Faust

Faust is a grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Goethe's Faust, Part 1. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Opèra-National, Boulevard du Temple) in Paris on March 19, 1859. Faust was declined at the National Opera House, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently "showy", and its appearance at the Théatr... more

Faust is a grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Goethe's Faust, Part 1. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Opèra-National, Boulevard du Temple) in Paris on March 19, 1859. Faust was declined at the National Opera House, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently "showy", and its appearance at the Théatre-Lyrique had been delayed for a year because Dennery's drama Faust was currently playing at the Porte St. Martin. The manager Leon Carvalho (who cast his wife Marie Caroline, née Felix-Miolan, as Marguerite) insisted on various changes during production, including cutting several numbers. Faust was not initially well-received. The publisher Antoine Choudens, who purchased the copyright for 10,000 francs, took the work (with added recitatives replacing the original spoken dialogue) on tour through Germany, Belgium, Italy and England, with... less