The volume in L’Opéra français series with the dialogue versions sheds light on the confusing compositional history of Gounod’s Faust and offers opera houses an attractive alternative.

Charles Gounod’s undisputed masterpiece Faust achieved international renown in its “opéra” version, fully-sung throughout; meanwhile, it has been completely forgotten that the work was first composed with spoken dialogues. This mixed form, distinct from both grand opéra and opéra comique, is itself known in two main versions. This new version offers these two versions which contain previously unpublished numbers and melodramas. (The third version, known as the “opéra” version, was published in 2016 in a Critical Edition, BA 8713).

Although Gounod discovered Goethe’s Faust in 1838, his real interest in the subject only began in 1850 when Michel Carré presented Faust et Marguerite, a drame fantastique, at the Théâtre du Gymnase-Dramatique. Jules Barbier used the work as the basis for the libretto of the future opera, which Gounod set to music with complete faithfulness. This was the first version of the work. Although the libretto was too long, it was skilfully conceived which ensured its success in a musical version. The libretto is based on three essential elements. The first is of course the love affair between Faust and Marguerite. The young girl, devout and naive, succumbs to the charms of the ambiguous Faust, who initially behaves like an unscrupulous seducer, before ultimately losing trust in his dissolute, debauched travelling companion. The second element of the libretto is moral and religious in nature. The librettist delivers a warning on sin: the innocent Marguerite has surrendered to her lover and brought a child into the world, which she murders to cover up her “crime”. Her sincere contrition enables her to unmask the devil and to triumph over him. Like a new Eve, she is rewarded and experiences her salvation in an apotheosis which recalls the assumption of the Virgin. The final dramatic theme of the work is the fantastic. It offers opportunities for specific theatrical stage effects, from Faust’s rejuvenation and the idealised appearance of Marguerite at the back of the scientist’s laboratory, to Walpurgis Night, when demons and witches celebrate a sabbath which could perhaps have been yet wilder.

Although several numbers differ from the well-known pieces only in details of orchestration (duet for Faust/Méphistophélès “Me voici!...”, duel trio “Que voulez-vous messieurs?”, Valentin’s death “Par ici, mes amis!”), others are published here for the first time: the trio of Faust/Wagner/Siebel “À l’étude ô mon maître”, the duet of Valentin/Marguerite “Adieu, mon bon frère!”, Méphistophélès’ aria “Maître Scarabée”, Siebel’s romance “Versez vos chagrins dans mon âme!”, Valentin’s aria with chorus “Chaque jour, nouvelle affaire”, the witches’ chorus “Un deux et trois”, and in addition seven “mélodrames”, whose missing or incomplete orchestration has been completed for this edition.

Unfortunately several other pieces from this first version could not be located, particularly with regard to the last act, which was extensively reworked. Besides this some numbers were drastically shortened so that it has not been possible to reconstruct their original state. For example, only the first section of Faust’s original cavatina “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” survives. And the passage of over a hundred bars, which was cut from the quartet “Prenez mon bras un moment!”, could not be reconstructed.

After the opera had been accepted by Léon Carvalho, the director of the Théâtre-Lyrique at the time, rehearsals for the work began in 1858. Endowed with a very strong personality, as director and producer he put Gounod under pressure to make numerous and constant alterations. And in the course of the run of performances and revivals – the piece was revived every year – there was an interrupted succession of reworkings. The premiere on 19 March 1859 already presented the work in a considerably different form from that which Barbier and Gounod had imagined. The trio and duet referred to above were cut. The “Ronde du veau d’or” replaced the original Scarabée couplets after Carvalho had rejected four sketches for Méphistophélès arias. The Soldiers’ Chorus replaced Valentin’s aria. The dialogues were shortened and two melodramas disappeared. But the Walpurgis Night, largely criticised by the press, who did not appreciate witches riding on broomsticks or the fire in a cauldron being raked with iron spoons, remained.   After the revival in autumn 1859, the press found that the Walpurgis Night had been “purged of a good number of horrors”. The last act had therefore been considerably shortened, and the work lost the greatest portion of its fantastical dimension. It is probable that Gounod, very much at ease in langorous love duets, did not know how to give the necessary force to the Witches’ Sabbath. And the weak production undoubtedly did not help either. However, the audience was ecstatic about the church scene which originally preceded the return of the soldiers: Marguerite was not found with her spinning wheel in her bedroom, but in front of her house in the public square; the nearby church was now in sight, occupying the whole stage including the church interior. This effect disappeared in 1862 when the Théâtre-Lyrique moved to the Place du Châtelet, where the much smaller stage did not offer the same opportunities for staging: the church scene was then moved to the end of the act.

The continuous changes which Faust was subjected to at the Théâtre-Lyrique – leaving aside productions in the provinces – make it impossible to establish a definitive second version of the dialogue version. What we regard as this second version corresponds exactly with the vocal score of the work published in June 1859. This matches the second edition of the libretto. Although it does not correspond with contemporary performances in Paris, it largely inspired them. This second version, which is complete apart from five melodramas which had to be orchestrated, will be of less interest: despite from the dialogues, it is too close to the opera Faust in its traditional version. The psychological conception of the characters is much simpler, and the dimension of the fantastic has been considerably reduced. That is why Gounod composed a new “Bacchanale” for the last act (Appendix 1 of the new edition), which was rehearsed in October 1859 in Paris, without this ever leading to a performance. The spoken dialogues disappeared in 1866, but everything points to the fact that several melodramas were retained until 1869 when the work was staged in Paris at the Opéra.

Paul Prévost
(translation: Elizabeth Robinson)
(from [t]akte 2/2017)