Doktor Faust - Performance History

Performance History

Doktor Faust was given its world premiere at the Sächsiches Staatstheater, Dresden on 21 May 1925 using the version completed by Philipp Jarnach. The premiere was conducted by Fritz Busch, produced by Alfred Reucker, and designed by Karl Danneman. Over the next few years the opera was performed in many of the opera houses of Germany including those in Dortmund, Duisburg, Karlsruhe, Weimar, and Hanover in 1925; Hanover and Wiesbaden in 1926; and Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Hamburg, and Frankfurt am Main in 1927. The opera finally reached Berlin on 27 October 1927 with a performance at the Staatsoper am Platz der Republik. The work was performed again in Hanover and in Prague, the first performance outside of Germany, in June 1928.

Its first performance in England was on 17 March 1937 in a concert version presented at Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. The opera was sung in the English translation prepared by Edward J. Dent and starred Dennis Noble as Faust and Parry Jones as Mephistopheles. A second concert version was presented at the Royal Festival Hall, London, on 13 November 1959, again conducted by Boult, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role and Richard Lewis as Mephistopheles. The UK stage premiere did not occur until 1986, when it was mounted in London at the English National Opera beginning on 25 April with conductors Mark Elder and Antony Beaumont. Thomas Allen sang Faust and Graham Clark, Mephistopheles. The performance was sung in Dent's translation and used the new ending by Antony Beaumont.

The opera received its Italian premiere at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on 28 May 1942 under the baton of Fernando Previtali and starring Enzo Mascherini as Faust, Renato Gigli as Mefistofele, and Augusta Oltrabella as the duchess. Previtali conducted another notable production of the opera at that house in 1964 with Renato Cesari as Faust, Herbert Handt as Mefistofele, and Luisa Maragliano as the duchess. La Scala staged the opera for the first time on 16 March 1960 under conductor Hermann Scherchen with Dino Dondi in the title role, Aldo Bertocci as Mefistofele, and Margherita Roberti as the duchess.

The first performance of Doktor Faust in France occurred at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on 19 June 1963. Shortly thereafter, the work had its United States premiere on 1 December 1964 in a concert format presented by the American Opera Society at Carnegie Hall. The production was conducted by Jascha Horenstein and starred Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role with George Shirley as Mephistopheles and Ingrid Bjoner as the Duchess of Parma. The first United States staged performance of the work was given on 25 January 1974 in Reno, Nevada, by the Nevada Opera Company conducted by Ted Puffer at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. The opera was given in an English translation by Ted and Deena Puffer and starred Daniel Sullivan as Faust and Ted Rowland as Mephistopheles.

Although certainly not one of the most frequently performed operas, Doktor Faust has been produced a number of times over the last twenty-five years. Companies which have staged the work include: the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (1985), the Palais Garnier (1989), La Scala (1989), the New York City Opera (1992), the Salzburg Festival (presented by the Opéra National de Lyon, 1999), the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (2006), and the Berlin State Opera (2008) among others. The Metropolitan Opera mounted its first production of the work in 2001 with Thomas Hampson in the title role, Robert Brubaker as Mephistopheles, and Katarina Dalayman as the duchess. The San Francisco Opera performed the work for the first time in a co-production with the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 2004 with Rodney Gilfry in the title role, Chris Merritt as Mephistopheles, and Hope Briggs as the duchess. A 2006 performance of the opera at the Zurich Opera was filmed live and released on DVD. The production starred Thomas Hampson in the title role and was conducted by Philippe Jordan (see additional details here).