The Damnation of Faust by Berlioz, ket 30 kov 2023, Nuo (2023/2023), Dirigentas Edward Gardner, Den Norske Opera, Oslo, Norway

“Where in all the world will I find what my life lacks?” asks Faust. But does he really want to die – or simply be freed from loneliness? Mephistopheles hears his cries and takes him on a journey to hell. A dramatic legend La Damnation de Faust is not entirely an opera and not entirely an oratorio. The composer called it a “dramatic legend”. He was a long-time admirer of Goethe’s Faust. In Goethe’s version, Doctor Faust is the anti-hero who is sent to heaven. But Berlioz shows no mercy to the one who sold his soul to the devil. In La Damnation de Faust, hell itself breaks loose in the orchestra. And it’s sinfully wonderful.