Faust is one of the most famous of all operas and promises audiences at the Macao International Music Festival
a closing night to remember
Charles-François Gounod’s Faust was once one of the most famous and most performed of all operas. The opera premiered on March 19, 1859, at the Théâtre Lyrique, Paris, France and is loosely based on the first part of the three-part tragedy, Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Under the direction of Lü Jia, The Macao Orchestra joins forces with the Coro Lirico Siciliano and Lyric Opera of Chicago in an extravagant production of the world-famous opera, bringing to the audience the golden ages of French opera through a tense plot and extraordinary music, sets and wardrobe.
Telling the story of wealth, power, youth and love, Faust wants it all, and Méphistophélès lets him have it in return for his immortal soul. When you deal with the devil, everyone loses, as Faust soon discovers when he finds himself seducing the innocent Marguerite, humiliating the man who cherishes her, killing her brother, and driving her to madness and death.
Lü Jia is a world-renowned Asian conducting maestro and the first Asian conductor to serve as director of a nationally-recognised opera company in Italy and the first Chinese conductor to head the world-famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Faust will be the closing performance of the 29th Macao International Music Festival and promises the best tradition of French grand opera, a work that combines strongly defined aria forms with lyricism and expressive orchestration.
Valentin’s “Avant de quitter ces lieux” is arguably the opera’s most immediately recognizable aria, and the musical characterisations of Marguerite and Méphistophélès are compelling. The stirring “Ah! Je ris de me voir” and the “Choeur des Soldats” turn Faust into a musically entrancing and memorable evening.
Friday 30/10 to Sunday 1/11
7:30pm
Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium
MOP600, 500, 400, 300, 200