16 Mar 2006

A Composer Bypasses the Narrative for a Philosophical Vision of Faust

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/arts/music/15faus.html

Dusapin_Pascal.jpg(Photo: Pascal Gely / RF)
By ALAN RIDING [NY Times, 16 March 2006]

LYON, France, March 10 — Endlessly revisited over the last five centuries, the legend of Faust and his pact with the Devil may not seem like a highly original subject for Pascal Dusapin's new opera, "Faustus, the Last Night." Indeed, in the 19th century alone, Faust inspired operas by Louis Spohr, Hector Berlioz, Charles-François Gounod and Arrigo Boito.