“Nothing”: that’s the first word on his lips. For Faust, life is simply “nothing.” The title character sits slumped and trembling in a wheelchair, philosophizing about the meaning of life, the omnipresent nature of death, and religion—existential questions that are also essential components of Lotte de Beer’s staging of Charles Gounod’s opera “Faust” at the Bayrische Staatsoper.
Suggested
The function is presented on a mostly dark, emptied, but often rotating stage (Christof Hetzer) with pale lighting, arched stone slabs on the floor, and a gleaming, cold metal wall. Individual locations are only suggested and furnished in strange miniature formats: Marguerite lives in a tiny garden shed where the devil lies observing on the roof, where Marthe also sleeps, dying during the love scene, which diminishes the mood.
The church looks like a miniature bus stop. This scene lacks any grandeur.
Mephisto is portrayed as an omnipresent puppet master and whisperer, leading people to drink, dance, and go to war. The mass scenes are very lively, with many corpses. Jorine van Beek has created a style mix of costumes for these scenes, even including sand-colored rags. Unfortunately, the house chorus (training: Christoph Heil), which is otherwise beautifully sung, occasionally falls out of step. Visually, nothing happens during Marguerite’s final rescue.
Naturalness
In his role debut, Jonathan Tetelmann embodies the title character with soft lyricism, touching elegance, fine phrasing, and security in the high notes, particularly in his aria “Salut! Demeure chaste et pure,” and plays him with youthful and great naturalness. Olga Kulchynska’s Marguerite is portrayed as girlish, sensitive, with many nuances and flexible coloratura, especially in the flawlessly sung jewelry aria, overall with fragile sincerity and impressive acting. Marguerite’s accidental killing of her infant in the holy water is particularly poignant. Faust later fishes the baby out of a pile of corpses as well.
Kyle Ketelsen is a cynical, black-clad Méphistophélés. He sings the Satan with vocally powerful nobility and restrained demonism.
Florian Sempey is a rather rough, very virile Valentin, Emily Sierra a sympathetic, refined Siebel, Dshamilja Kaiser an ideal Marthe. Thomas Mole is a respectable Wagner.
Initially with rather broad tempos and a lack of more urgent and gripping impulses, but soon delicate, with many nuances, rich in colors and fine piano culture, but also with the necessary dose of passion and emotion, one hears the Bayrische Staatsorchester under Natalie Strutzmann, who is at the podium for the first time here. This proves not lacking in refined, French perfume.
Great applause and some boos for the scenic team.
