Reviewed by James Karas
Faust
has had a happier relationship with the COC than Nabucco. It was last produced by the COC in 2007 and
it got seven performances that season.
If Faust had consulted a
good lawyer, say Sir Thomas More, about the bargain he was making with the
Devil, Mephistopheles, the man for all seasons no doubt would have said “why
Doctor, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world, but for
a woman.” Faust sold his soul and did
not get the whole world but did get some youth and the young and lovely
Marguerite for a brief time. Not a great bargain for him but a huge boon for
poets, playwrights and composers.
The COC production tries
to capture the essence of the bargain and entertain us with some of the
liveliest music on the subject. The production tries illustrating the theme in
the detailed set by Emma Ryott and lighting by Charlie Morgan Jones. There are
stairs leading up to heaven, I suppose, that also look like the backbone of a
prehistoric animal. We have a projection of a human chest that looks like an
enhanced x-ray so that you have to look at all its details to get the full
picture and all the symbolism. I took their word for it. The church scene was
different and starkly impressive.
Mephistopheles (Kyle
Ketelsen), dressed in high hat and tails, is the essence of a gentleman. When
he strikes the bargain with Faust, he asks him to sign a contract without any
information about what is in it. Faust becomes young and able to seduce
Marguerite (Guanqun Yu) but we only find out about that
when we learn that she had a baby that she kills. We assume that Faust
ends up in the place where the sun does not shine but we don’t learn much more
about his faith. Marguerite is destroyed and gets a reconciliation scene with
Faust but she has God on her side and does not join her lover in the “Other”
Place where we assume he goes. She sings her two big arias beautifully.
Photo: Michael Cooper
Director Amy Lane embellishes the plot by adding some characters. Mephistopheles is accompanied by two beautiful silent dancers dressed as if they work in a cabaret in Berlin in the 1920’s. They do not sing but they do look good. During the famous Jewel Song, the jewels are shown off by the dancers.
I admit that the familiar
story as worked out by Gounod does not grab me
but Gounod’s music does. I found a disconnect between the tragedy of Marguerite
even if it is relieved by the choir of angels and the grace of God and the beautiful
music and melodies. Where is Mephistopheles’ evil to make us cringe with
horror?
I cannot complain about
the singers. Kyle Ketelsen is a distinguished bass-baritone and he sang a
swaggering Mephistopheles, not evil but a fine-voiced man-about-town
accompanied by two lovely cabaret girls. Tenor Long Long gave us a well-sung
Faust who, as far as we can tell, got Marguerite and, as I said, then destroyed
her life. I still can’t figure out why Siebel, a man, is sung by a woman, the
lovely-voiced mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington. Baritone Szymon Mechlinski sings
Valentin, Marguerite’s brother, who gets the sonorous and moving aria ‘Avant de
quitter ces lieux’’ He bids farewell to his sister and entrusts her care to the
Lord and goes off to war where he is killed.
One can argue about
Gounod’s treatment of the Faust legend and the creaks of his famous opera but
there can be no disagreement about the sumptuousness of his music. The melodic
waltz, the Soldier’s Chorus, the beautiful Jewel Song and much more carry the
opera and the audience with them. Conductor Johannes Debus conducts the
Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus with superbly.
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Faust by Charles Gounod, directed by Amy Lane, conducted by Johannes Debus ran until Nov. 2, 2024, at the Four-Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W. Toronto. For more information go to www.coc.ca