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Gounod - Faust                           | Brilliant Classics 93964

Gounod - Faust

New Item

Label: Brilliant Classics

Cat No: 93964

Barcode: 5028421939643

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 3

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 26th October 2009

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Contents

Artists

Nicolai Gedda
Victoria de los Angeles
Boris Christoff
Choeurs de l’Opera National de Paris
Orchestre de l’Opera National de Paris

Conductor

Andre Cluytens

Works

Gounod, Charles

Faust

Artists

Nicolai Gedda
Victoria de los Angeles
Boris Christoff
Choeurs de l’Opera National de Paris
Orchestre de l’Opera National de Paris

Conductor

Andre Cluytens

About

A classic recording made by EMI in 1953, this was the first full-length opera recording by Nicolai Gedda of Gounod’s masterpiece.

Based on Goethe’s Faust, Faust was premiered in Paris in 1859. It centres on the character of Marguerite, and this led to the opera being performed in Germany under that name for many years. The idea of composing an opera based on the Faust story had occupied Gounod as early as 1839, and over the next 20 years he collected themes and sketches that he would use in the finished work. In 1857 Jules Barbier and Michel Carré took on the task of adapting Goethe’s original and producing a libretto for Gounod.

Even during composition, the director of the Opéra-Comique had concerns about its length, and demanded cuts. Gounod was unhappy at the thought of doing this and stuck to his guns as he had written some of his best music in this work. The opera was a great triumph. However, Gounod continued to work on it, changing it from an opéra comique to a Grand Opera. He included a ballet in Act V, and the famous Soldiers’ Chorus came from an abandoned operatic project Ivan the Terrible. Marguerite’s prayer to heaven was taken from the Dies irae of his Requiem.

Cast:
- Nicolai Gedda: Faust
- Victoria de los Angeles: Marguerite
- Boris Christoff: Mephistopheles

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