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Gounod - Faust (1859 version) | Bru Zane BZ1037

Gounod - Faust (1859 version)

£34.91 £27.93

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Label: Bru Zane

Cat No: BZ1037

Barcode: 9788409126347

Format: CD + Book

Number of Discs: 3

Genre: Opera

Release Date: 30th August 2019

Gramophone Editor's Choice

Contents

Artists

Benjamin Bernheim
Veronique Gens
Andrew Foster-Williams
Jean-Sebastien Bou
Flemish Radio Choir
Les Talens Lyriques

Conductor

Christophe Rousset

Works

Gounod, Charles

Faust

Artists

Benjamin Bernheim
Veronique Gens
Andrew Foster-Williams
Jean-Sebastien Bou
Flemish Radio Choir
Les Talens Lyriques

Conductor

Christophe Rousset

About

Gounod contemplated a Faust opera as early as his residence in Rome in the 1840s. But almost twenty years were to elapse before one of the most famous works of French Romanticism was premiered at the Théâtre-Lyrique (1859). Its debut at the Opéra in 1869 propelled the work into theatres all over the world, but numerous modifications were the price of achieving that fame.

Between the Faust of 1859 and its counterpart of 1869, some of the spirit has evaporated: the spontaneity of the spoken dialogue and melodrama, the pawky humour of Dame Marthe, the cynicism of Méphistophélès. We have forgotten the charm of the first tenors who sang ‘Salut, demeure chaste et pure’ with the timbre typical of the voix mixte of opéra-comique. Moreover, a large number of pieces were consigned to oblivion by these modifications. To discover this first Faust is to gain a deeper insight into the French aesthetic of demi-caractère, so specific to Paris in the 1850s.

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