[Met Performance] CID:155340



Faust
Metropolitan Opera House, Tue, December 12, 1950




Faust (483)
Charles Gounod | Jules Barbier/Michel Carr?
Faust
Jussi Bj?rling

Marguerite
Dorothy Kirsten

M?phistoph?l?s
Jerome Hines

Valentin
Frank Guarrera

Siebel
Anne Bollinger

Marthe
Thelma Votipka

Wagner
Lawrence Davidson

Dance
Nana Gollner


Conductor
Fausto Cleva


Director
D?sir? Defr?re

Designer
Joseph Urban

Set Designer
Richard Rychtarik [Act I only]

Choreographer
Antony Tudor





Faust received sixteen performances this season.

Review 1:

Robert Sabin in Musical America

The Walpurgis Night’s scene, long omitted from Metropolitan opera productions of Gounod’s “Faust,” was restored as Scene 1 of Act IV at the season’s first performance of the opera on December 12, conducted by Fausto Cleva. Curiosity ran high, for the choreography was by no less a master than Anthony Tudor, and the performance of the scene was the first major assignment of the opera ballet since Ballet Theatre took over its responsibility with the advent of Rudolf Bing as general manager of the Metropolitan. Two facts were immediately evident: that the disappearance of the Walpurgis Night from “Faust” has been no loss, but rather a gain, dramatically speaking, for the opera as a whole; and that the new Metropolitan Opera ballet is an improvement over the old, but is still not very good. Mr. Tudor has revealed none of his true genius in this assignment.

 

The Walpurgis Night ballet was not in Gounod’s original score of “Faust,” produced in 1859 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris. When “Faust” was revived at the Paris Opéra in 1869, Gounod added this ballet episode at the request of the management. In the original version of 1859, Mephistopheles leads Faust to the Brocken, a desolate mountain famed in German folklore as a haunt of witches. He then transports him to a place where the most beautiful women of history, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Prynne attempt to make him forget Marguerite. There was no dancing in the Brocken scene or the palace scene in their first form, but in 1869 Gounod expanded the palace scene to include a lavish ballet.

 

“Faust,” sung in Italian, opened the Metropolitan Opera House on Oct. 22, 1883, but the Walpurgis Night episode was not included. It was first introduced in a performance, sung in German on Jan 20, 1886. The solo dancers were Marie Bonfanti, who had become famous in the “The Black Crook,” and Bettina de Sortis, of  La Scala in Milan. Henry Krehbiel, in the “New York Tribune,” remarked that the performance “contained features that were new to the vast majority of people in the house. To the last act were restored the fantastic scenes which have been systematically cut out in the English, Italian and German versions that have been presented here, with the effect not only of beautifying the spectacle but also of enabling the lovers of opera to hear some dramatic music they have been deprived of and some exquisite ballet music with which they fell in love years ago when Mr. Thomas was in the habit of performing it in his orchestra concerts. “Faust” was given in seven acts and the presentation consumed more time, perhaps, than any operatic representation ever given in this city.” The latest performance of the Walpurgis Night ballet at the Metropolitan before this current revival was in 1918, when Pauline Verhoven created the choreography and Rosina Galli danced the role of Helen of Troy.

 

In the present version  the first part of the scene opens on a darkened stage, and after a brief dialogue between Faust and Mephistopheles, the palace, symbolized by two golden pillars and some steps, is revealed behind a transparent curtain that rises as the dancers begin the ballet. Faust is seated at the side of the stage, and during the dancing some of the beauties make half-hearted attempts to beguile him. Both he and they appear to be embarrassed about the whole business. Désiré Defrere’s handling of this minor episode was sketchy, to put it mildly.

 

Mr. Tudor’s choreography is heterogeneous in style. He has attempted to evoke ancient Grecian and Egyptian atmosphere by including some frieze-like posturing, capering fauns and stock theatrical gestures  associated  with those civilizations. The costumes are more or less Grecian in style. Most of the choreography is straight ballet, however, with a brilliant role for Nana Golliner, who danced it with proud strength of line and inexhaustible vitality, Mr. Tudor has borrowed heavily from previous works of his own, without developing any unity in this new undertaking. The choreography is too difficult for many of the young dancers and some of the tricky lifts ended in near disaster at this first performance. In view of the insipid character of Gounod’s ballet music, Mr. Tudor was probably right in keeping the movement fairly conventional and formalistic in pattern. But he has not gone far enough. It should have firmer texture and development, and it should not fall back on clichés, quite so obviously as it does in the bacchanal.

 

The performance as a whole never rose above respectable routine, despite Mr. Cleva’s careful conducting and the individual excellences of several singers. Dorothy Kirsten’s Marguerite was visually lovely, and she sang with spirit. Désiré Defrere’s unimaginative old-fashioned stage direction was a palpable hindrance to Miss Kirsten as it was to the other members of the cast. Mr. Defrere’s conception of an effective final gesture for an aria is still a semaphoric lifting of the arms. He marches his chorus to the front of the stage to sing, and then sends its members streaming off, backs to the audience, without any attempt at dramatic illusion.

 

Jussi Bjoerling had the control of pianissimo and the suavity of vocal line for Faust, even if his voice was not in freshest condition. Dramatically he did almost nothing, which was perhaps the better part of valor, in view of the inept stage direction. Jerome Hines was a vocally sumptuous Mephistopheles who never seemed really evil or malicious. One could not escape the impression that this devil would break into a friendly smile at any moment, despite his grimaces and menacing gestures. Frank Guarrera’s Valentin was pleasantly sung, if not in the highly polished manner that French singers bring to the role. Ann Bollinger’s voice was lovely in the role of Siebel, and Thelma Votipka’s Marthe exhibited her unvarying intelligence and sound sense of character in all of the many roles she takes at the Metropolitan. Lawrence Davidson was a bit over-vehement as Wagner, but otherwise satisfactory.

 

The trouble with the performance lay largely in a lack of dramatic coordination and a confusion of vocal styles. There were as many varieties of French diction as there were singers, and the action did not move smoothly or convincingly. The scenery is abominable and one can only rejoice in the fact that it is falling in pieces and will have to be replaced soon. “Faust” is another hangover from the old days of listless routine at the Metropolitan. It is far too rickety a score to sustain its appeal unless it is given with utmost finish, unity of style, and freshness of appearance. Its sensuous melodies are not enough to save it, if the clap-trap in the music is treated in vulgar fashion. Mr. Cleva, it should be emphasized, conducted with unflagging attention to detail, but he was working against hopeless odds.



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