearts of audiences—with Marguerite a convincing role that gears up to real dramatic stature at the end. Highlights include Faust’s Act I celebration of regained youth, “A moi les plaisirs". Act III brings Faust’s “Salut! Demeure chaste et pure” with crowd-pleasing Top Cs, as well as Marguerite’s glittering “Jewel Song". Act IV has a hit for Méphistophélès in his dark serenade “Vous qui faites l’endormie". And Act V finishes with the rousing march to heaven that is Marguerite’s “Anges purs, anges radieux".