The Damnation of Faust

This is a production, in English, of the Berlioz piece that can never quite make up its mind whether it is an oratorio or an opera. It is certainly difficult to do as an opera because of its episodic nature although the Met's 2009 production made a good case with its imaginative staging.

Terry Gilliam's big idea is to set the opera in Nazi Germany. This does not work. The only thing that Mephistopheles has in common with the Nazis is that they were both evil. It seems trite to try to shoehorn a story about Mephistopheles' damnation into a plot concerning the persecution of the Jews, or vice versa. Shockheaded Peter Hoare is a problem in the leading role. With his vertical orange hair he looks like a cartoon character and is an unlikely lover for Marguerite. His strangulated tenor just cannot get round the music and his diction is so poor that I had to turn on the subtitles. Christopher Purvis is a much more creditable Mephistopheles. Best of all is Christine Rice who makes the most of the beautiful music Berlioz wrote for the saintly Marguerite. The ending of the opera strikes me as the height of bad taste. If I understood it correctly, we see a dead Marguerite on top of a pile of bodies in a gas chamber. A heavenly light shines on her as a chorus of children welcome her soul to heaven.

La Damnation De Faust(The Damnation of Faust) is a fine opera-oratorio and the music is wonderful. This production from Terry Gilliam does have some good things about it but never really comes together as a whole. Christine Rice sounds splendid and her Margheurite is very touching. The orchestral playing has a sound that is shimmering and authoritative, with a wide range of colour and dynamic range and a good sense of drama. The rest of the musical values however are a mixed bag, Edward Gardner clearly loves the score and conducts diligently but it is a little lacking in fire sometimes. Peter Hoare mostly has a ringing sound for Faust but it starts to become hoarse towards the end and his sense of drama varies being better in the latter half of the production. Christopher Purves vocally is rather lightweight and too much of a bass-baritone than a bass for Mephistopheles, but from a vocal-acting(ie. throaty chuckles)and dramatic point of view he is spot on. The chorus do what they can with what they're given, which in all fairness is not a lot, and sing very nicely.

Gilliam's production doesn't fare so well. The staging has moments, the Minuet of the Will o' the Wisps is shocking and creepily grotesque, serving as an atmospheric background for a lively if also weird Kristellnacht. Even better though is a thrillingly staged and visually striking Ride through the Abyss. Everything else does not come across as well. The ideas the production has on the whole just doesn't come together, especially when it jumps from First World War to the Nazis with no explanation and while theatrical it just doesn't gel well with the story. It also makes a serious story and historical-event(s) seem flimsy and inappropriately ironic. Visually, I also wasn't so sure. I loved the Ride through the Abyss' visuals, but overall it was a production that was expensive but looked rather cheap with garish colours and the performers made up to look like a hodge-podge of characters. The orchestral climax was staged in a way that would have worked much better in a film, here it was just too much. For instance Mephistopheles looks every inch a Nazi leader, but Faust reminded me of the anti-hero character from Eraserhead which just jarred.

All in all, has good musical values but the production doesn't come together and is likely is offend some viewers. 4.5/10 Bethany Cox