s Faust Szenen – Collegium Vocale Gent

Collegium Vocale Gent

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
PHILIPPE HERREWEGHE

28/06/2020 — 20:00
Vlaamse Opera | Gent | BE
Robert Schumann [1810–1856]

Szenen aus Goethes Faust

Philippe Herreweghe conductor
Julian Rosenfeldt director & visual concept
Femke Gyselinck choreography
Sammy Van den Heuvel scenography
Tobias Staab, Katharina Lindekens dramaturgy
Jan Schweiger choir master
Hendrik Derolez choir master children’s choir

Brian Mulligan baritone – Faust / Doctor Marianus
Eleanor Lyons soprano – Gretchen / Una Poenitentium
Mikhail Timoshenko bass – Mephistopheles / Pater Profundis
Lore Binon soprano – Sorge / Magna Peccatrix
Raphaële Green alto – Mulier Samaritana
Ilker Arcayürek tenor – Pater Ecstaticus / Ariel

Koor Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
Collegium Vocale Gent
Kinderkoor Opera Ballet Vlaanderen
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra

tickets

Faust Szenen

Scenes from Goethe’s Faust is one of the best kept secrets in Romantic music drama. Schumann’s magnum opus is a tribute to Goethe’s masterpiece; both turned the tale of Faust’s bargain with the devil into a unique and universal life’s work. Faust is a disenchanted scholar embroiled in a fruitless search for fundamental truth. Mephistopheles grants him a helping hand in exchange for his immortal soul. The promise of salvation awaits in the finale, but the road towards it is a rollercoaster ride of trying, failing, and trying again. Faust is all of us. Schumann captures the essence of this dramatic story in seven iconic scenes. His score defies easy labels: just like Faust, the audience must wander through a rich and varied landscape. Opera meets oratorio, an orchestral song brushes past polyphonic church music, and a children’s chorus warbles in the distance. In Philippe Herreweghe’s view, Scenes from Goethe’s Faust is a masterpiece which cries out for a visual, staged performance. The latter aspect is safe in the hands of Julian Rosefeldt, whose films and visual installations include Manifesto with Cate Blanchett. Together with choreographer Femke Gyselinck, he brings Schumann’s Faust into the present day.