La Damnation de Faust
by Hector Berlioz




World Premiere: Opéra-Comique, Paris, 1846. Berlioz’s magnificent exploration of the Faust legend is a unique operatic journey. The visionary French composer was inspired by a bold translation of Goethe’s dramatic poem Faust and produced a monumental and bewildering musical work that defies easy categorization. Conceived at various times as a free-form oratorio and as an opera, La Damnation de Faust is both intimate and grandiose, exquisitely beautiful and blaringly rugged, hugely ambitious, and presciently cinematic.

Berlioz’s score is as fragmented, wild, and imaginative as the dramatic poem it depicts. Yet for all the massive effects and unusual yet transcendent moments that have impressed (or offended) critics and audiences from Berlioz’s time to our own, the opera achieves some of its greatest moments through daring restraint.



Start time: 10:00am on Capital Public Radio .
Approximate running time 2 hrs 45 min

Click in the "LINKS" area for more information on the Met website about La Damnation de Faust including cast, synopsis, history and more.