Faust, meet Dr. Atomic

This is a meeting that should never have taken place. In spite of some superb performances, Des McAnuff’s production is a bomb, one that failed to explode but just lay there like soggy cornflakes. One hopes Mr. McAnuff will stay on Broadway where he belongs. It would be a charitable speculation that he was trying to mine some serious philosophy according to Goethe but that is not the opera composed by Charles Gounod, a story of love and betrayal adapted from Michel Carre’s play “Faust et Marguerite” which in turn was loosely adapted from Part I of Goethe’s “Faust.” This is a Romantic opera which has charmed audiences for a century and a half with its direct emotional appeal and melodies that delight the ear and linger there as a fine wine lingers on the palate. In this production it was weighted down by symbolism.

The post-modern set by Robert Brill comprises walkways flanked by circular stairways reminding one of “L’Amour de Loin”. This is meant to represent some kind of facility that produces atomic devices. Chorus members dressed in white coats observe the action. There is a sink in which Marguerite drowns her baby. Pardon me while I puke!
The saviors of the evening were Canadian Yannick Nezet-Seguin whose baton led the fine Met Orchestra in a stirring and lyrical account of Gounod’s thrilling music; the fine Met Choristers; the compelling tenor Jonas Kaufmann who manages to caress every difficult French vowel and stay comprehensible; the formidable bass René Pape who made Mephistopheles as debonair as he is wicked (and, who knew, with a delightful note of humor); and the penetrating soprano of Marina Poplavskaya who showed some excellent acting chops. She was totally believable as an innocent maiden, aided and abetted by costumer Paul Tazewell and a very youthful wig. She struggles mightily against the seductive Faust, but who could resist the very seductive Mr. Kaufmann and his very seductive aria. Hot stuff!!!

Marthe was sung by Wendy White and Russell Braun was a rather stolid Valentin. Mezzo Michele Losier was a fine Siebel and will be reviewed shortly as a recitalist of great merit. It was good to have a native French speaker aboard. Also enjoyable was Kelly Devine’s choreography; not so the distracting video projections of Sean Nieuwenhuis. What on earth is the point of projecting the singers’ faces on a scrim? As a matter of fact, what is the point of hiring directors who seem to know nothing of opera and want only to “express themselves” at the expense of dramatic and vocal integrity??? The devil take them!

© meche kroop for The Opera Insider