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Royal Ballet and Opera

Opéra de Monte-Carlo

Opéra de Lille

Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste

Conductor

Conductor (+1)

Maurizio Benini

Tenor

Stefan Pop

Faust

Baritone (+1)

Boris Pinkhasovich

Valentine

Mezzo-soprano (+2)

Rosie Aldridge

Martha Schwertlein

Bass-baritone (+2)

Ossian Huskinson

Wagner

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Chorusmaster

Chorusmaster (+2)

William Spaulding

Stage director

Stage director (+5)

David McVicar

Set designer

Set designer (+3)

Charles Edwards

Costume designer

Costume designer (+1)

Brigitte Reiffenstuel

Lighting designer

Lighting designer (+2)

Paule Constable

Choreographer

Stage director (+1)

Michael Keegan-Dolan

Royal Opera House

Soprano

Carolina López Moreno

Marguerite

Chorus

Royal Opera Chorus

Mezzo-soprano (+4)

Hongni Wu

Siebel

Bass-baritone (+5)

Erwin Schrott

Mephistopheles

Bass (+4)

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo

Mezzo-soprano (+1)

Cai Jingwen

Seductive as it is damning, Faust comes alive in David McVicar’s spectacular production. Stefan Pop sings the title role, alongside Erwin Schrott’s Méphistophélès and Lisette Oropesa’s Marguerite. Maurizio Benini conducts.

AN EPIC INSPIRATION
Gounod's Faust (1859) was one of the world's most popular operas from the 1860s to World War II, and remains an important work in the repertory of The Royal Opera. The story, adapted by Gounod's librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, is based on Part I of Goethe's epic poem Faust, which was a major inspiration for many composers during the 19th century and beyond. Gounod added a ballet to Act V when Faust received its first Paris Opera staging in 1869.

A JOURNEY THROUGH PARIS 
David McVicar's wonderfully theatrical production draws insightful parallels between Faust and Gounod, a composer torn between piety and worldly and romantic success. Sets and costumes by Charles Edwards and Brigitte Reiffenstuel pay tribute to the art and architecture of 1870s Paris, and include a colourful Cabaret d'Enfer, a run-down tenement block and re-creations of a box at the Paris Opera and the organ loft of the cathedral of Notre-Dame. The variety of settings mirrors the variety in Gounod's score, highlights of which include Méphistophélès' demonic aria 'Le veau d'or (The golden calf)', Marguerite's dazzling 'Jewel Song', the Act IV Soldiers' Chorus and Act V's impassioned trio as Marguerite struggles to achieve salvation.

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