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Hal Prince Does Faust
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16998 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1990 |
1,680 Words |
| Author
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Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott, based in New York, is a writer on
performance arts. |
During the 1890s the Metropolitan Opera house was scornfully dubbed the "Faustspielhaus" because of the inordinate frequency with which it features Gounod's Faust. Now, a hundred years later, Faust is apparently just coming back into style. Operatic taste, at least for the past decade or so, has concentrated on Italian and German works at the expense of the French repertoire. A dearth of good French voices - as much a specialized instrument as the Wagnerian tenor or Verdi soprano - has also led to general despair about the prospects of resurrecting French grand and lyric opera.
Although the work has been seen recently across Lincoln Center at the New York City Opera, its absence at the Met has been conspicuous; opera lovers therefore, heralded its reappearance in February as a major event. It's no wonder. Faust is the operatic equivalent of training wheels - it has helped many acquire the taste for opera by providing good, solid melodrama with plenty of lyricism and craftsmanship. Although frequently looked down upon - unfairly - because it turns Goethe's Faust into something decidedly less German, less sophisticated, and less philosophical, it is still a beloved work filled with innocent charm.
The Metropolitan Opera's staging also marked the debut at that theater of famed Broadway director Hal Prince. Just as Faust has long been a popular mainstay of the operatic repertoire, as a producer and director Prince has long been a mainstay of the popular musical theater world. Given Prince's success with Broadway gushers like The Phantom of the Opera, his first venture into the frequently sappy French repertory was awaited with high expectations. The match seemed almost perfect.
The long overdue appearance of Prince at the Metropolitan also had symbolic importance. His work on Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals - which many claim to be the new operas of our time - as well as his staging of traditional opera in other cities, has made Prince a prophet for those who want to see the boundaries between musical theater and opera eroded. Prince was also instrumental in creating division within the National Council on the Arts devoted to musical theater and opera alike, thus institutionalizing their kinship. All of this appeals to those who want to dignify this country's important musical theater composers with performances in established opera houses.
Irreducible Differences
Unfortunately, Prince's success with opera in New
...
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