Bear At The Movies: La Damnation de Faust

This is the second instalment of the Bear at the Movies.... predominately looking at the MET's live simulcasts of their productions. Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust directed by Robert Lapage definitely ticks all the boxes of opera production in terms of stars and production values what with Susan Graham and Marcello Giordani, Robert Lapage's intricate conception and James Levine conducting; so why was I left underwhelmed.

Well it was not John Relyea's Méphistophéles, he was suitably devilish and raffish in his role though perhaps with less gravitas than previous productions I have seen. Susan Graham's Marguerite was truly emotional; great vocal acting but not quite as impressive as a production with Vesselina Kasarova I have seen. Still she shone out this night with her emotionally intense singing. I was disappointed with Marcello Giordani's static Faust with his beautiful but almost unemotional rendering.

It was the staging that took centre stage with it's acrobats (demons crawling up and down the extensive set), the exquisite video projections (a flock of birds in flight or Marguerite's image in flames), the intense choreography (soldiers walking backwards in slow motion).... This opera does need these sort of production values but they somehow took over to the detriment of the acting.... Visually it was stunning... with the set almost film like in it's grid set up. The video projections which reacted to the singers' voices was technically marvellous... and perhaps that was the problem; all pyrotechnics and no true emotion.

Again the live film direction was flawed... such an epic production with events occurring all over the stage should have meant a wider angle of the whole stage. Unfortunately we had more close-ups than wide shots.

All in all an epic production which was clearly defined, and dazzling but lacklustre apart from Susan Graham's impassioned performance....

La Damnation de Faust - Saturday Nov 22nd 2008

Faust Marcello Giordani
Méphistophéles John Relyea
Brander Patrick Carfizzi
Marguerite Susan Graham

Director Robert Lepage
Conductor James Levine