Faust (review)

Faust.Charles Gounod
Faust: Alfredo Kraus	Chorus of Teatro Regio, Parma
Marguerite: Ana Maria Gonzales	Conductor: Alain Guingal
Méphistophélès: Nicola Ghiuselev	Director: Beppe De Tomasi
Valentin: Roberto Coviello	Live performance, 16 February 1986
Siébel: Ambra Vespasiani	Sung in French, without subtitles
Marthe: Wilma Colla	Bel Canto Society videocassettes (distributed by Allegro Corporation) bcs 0640
Wagner: Tito Turtura
Orchestra Sinfonica dell'Emilia Romagna "Arturo Toscanini"	2 VHS tapes, color, 191 minutes

After Bel Canto Society's video of Werther (see p. 407), its Faust is a very pleasant surprise. Recorded only a year before the Massenet work, this Parma performance catches Alfredo Kraus in notably better form, with most of the production's other elements a good deal more satisfying than the Barcelona Werther.

The conductor is that of the Werther, Alain Guingal, but here he leads a much more full-toned, technically accomplished orchestra (even if the horn section is not, especially). The playing is stylish from the start, with real buoyancy in the famous second-act waltz. The wind playing offers a good deal of grace throughout. Guingal has a fine dramatic sense and seems very much attuned to his singers, especially his tenor and soprano.

Kraus here is the tenor we knew and loved. The low notes may be thin, but the tone is unfailingly steady, the phrasing as arched and long-breathed as ever. Certain legato passages—above all, "Ne permettrez-vous pas" and the opening of the love duet—leave the listener in absolute awe, due to the extraordinary elegance and sensitivity conveyed by Kraus. Guingal takes the aria at a rather slow tempo, but Kraus handles it impeccably, crowning it with "où se devine la présence" managed in one breath, the high C secure (if not exactly floated). Vocally the entire portrayal is a superb achievement by any standards, doubly so for a tenor nearing the age of sixty. Kraus also boasts the only consistently intelligible French in the cast. Dramatically I longed only for a little more charm in his scenes with Marguerite (he looks at her earnestly rather than lovingly or seductively), and a little more excitement in the confrontation with Valentin. By the way, in the latter scene the stage goes to black as Valentin and Faust are about to duel; when the lights come up, Valentin is already wounded. Perhaps this was done to spare Kraus the physical exertions of this scene, but it is unfortunate for the drama.

Ana Maria Gonzales has often partnered Kraus and other major Spanish tenors onstage. Having read of her performances for some years, I was pleased to see her in a complete role at last. She turns out to be a very musical singer, attractive to look at, and gifted with a substantial lyric soprano. There are problems: no trill for the Jewel Song, rather homogenized vowels, some graininess in the timbre. Even if she pushes her voice sharp in the Church Scene, the top is usually excellent (her best moment, "Il m'aime" at the end of act 3, really sails), and Gonzales has the sincerity that is the sine qua non in this role.

When Nicola Ghiuselev sang his first scene as Méphistophélès, I had my doubts—big voice but heavy style, and no individuality dramatically. By opera's end, I had concluded that the Bulgarian bass (so often confused with Ghiaurov, his more famous compatriot) had done all the conventional things, but done most of them well. He does not shape his French with much specificity, and the "Veau d'or" is the usual loud-louder-loudest with very un-lovely sounds on top. He is unfailingly confident, however, and in the Garden he begins to acquire more appeal. The Serenade is unexpectedly mellow, and here the devil's charm does emerge. No longer young in 1987, he remains handsome in appearance, commanding in presence.

As with "Salut! demeure," Valentin's aria is taken very broadly by the conductor, and Roberto Coviello copes well with it...