Customer Reviews

Hector Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust

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Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was a revolutionary composer but the nature of his musical upheaval isn't clear until one takes a few facts into consideration. Between 1789 and 1820 France was in a state of perpetual tumult that left her literature and arts in stasis; while from across the channel, young English poets contemplated the French Revolution and new poetic impulses were born. Wordsworth's Preface to his Lyrical Ballads in 1801 is the epochal statement of 19th Century English Romanticism. France still stagnated. The following two facts are stunning: not a single play by Shakespeare was successfully presented in France for the two centuries from his death in 1616 until Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet played at the Odeon theatre in Paris in 1827. Included in the audience of jubilant young Romantics was an enthralled Hector Berlioz. And the music of Beethoven was scarcely known in France until Francois Antoine Habeneck was placed in charge of reorganizing the Conservatory Concerts and presented the first performance of the Eroica Symphony in 1828. Attending that concert was the same soon-to-be ex-medical student, Hector Berlioz. That same year, Berlioz created his arch-Romantic Symphonie fantastique, revolutionizing musical syntax. That he created it ex nihilo in a relatively barren French cultural landscape makes his achievement all the more stupendous. Yet it also contained the seeds for the attendant difficulties and failures of his subsequent work, including La Damnation de Faust. The ground simply had not been properly sown to bear the fruit of Berlioz's genius!

Berlioz had cast Goethe's Faust, in its Gerard de Nerval translation, into 8 dramatic scenes as a youthful enterprise in 1828 which he then sent to Goethe upon its completion. When Goethe failed to respond, not even acknowledging receipt of the manuscript, Berlioz withdrew the work and destroyed it. Thus the matter lay until the winter of 1845/46. Berlioz, while on a tour of Austria, Hungary, Bohemia and Silesia, was inspired by Hungarian music to throw himself into a new composition: La Damnation de Faust. He wrote the piece on-the-fly as he traveled. It had its premiere in November 1846 at the Comic Opera in Paris. Conceived not as an opera but, as he described it, a "Legende dramatique en quatre parties". Parisians did not know what to make of it and stayed away in droves. The second performance was similarly sparsely attended. Berlioz was so disappointed that he wrote no large scale secular works for the rest of his life. Faust was particularly manhandled in Germany by Goethe's self-appointed protectors. It did not matter that this Faust was freely adapted from Goethe's text. Berlioz's temerity in appropriating the great man's ideas was an egregious sin, sufficient grounds for condemnation, leaving the work unplayed in Germany for years despite admirers such as Liszt. Thus was Berlioz's masterpiece thrust upon a venomous world.

This DVD is a live recording of a performance during the 1989 Promenade Concert season at the Royal Albert Hall marking the start of Sir Georg Solti's farewell tour as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. As such, a valedictory atmosphere prevails amongst performers and audience, heightening the already emotionally charged expectations surrounding this comparatively infrequent staging of the Faust. Even were this not being recorded, I suspect the performers would have been keen to deliver a taut, dramatic, technically flawless reading of Berlioz's "dramatic legend". That is precisely what they do deliver. The Chicago Symphony players profess their admiration and respect for Sir Georg by filling the hallowed Albert Hall with a nearly perfect performance. The Orchestra has never sounded more energetic, yet plays the more sedate passages with delicacy and taste. The horns and winds are particularly fine, playing with power and precision. The strings have a silky sheen reminiscent of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy, yet play Berlioz's more sardonic pages with bite and grit. Solti molded this Orchestra into a world class organization over the years and they prove it here. The Chicago Symphony Chorus under Chorus Master Margaret Hillis is superb. The Chorus of the Westminster Cathedral under James O'Donnell is similarly brilliant, lending a lovely melting sweetness to the slightly more brazen Chicago voices. Together, their sound is stupendous during Choral outbursts that must be heard to be believed. These massed voices are worth the price of admission!

The four soloists are all at their peak on this recording. Marguerite is sung by mezzo-soprano Anne-Sofie von Otter who is wonderful in the role. Her voice is pliant yet dark, hinting at evil's seduction of a pure soul. Perfect casting. Faust is New Zealand tenor Keith Lewis, who lends the role dignity amidst demonic turmoil. His singing is excellent, acting convincingly with his voice, showing terror or defiance with equal expertise. Mephistopheles is sung by Jose van Dam. Bravado, cunning and guile are all portrayed by his singing. English singer Peter Rose is Brander with a sonorous bass. Solti conducts brilliantly. I have only a minor quibble, preferring even greater ferocity in some of the climactic moments. As I say, it is a minor point. The performance is superb overall. I enjoyed it immensely and was often quite moved by both the work and the atmosphere surrounding this performance. The extensive applause at the end had many in the audience in tears.

This DVD is recorded in color with a full screen image and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The Region Code is NTSC 0 Worldwide. The menu languages are German, French, English and Spanish. Subtitles are in the same 4 languages. The sound format is PCM stereo which is clear and vivid, lending nice presence to the live recording. The running time of this disc is 134 minutes. There are no extras other than an excellent 32 page booklet in English, French and German.

This is a superb DVD of a rarely performed work. I strongly recommend it to everyone but especially lovers of Choral singing and Romantic Orchestral music. This is the recording to help you acquire a taste for Berlioz if this composer has eluded you until now.

Mike Birman

This production, apart from being a quite satisfying performance of the musical piece, has excellent dramatic presentation. The soloists perform as they sing, with facial expression, emotional intensity and interaction that almost transports them to an imaginary theatrical set provided by the musical imagery. Kind of like radio dramas, but with some visual support. This facet of the presentation is showcased by a well crafted videography that is relentlessly capturing the strongest musical and dramatic moments with well timed shot sequences. A real tribute to the true intent of the composer.

Kudos to the excellent camera crew for this live production.

I have nothing but praise for everyone connected with this production. The Chicago Symphony and Chorus, and Sir George are all at the top of their games, and the soloists are superb. I also thought the video production quality was first-rate, although I can sympathize with the reviewer who would have liked to see more emphasis on the brass section.

I love Berlioz, who is in my opinion often under-rated by both critics and music lovers. I should think that performances like this one would help create a lot more Berlioz lovers.

By the way, my thanks to the authors of the excellent reviews that came before mine, and convinced me to buy this DVD. It will bring me countless hours of pleasure.

This was the second of two recorded versions of "The Damnation of Faust" by Hector Berlioz. The first was a digial lp/cd recording from 1981. This performance was a televised production at London's Royal Albert Hall.
It's almost a shame that he didn't stage it at his old stomping grounds, Covent Garden, as an operatic production--which it most certainly can be. The orchestral performance in the 1981 recording was crisper and more colorful--although the CSO plays brilliantly here as well. Still, I prefer the the 1981 version of the famous Rakozy (Hungarian) march. Chicago's classical music station plays the 1981 CSO version of the Rakozy march when it's honoring Berlioz's birthday. It has a little more color and bounce while this version sounds a tad flatter and slower. While the sound is phenomenal, I did miss some of the spacious acoustical reverberation in the Royal Albert Hall that I have detected in taped radio broadcasts from the CSO in this venue. However, it was a wise idea to stage the Westminister Cathedral Chorus slightly off stage since their brief appearance at the end is meant for a heavenly, ethereal effect. I attended the Chicago performance that preceded this European presentation and the off-stage singing was too distant. I believe the soloists Solti selected were better suited for this taped televised production. Jose van Dam reprises his role as Mephistopheles. The rest of the cast is superb. I detect a strong European flavor to it in that everyone's French diction and accent are spot on.

Dear Sirs: Please, allow me to write this text in spanish, in order to express my opinions more properly.
El DVD La Damnation de Faust me hizo pasar un rato inolvidable. El marco en que se desenvuelve la función, su grandiosidad, la calidad del trabajo coral, el impecable sonido, la orquesta y dirección orquestal, así como las voces de los solistas, fueron todos de primerísima calidad.
Verdaderamente, cuando solicité el envío de esta obra no advertí que se trataba de una versión concierto, y me sentí algo defraudado al darme cuenta de ello cuando la recibí. No obstante, cuando empecé a visionarla olvidé enseguida mis prevenciones, que se convirtieron en un ENORME entusiasmo. De entre mi amplia colección de DVD de ópera, éste ocuparía uno de los primeros lugares por orden de preferencia.
Espero que, pese a estar redactada en español, la presente valoración sirva para que alguien más se decida a disfrutar de esta magnífica obra.
Un cordial saludo
Fernando

I recently saw a staged version of the damnation en direct from the Met in HD at a local cinema. No comparaison possible! I had to force myself to stay awake listening to the concert version on that cd; I had to hold my breath during the staged version!

I gave this DVD a positive review because it is beautiful music, it's great to see Sir Georg & Co. go at it, and it is certainly interesting to know what happens in this work outside of the "Hungarinan March". However, as a Tuba Player, I have to warn others, who, like me, may be wishing to observe our forefather Arnold Jacobs in action. All who fall into this category will surely be disappointed as not only does the camera seem to deliberately avoid the low brass, and specifically the chair with whoever is playing tuba in it (for the record, all photography directors hired for these gigs need to be taken aside at some point and shown the basics of score reading), but there is no audible presence from the Tuba at all (whomever it might actually be ;-). This DVD is a complete failure in terms of capturing the "legendary" sound of the Chicago Symphony Brass Section, and thus the characteristic sound of the Orchestra as a whole. I am eagarly awaiting an oppourtunity to check out Decca's "Solti: the Maestro" DVD set Georg Solti: The Maestro for better reference material. Finally, Tuba Players and audio engineers, I refer you to TDK's DVD of Gunter Wand conducting the NDRS in Bruckner's 8th Symphony Gunter Wand: Anton Bruckner - Symphony No. 8if you wish to find out what makes this reviewer happy ;-)