12 April 2019 at 10.53am | 12 Comments
#ROHfaust awesome premiere with spectacular performances from @erwinschrott @MichaelFabiano @MartaFontanals and of course the beautiful dancers! Thank you @bruno_ravella for a wonderful production!
— kate scott (@danceventuresw4) April 12, 2019
Drama all round last night at @RoyalOperaHouse with #MandyFredrich being flown in literally at the last minute to sing Marguerite and then amazed us all by seeming as if she'd been part of the team for weeks. @MichaelFabiano and @erwinschrott beyond magnificent. #ROHfaust pic.twitter.com/0zLzO21rDI
— Sarah Jane Watson (@sjwatsonmassage) April 12, 2019
So #ROHfaust was fantastic. I’ve seen this production three times and this was by far its best iteration. Superb singing from all - best I’ve ever heard @erwinschrott and @MichaelFabiano. The McVicar production shines: Bruno Ravella some kind of genius revival director.
— Guido Martin-Brandis (@GuidoMBrandis) April 12, 2019
What a show #ROHFaust. A proper spectacle, with amazing performances across the board. Absolutely loved it.
— Andrew Hamilton (@AHamiltonBari) April 11, 2019
Saw #ROHFaust tonight - blown away by the fact that soprano Irina Lungu had a throat infection so Mandy Fredrich was flown in from Germany last-minute to take over.
Her plane landed in London at 15:55 and the curtain rose at 19:00. Impressive@RoyalOperaHouse pic.twitter.com/5pYLgmIIaf
— Fraser MacDonald (@fr4ser) April 12, 2019
#ROHFaust woke up this morning still buzzing! Devilishly good revival of the McVicar staging by Bruno Ravella. Superb singing by Degout and Schrott and brava to Mandy Fredrich for flying in and saving the show with her luminous Marguerite! Come again!!
— Alex Campbell ????????????????????????????????????????????????☠️????️???? (@BQOSbear) April 12, 2019
Saw Faust at Royal Opera House last night. Magnificent production. Not sure selling your soul is necessarily a bad idea!
— Jonathan Booth (@BoothJon) April 12, 2019
Eventful #ROHFaust tonight. My third viewing (at least) and the most enjoyable thanks to ultra-tight revival by @bruno_ravella and showboating turn by Erwin Schrott as Mephisto. Mandy Fredrich practically dropped in by parachute to sing an eloquent Marguerite on zero rehearsal.
— Mark Valencia ???????? (@MarkValencia) April 11, 2019
Press reviews:
The Independent ★★★★★
The Stage ★★★★
Bachtrack ★★★★
Culture Whisper ★★★★
The Telegraph ★★★
The Arts Desk (£) ★★★
The London Magazine
More press reviews will be added in due course.
What did you think of Faust?
Share your reviews via the comments below, or by using #ROHfaust.
Faust runs until 6 May 2019. Tickets are available here.
Faust will also be relayed in cinemas around the world on 30 April. Learn more and find your nearest screen here.
The production is staged with generous philanthropic support from ROH Young Philanthropists and The Friends of Covent Garden.
12 April 2019 at 10.53am
This article has been categorised Opera and tagged by David McVicar, Faust, Production, review, your reaction
This article has 12 comments
I do not understand how someone can hire the tenor Fabiano for the title role of this opera. I don’t understand what made him such a favorite? His French is terrible and he has no French style. It is a pity since the rest of the cast especially mr Shrott was just great
For me, Erwin Schrott was a "stand out" performance as Mephisto. Also notable highlights were the trio (Faust, Marguerite & Mephisto) in the 5th Act and the Walpurgis night "Queens and courtesans ball", very nimbly aided by performers from the Royal Ballet. The staging is visually stunning, and the orchestral performance cannot be faulted. I urge you to go and see this production whilst it is still available.
The dancers in the Walurgis Night scene are not from the Royal Ballet but are another company of dancers hired by the Royal Opera for the various dancing scenes in the operas. I do agree that they were very good.
After the pretty miraculous rescue of the opening night by "superhero soprano" Mandy Fredrich literally flying in to save the day without even a single rehearsal, there are still no changes to the casting of Marguerite for 15 and 18 April (ie next week).
Are we to assume that Ms Lungu (herself replacing yet another cancellation from Ms Damrau) has recovered sufficiently within 3 days to sing all the remaining performances of the run? (And that we're not going to see any more of this Superhero Soprano Ms Fredrich?)
Congratulations to the Royal Opera for a brilliant performance of Faust (25 April). Many thanks to conductor, soloists, chorus, orchestra, dancers and production team. A great ‘night at the opera’!
Watching in cinema in Cork City lreland... Great production... Fabulous.
Fabulous production... Great buzz and flow to it... Singi v amazing....
What a production, loved it. Came away from seeing it streamed live at Didsbury cinema buzzing!!!
Saw this tonight at the ROH: just a tremendous performance of this amazing opera. All the principles were great, but I suspect Erwin Schrott’s Mephisto will become legendary.
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to see ROH productions at the cinema - like many others I couldn't possible afford the cost of journey, accommodation and ticket to see live opera in London. The production was most enjoyable and I'm very glad I went to my local Cineworld - but there were a few negative things - for the first 20 minutes or so the filming went too close to Faust for the acting to be convincing - it worked OK when the camera pulled back - in close-up we could clearly see the sticky tape holding the moustache and the young man dressed up pretending to be old. Difficult to suspend one's disbelief! Technically also - there were some unexpected brief but very loud electrical crackles - at least a dozen through the whole show- which distracted. There was some vocal (sharp) intonation issues in the first act with Faust (& even Shrott too) not getting quite down to where the cadence was heading - that settled down as time went on, but it made for uncomfortable listening quite often in the first Act. And sadly the first verse of Avant de quitter was poor for the same reason - although Valentin was superb later. The fabulous waltz chorus at the end of Act One had a tempo issue between chorus and orchestra - they didn't gel tightly enough. Nevertheless there was plenty of wonderful singing - Marguerite was superb. So was the chorus, in both acting and singing. The dancing choreography and execution was marvellous. But Fabiano, despite a lovely voice, is rather one-dimensional both in vocal colour and in acting. And Schrott's tour de force singing was often great but his acting had some comedic moments which detracted occasionally from real menace. The superb production of Kaufmann and Rene Pape at the Met in 2011 has not yet met its match.
Amazing production! Without doubt my favourite version of Faust I have ever seen - an unparalleled expression of mischief, danger, and love - praying for it on DVD.
Gounod's Faust is my favorite opera and I was anxiously waiting the entire season for it. The music was wonderful but I found it disturbing in some of the most beautiful passeges, Méphistophélès had to make silly gestures. In the final dance scene that it is STILL acceptable to have a female dragged across the floor while still others are being assaulted is not only disturbing but shocking. I would have given ROH more credit for better taste.