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Opera on 3

Music: Classical: Opera

Programme presenting rare and fascinating operatic performances

Programme presenting rare and fascinating performances and vividly communicating the immediacy of the live experience

Opera on 3: Live from the Met

Opera on 3: From the Met: Gounod's Faust

From the Met: Gounod's Faust

BBC Radio 3 - Opera on 3, From the Met: Gounod's Faust

Gounod's Faust with Jonas Kaufmann from the Met. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

Gounod's Faust with Jonas Kaufmann as Faust and Rene Pape as Mephistopheles. Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducts the orchestra and chorus of the Metropolitan Opera.

When the New York Metropolitan Opera opened in 1883 the very first opera to be staged was Gounod's Faust and it has been enormously popular there ever since.  It tells the famous story of Dr Faust and how he sells his soul to the devil, Mephistopheles, in order to regain his youth.  It's the opera that features in the plot of 'Phantom of the Opera' and it's music includes some very famous numbers, including the 'Jewel Song' and the Soldiers Chorus.  Initially something of a failure, Gounod's Faust has been providing a great night out at the opera (and a great challenge to star singers) ever since its first revival in 1863 and will no doubt do so for many years to come.    

This performance from the Met archive was first broadcast in December 2011, and this evening is presented by Mary-Jo Heath with guest commentator Ira Siff.

Faust.....Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
Méphistophélès.....René Pape (bass)
Marguerite.....Marina Poplavskaya (soprano)
Valentin.....Russell Braun (baritone)
Wagner.....Jonathan Beyer (baritone) 
Siébel.....Michèle Losier (mezzo-soprano)
Marthe Schwerlein.....Wendy White (mezzo-soprano)

New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Conductor.....Yannick Nézet-Séguin

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From the Met: Gounod's Faust

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