Search - Louis Spohr, Klaus Arp, SWR Radio Orchestra Kaiserslautern :: Louis Spohr: Faust

The less known Faust

Talila Michaeli | Tel Aviv Israel | 05/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Faust by Louis Spohr is quite a surprise even to addicted Opera lovers. This unique recording presents a rather not very known, yet very beautiful music. Bo Skovhus as Faust is clear, energetic and seducing at the same time. He manages in his very abled voice and theatrical qualities to convey this unpleasant, yet somewhat tragic figure perfectly, as he does in so mnay roles he sings and records. Franz Hawalata as Mephistopheles is, to my mind too soft and gentle, however, his voice is beautiful. I can only regret that this CD did not receive enough publicity, which it certainly deserves, and that it is out of print. Still, it is strongly recommended, and to hear a less known music, so beautifully executed, is always a very recommended experience."

Another First Romantic Opera

John D. Pilkey | Santa Clarita, CA USA | 11/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Looking to fill out a triad of operas on the Faust theme, I was seeking for one to complement Gounod's Faust and Boito's Mefistofele. Deciding that Berlioz' Damnation de Faust is more notable for its orchestral music than for voices, I jumped at the chance to purchase Spohr's 1816 opera for several reasons. I liked the idea of complementing Gounod's French and Boito's Italian works with a German opera in Goethe's language. Another factor is that Spohr is one of those 19th century composers like Anton Rubenstein and Joachim Raff neglected in the 20th century for no very good reasons. A third consideration is that 1816 is the same year that author-composer E. T. A. Hoffmann premiered his Undine. Together Undine and Faust establish a trend toward setting works of the Romantic period such as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor based on a novel by Scott. As it turns out, Spohr's work has been called the first Romantic German opera, a distinction that is also given to Weber's Der Freischutz in 1821. As for "first Romantic operas" in general, the same claim has been made for Meyerbeer's Robert L'Diable in 1831. So we can take our pick of 1816, 1821 or 1831.



The overture of Spohr's opera is a bright, vigorous work that immediately turns memorable because of its development of a persistent five-note phrase. The first scene between Faust and Mephisto begins with a lightly orchestrated waltz intended to represent a party. This feature recalls the party scene in Mozart's Don Giovanni, evidently a Spohr favorite. A particularly striking performance is Robert Swenson's as Count Hugo in a recitative-aria sequence where the man hopes to rescue his beloved Kunigunde by besieging the castle of her captor Gulf. In the traditional ensemble in the finale of Act I, Hugo, Faust and Mephisto wail away in heroic fashion as Hugo sings that Gulf should be introduced to the tortures of hell. Gulf belongs in a fiery gulf.



As though that were not enough, Spohr brings on the preternatural in Act II in anticipation of Der Freischutz and Robert L'Diable. Romanticism comes alive in the presence of diabolical evil in an implicit attempt to counteract the epicureanism of Franklin and Jefferson. Spohr's second act opens in a pensive, ominous minor key but without the unforgettably bizarre effects of Weber's Wolf's Glen. Spohr's chorus of witches sounds rather jolly as they celebrate the light of a lamp at night. Or is the lamp supposed to be metaphor for the moon? These German Romantic operas all seem full of moonlight. Faust and Mephisto arrive on the scene like Weber's Max and Kaspar at Wolf's Glen to draw on the offices of the iron-voiced demon Samiel. There is no question that Weber's atmospherics are more developed than Spohr's; but 1816 was a beginning. As Hoffmann has one of his characters sing, "Nachts im Walde wohnen Spuk"-- "At night in the forest dwell spooks." The Romantic operas pay them a visit."