Berlioz: La Damnation De Faust, Op. 24 ~ Nagano [Import]

Susan Graham (Artist), Thomas Moser (Artist), Jose Van Dam (Artist), Berlioz (Composer), Kent Nagano (Conductor), Lyon Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Lyon Opera Orchestra and Chorus
• Conductor: Kent Nagano
• Composer: Berlioz
• Audio CD (August 7, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: Warner Classics UK / Erato
• ASIN: B000005E3I
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #344,898 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Part 1: Scene 1. Introduction 'Le Vieil Hiver A Fait Place Au Printemps' - Thomas Moser

2. Part 1: Scene 2. Ronde Des Paysans - Chorus/Thomas Moser

3. Part 1: Scene 3. Marche Hongroise - Thomas Moser

4. Part 2: Scene 4. Chant de la Fete de Paques - Thomas Moser

5. Part 2: Scene 5. 'Christ Vient De Ressusciter!' - Chorus/Thomas Moser

6. Part 2: Scene 6. 'O Pure Emotion! Enfant Du Saint Parvis!' - Jose Van Dam/Thomas Moser

7. Part 2: Scene 7. 'A Boire Encore! Du Vin' - Chorus/Jose Van Dam/Frederic Caton

8. Part 2: Chanson De Brander - Frederic Caton/Chorus/Jose Van Dam

9. Part 2: Fugue Sur Le Theme De La Chanson De Brander - Frederic Caton/Chorus/Jose Van Dam

10. Part 2: Chanson De Mephistopheles - Jose Van Dam/Chorus/Thonas Moser

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Part 3: Tambours Et Trompettes Sonnant La Retraite - N/A

2. Part 3: Scene 9. Air de Faust/Scene 10. 'Je l'entends!' - Thomas Moser

3. Part 3: Scene 11. 'Que L ' Air Est Etouffant' - Jose Van Dam

4. Part 3: Scene 11. Le Roi De Thule - Susan Graham

5. Part 3: Scene 12. Evocation - Jose Van Dam

6. Part 3: Scene 12. Menuet Des Feux Follets - Jose Van Dam

7. Part 3: Scene 12. Serenade De Mephistopheles Et Choeur De Feux Follets - Jose Van Dam/Chorus

8. Part 3: Scene 13. Duo - Susan Graham/Thomas Moser

9. Part 3: Scene 14. Trio Et Choeur - Jose Van Dam/Susan Graham/Thomas Moser/Chorus

10. Part 4: Scene 15. Romance - Susan Graham

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A superior "Faust" with the right Gallic flavor, January 14, 2011

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Berlioz: La Damnation De Faust, Op. 24 ~ Nagano (Audio CD)

the field was already crowded with recordings of the Damnation of Faust when this one appeared in 1995, but it had some notable advantages that look even better fifteen years later. Kent Nagano was marching from success to success with his Opera Lyon forces, and he gathered a trio of outstanding vocal soloists. My preference is always for a French performance, even though Berlioz's masterpiece has become international. Moser has the first word as Faust, and Moser doesn't sound like a native French speaker, but as soon as the chorus enters, they add the perfect sound -- precise elegant, and nasal -- that I love in tis work. After all, this is Goethe filtered through Berlioz's sensibility, which isn't that far removed from his comic opera, Beatrice and Benedict despite the melancholy subject. Nagano keeps the pace quick and the accents sharp, adding even more to the special native feeling-- there's almost a fairy tale quality. If you want to hear a Faust that is light and sparkling much of the time, here it is.

Moser has the right heady tenor as well, and he was enough in his prime that the tone is steady and secure, while at the same time he projects heroically as Faust confronts his fate. Susan Graham was also in her youthful prime, the timbre being as close to Debussy's Melisande as Marguerite ever gets. the role really isn't a character the way Faust and Mephisto are but a pair of arias. graham is quite lovely in her Roi de Thule number (if only Nagano's barcarolle rhythm was stronger), and D'amour l'ardente flamme shows off her poise in sustaining the long line. In both numbers her vulnerability is touching. Mephisto steals the show if a charismatic singer stars in the role, and Nagano has one of the best in the veteran Jose Van Dam, whose voice seems untouched by time. He adopts just the right insinuating nasal tone, never blustering his way through the part, and if there's some lack in the humor department, Van Dam makes up for it in malice.

So, is this the best Gallic-sounding Faust? It falls just short of that -- Nagano is rather mild-mannered when the devil gallops Faust to Hell, and his ambitions are a touch modest throughout. Moser doesn't quite capture Faust's mounting despair, either. On those grounds, I'll stick with my two favorite French Fausts from Igor Markevitch and Myung-Whun Chung, both on DG. Even so, Nagaon's deserves a good deal of admiration.