25 Dec 2005
BERLIOZ: La damnation de Faust
La damnation de Faust, Légende dramatique en quatre parties
Music composed by Hector Berlioz. Libretto by Hector Berlioz, Almire Gandonanière and Gérard de Nerval after Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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ROSSINI: Guglielmo Tell — Rome 1954
Guglielmo Tell: Melodramma tragico in four acts
BOITO: Mefistofele
Mefistofele, Opera in un prologo, quattro atti e un epilogo
Music and libretto by Arrigo Boito (1842-1918), based on Faust: Eine Tragödie by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
VERDI: La Forza del Destino
La Forza del Destino, a melodramma in quattro atti
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the drama Don Alvaro o La fuerza del sino by Angel Perez de Saavedra
FLOTOW: Martha — Berlin 1944
Martha, an opera in four acts.
Music composed by Friedrich von Flotow. Libretto by Wilhelm Friedrich.
First performance: 25 November 1847 at Theater an der Wien, Vienna.
PERGOLESI: La serva padrona
La serva padrona, intermezzo in two parts
Music composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Libretto by Gennar'antonio Frederico.
First performance: 28 August 1733, Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples.
BEETHOVEN: Fidelio — Munich 1978
Fidelio, an opera in two acts
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VERDI: Macbeth
VERDI: Macbeth, melodramma in quattro parti.
Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play by William Shakespeare.
STRAUSS: Die Fledermaus
Music composed by Johann Strauss II.
Libretto by Richard Genée based on Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy/Karl Haffner.
First performance: 5 April 1874 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna.
NICOLAI: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
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GIORDANO: Fedora
Fedora, a melodrama in three acts.
Umberto Giordano, composer. Arturo Colautti, librettist, based on the play with the same name by Victorien Sardou
First performance: 17 November 1898 at Teatro Lirico Internazionale, Milan
PUCCINI: Tosca
Tosca, a melodrama in three acts
Giacomo Puccini, composer. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on the play La Tosca by Victorien Sardou.
First performance: 14 January 1900 at Teatro Costanzi, Rome
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A few years ago, I had the rare experience of attending a performance of Tosca in a small farm community where opera was a fairly new commodity. After the second act ended, with Scarpia's corpse lying center stage, I happened to overhear a young, wide-eyed woman say to her companion, "I knew she was upset, but I didn't think she'd KILL him!"
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Mozart and Salieri
Mozart and Salieri, an opera in one act consisting of two scenes.
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), composer. Libretto derived from Alexander Puskhin's play of the same name.
First performance: 7 December 1898 in Moscow.
MUSSORGSKY: Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov, an opera in four acts with prologue
Modest Mussorgsky, composer. Libretto by the composer, based on Alexander Pushkin's drama Boris Godunov and Nikolai Karamazin's History of the Russian Empire
First performance: 8 February 1874 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg
TCHAIKOVSKY: Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin, lyrical scenes in three acts and seven tableaux.
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, composer. Libretto by the composer, based on the verse novel by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin.
First performance: 29 March 1879 at the Maliy Theatre, Moscow.
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The Queen of Spades (Pique Dame), an opera in three acts.
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, composer. Modest Tchaikovsky and composer, librettists.
First performance: 19 December 1890 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.
PUCCINI: Manon Lescaut
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Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), composer. Luigi Illica and Domenico Oliva, librettists.
First performance: 1 February 1893 at Teatro Regio, Turin.
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First performance: 6 December 1846 at Opéra-Comique, Paris
Principal characters
| Marguerite | Mezzo-soprano |
| Faust | Tenor |
| Méphistophélès | Bass or baritone |
| Brander | Bass |
Synopsis
Part One
Faust, alone on a plain at sunrise, praises the awakening spring day, nature's renewal and his own life in solitude, far from the madding crowd. In a nearby village, merry country people celebrate spring with singing and dancing while an army equipped for battle marches by. Faust withdraws untouched by all.
Part Two
Having returned to his study pensive and unhappy, Faust sinks into profound melancholy and pessimism. Intent on suicide, he is about to drink a cup of poison when from outside he hears the Easter hymn. Faust remembers the purity and piety of his childhood. His faith is reawakened and he reaffirms his commitment to life.
Suddenly Méphistophélès appears and, scorning Faust's sentimentality, suggests that he go out into the world rather than dwell in philosophical speculation. He promises Faust, who is mistrustful at first, to fulfill his most extravagant desires. Faust follows this diabolical companion.
The first stop is Auerbach's Cellar in Leipzig. Faust dislikes the drinkers' raucous singing, Brander's coarse song about the "Rat in the Cellar," and Méphistophélès' cynical reply with his "Song of the Flea." He insists they leave without delay.
Méphistophélès next leads him to the banks of the Elbe and sends him to sleep on a bed of roses. Méphistophélès concocts seductive dreams that beguile Faust, showing him a picture of his mistress–to-be, Marguerite. On awakening, Faust demands to be taken to the girl. Méphistophélès promises to arrange it. He advises Faust to join the soldiers and students going into town and to follow them to Marguerite's house.
Part Three
In Marguerites' room, Faust is filled with a sweet premonition of his romantic adventure. When Marguerite appears, he conceals himself. Marguerite has already seen her lover-to-be in a dream. She sings the ballad of "The King of Thule," in which she gives expression to her longing. As soon as Marguerite has fallen asleep, Méphistophélès appears. His band of beguiling spirits seduce and lead Marguerite to her destruction. With a sarcastic song, Méphistophélès delights in his certain victory.
Faust and Marguerite meet and declare their love for one another. They are interrupted by Méphistophélès who urges Faust to flee as the neighbors have become suspicious and want to warn Marguerite's mother. Méphistophélès assures them that they can meet again the following evening.
Part Four
Marguerite has been jilted by Faust. She longs for his return but senses that he will not come back. The singing of the students and soldiers can be heard from the street below. This makes Marguerite even more conscious of her loneliness.
Meanwhile, Faust finds renewed strength in the midst of nature.
He learns from Méphistophélès that Marguerite is in prison awaiting execution for killing her mother — a crime for which Faust is responsible. Faust implores Méphistophélès to rescue Marguerite. He is prepared to do this on condition that Faust seals their pact with his signature. Faust walks into the trap. They charge off on Méphistophélès' magic horses, but not to Marguerite's dungeon. Instead they descend into the depths of hell amidst earthquakes, thunder, and bloody rain, where diabolical spirits are awaiting their arrival. Faust, dammed until eternity, is thrown into the flames; Méphistophélès is triumphant.
In heaven the angels welcome Marguerite who has been absolved of her sins.