robert said 6 months ago

Great operatic experiences with Don Giovanni and the Makroupolis Case, in Nottingham this week. but what a disaster was Faust. A half empty auditorium in Nottingham said it all. Glorious singing,, a great Mephisopolis but one had to keep ones eyes closed. I aftewards carefully read the Directors reasons for such a dreadful production. I am not against updating an opera(Miller did it famiously for Rigoletto., and some of the updates for Fidelio have been excellent, Boheme and Traviata also,) but the reason to do so must be clear. This update made just caused confusion. What city banker or worker would be all that concerneed about his sister becoming pregnant.? The presence of surtitles made it even more risable, we listen to city workers ?Bankers singing about going to war, and fighting battles. As poor Margarita ws to be hanged for infanticide, what was the role of Abortion posters? Why are the jewels in a tea chest? Why destroy the atmosphers of tragedy of Valentinos death, by having all the bankers taking photographs with their mobiles?The projections were mostly irrelevant, and distracting.they could have been relevant. Those for Walpurgas night, a great potential if one is using projections were pathetic and bore no relationship to a night of orgy.. The directors explanation of what he was aiming for, bore no relation to what he had achieved. seeing all the empty seats in Nottingham, this was a commercial disaster, which Opera North or any opers company can ill afford. To lose money on a popular opea on a Friday night is unacceptable. Will the director be held to account? What mechanism is there to ensure that there is some overseeing of a planned production.Would the director be prepared to perhaps meet an audience and explain what he was aiming for,, if he thought he had achieved it, and the audience vould tell himwhere he failed. I had three guests, to whom I was introducing opera, they were mystified at tht eirrelevancce of the visual production and the surtitles,and the message that Margarite chose death and salvation , rather than life and immoral love was entirely lost.

Nick Hayes said 6 months ago

I hadn't realized that abortion was a crime in contemporary France, unlike infanticide (which was then and still is). I've certainly no principled objection to contemporising opera. I didn't particularly miss the spinning wheel; I could even live with the plastic surgery, and the slightly annoying flickering images on tall vertical screens. But abortion – is this production supposed to be challenging my assumptions and belief systems? If so it hasn’t. My views are very unlikely to change on the basis of distorting the plot of a nineteenth century opera. Why would the directors think that they would? Judged by the audience's muted response in Nottingham I was not on my own.

Mark said 6 months ago

I saw this in Newcastle just a week after seeing Scottish Opera's Magic Flute, and if SO had had James Cresswell singing his Sarastro, both for his voice and stage presence, it would have sent that production into the stratosphere. Opera North's Faust had a complete set of magnificent singing, and a vibrant chorus. But the screens tended to restrict movement, forcing a stand and sing delivery. I agree with the Guardian review that the attempt to contemporise the setting worked against key elements of the story. The projections were an interesting experiment - but not an approach I'd like to see too often.
At the end of the day, a Gothic opera probably does need a Gothic production. But the heart of any opera is the voices, and they were BRILLIANT.

Jacqueline Taylor said 6 months ago

This must be the only opera we haven't seen and we were absolutely glued to our seats - it was fantastic and the principals especially James Creswell superb - what a wonderful voice. We would visit this opera again by Opera North as we loved the staging and digitalisation - not having seen the piece previously we can't judge - but to us it was magnificant. The three hours soon passed, sadly.

Helen Baron said 6 months ago

Saw this production last night and was very disappointed. Some good singing, but the direction was awful. The screens forced most of the action to the centre of the stage and the blocking of movement was awkward for both principals and chorus, who looked over enthusiastic but under-rehearsed. The relentless images distracted from the performances, and the whole production was dated and dull. The audience's muted reactions said it all.

Max Page said 7 months ago

Not at all sure about the production (don't know the opera well enough) but Peter Auty's and James Creswell's singing and the orchestra's playing were instrumental in a blissful evening's entertainment.

PETER LEWIS FAIRCHILD said 7 months ago

What a load of rubbish! I thought the production of CARMEN was bad enough, NORMA was even worse and this production of FAUST was the worst I have seen anywhere. No wonder there were so many empty seats at The Lowry Tuesday Nov 6th, Opera fans are getting sick and tired of these "concept" productions and are staying away because they know what to expect. I wish I had. The singers and we the audience were fighting a losing battle with the distracting, annoying and pointless flashing projections and videos in the background. This lot should be prosecuted for destroying a magnificent opera and wasting a lot of public money in the process!

Malcolm & Celia said 7 months ago

We saw this opera on the 3 November and we simply loved it. We have read multiple reviews of this production which seem to miss the point and appear to be from people who want to sleep walk through the same opera. In their day many operas were challenging, radical and new, both in theme and production. It is important to us when we go and see an opera that we can have that similar experience - so things do need to be updated to be relevant now. We do like the traditional productions, but in this case, as a traditional production, we would have still very much enjoyed the music, but not had the same emotional buy-in which for us enhanced the musical performances and helped us believe in the story and acting. It might just be that the use of technology and the updating of the story is something that appeals to those who are engaged with the modern world more than those who are retired from it. Age may not be the critical factor in this (we are in our 50s) but attitude of mind certainly might be. We noted there were more young people in the audience on this night than for the other operas. Elements of your Faust reminded us of the impact that “Jerry Springer the Opera” had – which no doubt many people would also have found challenging! We have seen all of the three operas this season and this was a great nights entertainment on which to end the series. It is a shame to see empty seats – but is this also more about the times and the recession than style of the opera – personally we are more likely to keep attending for productions like this than the ”same old stuff”. A memorable triumph – thank you.

Laurie R said 7 months ago

Taking a friend last night whose introduction to Opera this was, she saw the very best! Absolutely wonderful, the screens did not detract from the superb voices, another triumph Opera North.

Emily said 7 months ago

Wonderful!

I will admit that after going to the pre-show talk I was prepared to be disappointed by all the 'innovation' and 'contemporary twists'.

However, I thought that the screens (apart from the odd occasion when I could hear them squeak across the stage) were a great success - powerful imagery that on the most part added to the atmosphere, though the floating faces were sometimes a little off-putting.

The modern setting with the "bible-bashers" seemed an inventive way of giving power to the lyrics involving God, the devil, sin, and blasphemy, which otherwise may have fallen short, especially for the younger people in the audience.

As for the characters, Faust was heart-breaking in his lyric torment, Marguerite was a perfect picture of fallen innocence, but the star of the show had to be Mephistopheles, whose voice was superbly rich and whose every action was filled with playful evil and devilish power. I felt for all of the leading characters, who were all played with sympathy and skill, although I wonder if people sitting further back could hear Siebel.

As I left the theatre, I found myself thinking about seeing the production again. Whatever it's flaws, it was a deeply affective performance. Thank you, ON.

Maggie Whitaker said 7 months ago

Oh Dear!!! How awful, the video screens totally ruined a wonderful Mr Mephistopheles, Marguerite and indeed orchestra. Do not the very, many empty seats spell out something? I thought Carmen was bad enough but sorry this was even worse. Please come back Opera North and fill the seats. Have read several negative reviews, I am not on my own.

Ted said 7 months ago

New insights are always welcome (Cosi fan tutte is a case in point) and they can work for updated interpretations (Fortunes of Croesus, for example) but only if the director has read the libretto closely and is interpreting it rather than rewriting it. The most disappointing productions of late have been Carmen and Faust. Please, no more of this. The orchestra, chorus and soloists invariably do a fine job: give them the directors they deserve.

Carel said 7 months ago

Very disappointed with this production with its political and anti abortion theme. The video screens were particularly distracting. The singing was beautiful and the orchestra in fine tune. It's a shame the chorus and musicians were let down by the visual effects and interpretation.

Helen Seymour said 7 months ago

Wonderful singing, especially from James Creswell and Peter Auty and the orchestera just get better and better, but it was seriousy marred by a very messy production. The projections just didn't work - too much and too distracting - and some extradordinarily odd directions: e.g Mephisto pushing a box on during a duet, the crowd overacting painfully. Needs rethinking drastically.