Faust (Gounod)

Overview

Faust is a grand opéra in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, drawn from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite and loosely from Part One of Goethe's Faust. It opened at the Théâtre Lyrique, Boulevard du Temple, Paris, on 19 March 1859. For its entry into the Paris Opéra in 1869 Gounod replaced the spoken dialogue by sung recitatives and added a ballet, and it became the most frequently performed opera at that house (Wikipedia, "Faust (opera)"). The King of Thule ballad (Act II, "Il était un roi de Thulé"), Marguerite's jewel song and the "Salut! demeure" cavatina are its best-known numbers.

This entry is for Gounod's opera. Goethe's drama has its own entry (Faust, Goethe).

Marie and this work

Faust is, with Mignon, the opera she cites when she wants an example of what music can do ("Je pensais qu'il n'y avait que Mignon et Faust", 059.0065, 20 April 1876).

• February 1876, Rome. Vigier, a tenor of her Nice circle, is announced to sing Faust at the Cercle de la Méditerranée in Nice ("Demain" on 5 February, "aujourd'hui" on 14 February: 053.0405, 054.0072; see Cercle de la Méditerranée); whether it was staged or sung in concert is not said, and in 053.0423 she writes that he sings "le rôle de Marguerite" (an evident slip). Marie, in Rome, thinks of the illuminated club while at the Opéra.
• March 1876, Rome. She hears it in a box on 15 and 22 March, unable to listen because of Pietro Antonelli and "Clément"; she hears Marta and Méphistophélès as Mrs Prodgers and Saëtone, and Faust and Marguerite as Audiffret and Robenson (055.0714-0716, 055.1035, 055.1057).
• 19 July 1876, Paris Opéra. With Mme de Mouzay in a front box at the first tier: the house is "déplorablement éclairée", the singing "médiocre"; Mme de Mouzay wants to see the cardinal as Méphistophélès, Marie as Marguerite and Pierre as Faust (064.0001-0011). She hums its airs in the Bois the next evening (064.0027).
• 10 August 1876, Saint Petersburg. Nina plays it on the piano; "le Faust m'excite, me bouleverse et m'attendrit" (064.0517).
• 2 February 1877, Nice. Faure sings (Méphistophélès) before a dazzling house; the Marguerite "ne chantait pas" (068.0918-0928). Her verdict on the subject: "dégoûtant" ("Je ne dis pas immoral, hideux, je dis dégoûtant", 068.0939).
• 30 March and 3 April 1877, Naples/Sorrento. She sings the King of Thule ballad in a lively evening (069.0634, 070.0023); on 3 April she tells a guest she has never understood Faust: "sale, lâche et bas"; a deceived Marguerite can only die, a deceived Faust is only ridiculous (070.0036-0045).
• 11 November 1877, Paris. "Aïda, Mignon et Faust": the repertoire she sings at home (076.0138).
• 24-27 February 1879, Nice. She wants to hear Patti in Faust and does, on the second Patti evening; she admires but feels "ni plaisir ni émotion" (084.0296, 084.0340).
• 16 March 1880. Patti, whom she has seen in Traviata, Faust, the Barber, Trovatore and Lucia (087.0623).
• 25 March 1881, Paris Opéra. She talks through two acts with Gabriel (091.0358).
• 25 February 1882, Monte Carlo. A gala Faust with Faure, Maurel, Gayarre, Albani and Scalchi (094.0289).

Not this work

068.0701 ("chanter comme Faust") and 074.0186 (a costume "comme Faust") are figures of speech, as is the character Faust in 068.1078 (Méphistophélès and Valentin).

Sources

• Wikipedia, "Faust (opera)").
• Libretto, vocal score and IMSLP page, linked above.