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A century ahead of his time
Orchestra's "Damnation of Faust' (2nd review)
Steve Cohen
It's odd that the Philadelphia Orchestra would program a rare piece like Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust only two years after its last appearance here. Only two other performances in more than 100 years, then these so close to each other!
Charles Dutoit wanted to do this 1846 piece, as Berlioz is one of his specialties, and I'm glad the Orchestra's management indulged him. The performance's quality even eclipsed my good memories of Simon Rattle's presentation with the same orchestra in May of 2009.
The orchestra and chorus sonorously projected drinking songs, religious choruses and pastorals, sometimes with bite, at other times with velvety sheen. When 94 instrumentalists express this grand score, it can make you wince at the prospect of a smaller Philadelphia Orchestra— one possible result of the Orchestra's current bankruptcy proceedings.
In The Damnation of Faust, Berlioz, a composing genius who was ahead of his mid-19th-Century time, spun scenes from opium-like hallucinations about medieval life. (His composition actually preceded Gounod's Faust by 13 years but sounds like the work of a later century.) The work is a series of contrasting arias, choruses and stupendous orchestral music.
Death for fornication?
Berlioz wrote his own libretto and altered Goethe's Faust legend in order to make the end palatable for the French, who couldn't conceive why Marguerite could be executed just for having sex before marriage. So Berlioz made Marguerite kill her mother, thus justifying her execution in French eyes.
Spectacular solo playing came from wind, brass and string players, especially in the cornet and trombone accompaniment to Méphistophélès's "Voici des Roses" and the viola and English horn obbligati during Marguerite's "D' amour l'ardente flamme."
The chorus, under David Hayes, magnificently intoned a raucous mock-fugue in Latin as well as demonic nonsense words from Hell. The children's chorus sounded ethereal during the final scene. Their well-coordinated procession into their balcony seats revealed Dutoit as a deft showman; he dexterously stage-managed entrances and exits and also cleverly took one step back while looking upward when he wanted to draw the audience's attention to some of the choral singing.
The missing ping
As Faust, Paul Groves's voice was small in scale for such a prominent part. Groves is an accomplished musician and his interpretation was dramatic, but his voice lacks ping at the top and loses resonance in the lower parts of Faust's range. Groves was at his best in the love duet with Marguerite, "Ange adore" ("adored angel"), in which he rose to some sweet high notes in harmony with her.
The part of Marguerite is shorter, but she has two beautiful arias as well as that love-duet. Susan Graham impressed us with her mezzo voice that opens up at the top into thrilling soprano territory. Whether at full throttle or in soft moments, Graham maintains a warm, caressing tone.
Depending on the text, she can sound like a sensual lover or a mother singing her child to sleep. Here she portrayed a trusting young woman who was so misled that she wound up poisoning her own mother. All our sympathies go to her, because she was the innocent victim; Méphistophélès was her adversary while Faust was a tool— in both the original and the contemporary meaning of that word.
Between God and Devil
As Méphistophélès, David Wilson-Johnson displayed color and personality, aurally and physically. The excellent bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff aced this part here in 2009, but Wilson-Johnson was even better. He made you believe that the drama of the piece is the conflict between Méphistophélès and God, and the title character is of lesser importance.
Lucas Harbour, in the small role of Brander, sounded like he'd do well in a recording studio. His voice seemed to have nice tone, and he gave attention to his words, but he had trouble projecting beyond the musicians and chorus during his one song.
An oddity: Berlioz called The Damnation of Faust "a dramatic legend in four parts." It runs two and a quarter hours, normally with one intermission. Dutoit insisted on conducting without a break. Some patrons complained that this taxed their endurance, and I saw no compensating benefit.♦
To read another review by Tom Purdom, click here.
Charles Dutoit wanted to do this 1846 piece, as Berlioz is one of his specialties, and I'm glad the Orchestra's management indulged him. The performance's quality even eclipsed my good memories of Simon Rattle's presentation with the same orchestra in May of 2009.
The orchestra and chorus sonorously projected drinking songs, religious choruses and pastorals, sometimes with bite, at other times with velvety sheen. When 94 instrumentalists express this grand score, it can make you wince at the prospect of a smaller Philadelphia Orchestra— one possible result of the Orchestra's current bankruptcy proceedings.
In The Damnation of Faust, Berlioz, a composing genius who was ahead of his mid-19th-Century time, spun scenes from opium-like hallucinations about medieval life. (His composition actually preceded Gounod's Faust by 13 years but sounds like the work of a later century.) The work is a series of contrasting arias, choruses and stupendous orchestral music.
Death for fornication?
Berlioz wrote his own libretto and altered Goethe's Faust legend in order to make the end palatable for the French, who couldn't conceive why Marguerite could be executed just for having sex before marriage. So Berlioz made Marguerite kill her mother, thus justifying her execution in French eyes.
Spectacular solo playing came from wind, brass and string players, especially in the cornet and trombone accompaniment to Méphistophélès's "Voici des Roses" and the viola and English horn obbligati during Marguerite's "D' amour l'ardente flamme."
The chorus, under David Hayes, magnificently intoned a raucous mock-fugue in Latin as well as demonic nonsense words from Hell. The children's chorus sounded ethereal during the final scene. Their well-coordinated procession into their balcony seats revealed Dutoit as a deft showman; he dexterously stage-managed entrances and exits and also cleverly took one step back while looking upward when he wanted to draw the audience's attention to some of the choral singing.
The missing ping
As Faust, Paul Groves's voice was small in scale for such a prominent part. Groves is an accomplished musician and his interpretation was dramatic, but his voice lacks ping at the top and loses resonance in the lower parts of Faust's range. Groves was at his best in the love duet with Marguerite, "Ange adore" ("adored angel"), in which he rose to some sweet high notes in harmony with her.
The part of Marguerite is shorter, but she has two beautiful arias as well as that love-duet. Susan Graham impressed us with her mezzo voice that opens up at the top into thrilling soprano territory. Whether at full throttle or in soft moments, Graham maintains a warm, caressing tone.
Depending on the text, she can sound like a sensual lover or a mother singing her child to sleep. Here she portrayed a trusting young woman who was so misled that she wound up poisoning her own mother. All our sympathies go to her, because she was the innocent victim; Méphistophélès was her adversary while Faust was a tool— in both the original and the contemporary meaning of that word.
Between God and Devil
As Méphistophélès, David Wilson-Johnson displayed color and personality, aurally and physically. The excellent bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff aced this part here in 2009, but Wilson-Johnson was even better. He made you believe that the drama of the piece is the conflict between Méphistophélès and God, and the title character is of lesser importance.
Lucas Harbour, in the small role of Brander, sounded like he'd do well in a recording studio. His voice seemed to have nice tone, and he gave attention to his words, but he had trouble projecting beyond the musicians and chorus during his one song.
An oddity: Berlioz called The Damnation of Faust "a dramatic legend in four parts." It runs two and a quarter hours, normally with one intermission. Dutoit insisted on conducting without a break. Some patrons complained that this taxed their endurance, and I saw no compensating benefit.♦
To read another review by Tom Purdom, click here.
What, When, Where
Philadelphia Orchestra: Berlioz, The Damnation of Faust. Paul Groves, tenor; Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano; David Wilson Johnson and Lucas Harbour, baritones; Philadelphia Singers Chorale, David Hayes, music director; American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, music director. Charles Dutoit, conductor. May 28, 2011 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 893-1900 or www.philorch.org.
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