Disillusioned with life and his own consciousness, the scholar Faust decides at an advanced age to end his existence. But the sound of springtime songs stops him from committing suicide at the last moment and instead makes him summon the devil, who comes to him in the form of Mephisto. He makes a pact with him to get to the young Margarethe. What begins as a seduction leads to a catastrophe: Margarethe becomes involved in the death of her brother Valentin, kills Faust's illegitimate child under social pressure and is condemned to death as a child murderer.
Gounod was already attracted to Goethe's drama in his youth. For his opera, which premiered in 1859, he focused the plot on the devil's pact and the complex relationship between Faust and Margarethe in the conflicting areas of sensual desire, love and abuse. In Germany, the opera was performed under the title "Margarethe", probably not least to indicate the distance to Goethe's drama. With around 3,000 performances, "Faust" is still the most-performed work at the Paris Opera today.
Premiere November 17, 2023
Further performances: November 24, December 14, 2023, January 21, February 16 and 24, March 10, April 20 and May 9, 2024
"Faust" at the Cologne Opera, 2021 © Photographer Bernd Uhlig
