Customer Reviews

Busoni: Doktor Faust [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first discovered this masterpiece on a DGG CD and have longed for a decent video rendering. This is far better than I could have ever imagined with an outanding performance by Thomas Hampson. Hampson speaks excellent German and has really worked himself into the part. The rest of the cast are also very good and both the picture and sound are excellent. Treat yourself to a rare gem, it is most unlikely to appear again for a while and it is really a most wonderful opera deserving of wider popularity and more frequent performances. Strongly recommended.

Recently I listened to Busoni Doktor Faust. The opera was waiting on my recorder, after been broadcasted nearly 2 years ago. The performance was by Opernhaus Zürich from 2006. Thomas Hampson as Doktor Faust impressed me greatly. I immediately bought this Blu-ray disc. In the past, I have read, re-read and watched several times the play by Goethe. I read the play by Marlowe. I have listened to the Faust opera of Gounod. However, never the story of Faust had such an effect on me.
During the second prologue, Doktor Faust opens a book about black magic. According to the guidelines, he conjures up six spirits and chooses the sixth one Mephistopheles as his servant. He asks him to help him with all his wishes, especially for knowledge. In return, Mephistopheles asks him to serve him after death. First Faust shrinks back. Then he surrenders.
It was at this moment of transition from good to power, that Thomas Hampson as Doktor Faust took me into his mind, his thoughts, his hesitation, his weighing up the pros and cons of having power over other people.
In this performance, the creation of many people is converging: The legend of Faust, the libretto and music of Busoni,and Philipp Jarnach, the co-workers of the Zürich Opernhaus. The cast, especially Gregory Kunde as Mephistopheles and Sandra Trattnigg as the duchess of Parma, the conductor Philippe Jordan, the orchestra, the direction, all are exceptional, even on a recording, certainly on a Blu-ray disc.
The story is very personal and human.
The music is beautiful, stirring, fascinating.

I have had no prior exposure to Ferruccio Busoni's music. I have never seen this opera before. The experience was awesome. I was so amazed by the music and the performance that I watched it twice. The music itself is haunting with its rapid transitions between major and minor. The set was very modern but it "worked". Unlike many operas the women play a minor role and the opera succeeds, or fails, on the abilities of the two male leads. Gregory Kunde, playing the role of Mephistopheles, was particularly engaging. The image quality was excellent -- the colors had good saturation; the image was sharp throughout. The image choices by the video director enhanced the viewing experience. The sound (I listened to it with the dts-HD master audio setting) was encompassing with a good frequency range. Art Haus Musik has become a major source for operas in blu-ray. I have a number of their offerings and have been pleased with all of them. This is a direct contrast to the recent offerings by the Metropolitan Opera Company who have recorded a number of operas in high definition but has, to date, released only standard DVDs without the sound quality that can be obtained with Blu-ray. My experience with opera on blu-ray so far is that the sound is clearly better, the image marginally so.

Anyone familiar with the (LP), then, the now-deleted CD performance with Fischer-Dieskau will be extremely disappointed in this set. It's almost like Thomas Hampson is sleepwalking through this, one of my favorite operas of all time. You don't know how many strings I had to pull to get the LP version, and then the DGG CD, which brings the action right into your gut. Hampson does not have the depth of the part, but it is certainly sung beautifully, not the best of reasons to hear this opera.
Even when I just listen to the DVD, the demented horror of Faust is not there... Just a warning for those who HAVE heard the earlier LP/CD transfer. I have it and you don't!