Faust

by Charles Gounod

The immortal tale of a man, a woman and the devil set to music by one of opera's most gifted composers!

Saturday, May 31, 2008 ~ 2:00pm
Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church
425 Spring Street
Friday Harbor, Washington

Sunday June 1, 2008 ~ 2:00 pm
Gethsemane Lutheran Church
911 Stewart Street
Seattle, Washington
Suggested donation: $15 ($10 students/seniors)

Cast and Characters

Faust	......	Gino Lucchetti	Mephistopheles	......	Tom Freet
Marguerite	......	Regina Thomas	Siebel	......	Sharon Annette Lancaster
Marthe	......	Sharon Karsner	Wagner	......	Ryan Bede
Valentin	......	Deac Guidi	Coach/Accompanist	......	David McDade
Siebel/Marthe (cover)	......	Carla Hilderbrand

The Puget Sound Concert Opera Chorus: Krista Mercier, Leanne Zobrist, Anita Proudfoot, Erin Guinup, Vicky Monk, Kristen Ramer, Sara Stejkal, Kaaren Black, Michael Callahan, Ryan Elkins, Keith Hughes

The Story

The story takes place in Germany in the 16th century. Faust, an aged philosopher promises his soul to the devil in exchange for youth and the love of the beautiful young Marguerite. Mephistopheles obstructs the young and faithful Siebel in his pursuit of Marguerite and introduces her to the now young Faust, with whom she falls in love. Returning from war, her brother Valentin finds her compromised by Faust, and challenges him to a duel. Valentin is killed. Her brother dead and having been abandoned by Faust, Marguerite seeks refuge in the church. Her attempts at prayer are interrupted by Mephistopheles. He and his minions torment her unmercifully. In the next scene, we see Marguerite in prison. She has born a child by Faust and then killed it in a fit of madness brought on by her tormented grief and guilt. She is condemned to die. Faust full remorse tries to save her, but she at last recognizes his evil aura renounces her love and dies. Mephistopheles declares that she has been judged but angels declared that she is saved and bear her to heaven.

The Libretto

The libretto for Gounod's Faust was written by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre based on Goethe's immortal two-part epic story about the aging philosopher who makes a deal with the devil.

Goethe was a key figure in German literature and is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers of all time. The original story of Faust was an extremely popular subject of operas, symphonies and stage works.

In Germany, opera is known as Marguerite because libretto focuses on the romance between Faust and Marguerite, which is only a small part of Goethe's epic tale. Missing from the opera are the philosophical and metaphysical aspects of Goethe's classic. Nevertheless, Gounod's opera is the most enduring operatic version of Faust.

One interesting thing to note is that Gounod re-worked and revised Faust many times. In fact, there is much debate regarding what scenes should be cut and/or added in modern productions. Our version is based on somewhat reduced score which is believed to be a more final version. Due to the nature and size of PSCO, we have opted for the following changes: The lengthy scene involving a bacchanal, "Walpurgis Night" has been cut as well as the ballet meant for Act V and the overture. Additionally, we have opted for a common reordering of scenes in which Valentin's death occurs prior to the scene in the church.

About Charles Gounod (1818-1893)

A deeply religious man, Gounod once seriously considered dedicating his life to the church. However, his fascination for music was too strong and he returned repeatedly to the world of music. He created a variety of music, much of which is religious in nature.

He studied intensively the music of Palestrina, Bach, Beethoven and Mendolssohn and cultivated his own style which is purely French , ranging from the dramatic to the sentimental and tender, from the passionate and sensual to the spiritual, form the spectacular to the intimate. Notable compositions include a multitude of masses and church music, the operas Sapho, Mireille and Romeo et Juliette as well as over 200 songs for voice and piano. However, Faust is widely considered to be his masterpiece. One of the most popular operas ever performed. Filled with wonderful arias for different voices, ranging from the tender and nostalgic to the sardonic.

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