David Parry - Gounod: Faust (1999)
Artist: Philharmonia Orchestra, David Parry, Paul Charles Clarke, Alastair Miles, Mary Plazas, Garry Magee, Diana Montague, Sarah Walker, Matthew Hargreaves
Title: Gounod: Faust
Year Of Release: 1999
Label: Chandos
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks + booklet)
Total Time: 3:27:43
Total Size: 955 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:Title: Gounod: Faust
Year Of Release: 1999
Label: Chandos
Genre: Classical
Quality: FLAC (tracks + booklet)
Total Time: 3:27:43
Total Size: 955 MB
WebSite: Album Preview
01. Introduction
02. Nothing! In vain I have probed… (Faust)
03. Lazy little daughter open up your eyes (Chorus, Faust)
04. Can your God help me know the truth? (Faust)
05. Here I am! You seem somewhat startled (Mephitopheles, Faust)
06. So bring me the bliss of careless excesses (Faust, Mephistopheles)
07. Beer or gin or wine or kvass (Chorus, Wagner)
08. Oh, sacred medallion from the sister I love (Valentin, Wagner, Siébel, Chorus)
09. Duty bids me leave this place (Valentin)
10. Cheer up, my friends! (Wagner, Chorus, Mephistopheles)
11. Pride of place to the golden calf! (Mephistopheles)
12. Your song deserves our thanks! (Chorus, Valentin, Wagner, Mephistopheles, Siébel)
13. Though the fiends of hell may defy resistance (Siébel, Valentin, Wagner, Chorus)
14. You haven't seen the last of me yet! (Mephistopheles, Faust)
15. Just as when the whispering breezes… (Chorus, Mephistopheles, Faust, Siébel)
16. May I presume to ask… (Faust, Matguerite, Siébel, Mephistopheles, Chorus)
17. Entr'acte
18. You must help me reveal the love I feel (Siébel)
19. Are we there? (Faust, Mephistopheles, Siébel)
20. Wait here for a while, Doctor Faust (Mephistopheles, Faust)
21. What turbulent feelings possess me? (Faust)
22. Be careful! Here she comes! (Mephistopheles, Faust)
23. He would hae held my hand if I'd only allowed him (Marguerite)
24. A bouquet! It's from Siébel I'm sure (Marguerite)
25. Bless my soul, I'm dreaming! (Martha, Marguerite)
26. Dame Martha Schwerlein, I believe (Mephistopheles, Martha, Marguerite, Faust)
27. Please take my arm, they won't mind! (Faust, Marguerite, Mephistopheles, Martha)
28. And none too soon! (Mephistopheles)
29. It's very late… Farewell! (Marguerite, Faust)
30. Marguerite! (Faust, Marguerite)
31. Look there! She's opening her window… (Mephistopheles, Marguerite, Faust)
32. Entr'acte
33. They pass me in the street… (Marguerite, Chorus)
34. Marguerite! Siébel! (Siébel, Marguerite)
35. When happy days bring gladness and laughter (Siébel, Marguerite)
36. Dear Lord, accept the prayers of a penitent sinner (Marguerite, Mephistopheles, Chorus)
37. Come along my brothers (Chorus, Valentin, Siébel)
38. We seek the soldier's immortal prize (Chorus)
39. Come on, Siébel, I need a drink or two! (Valentin, Siébel, Mephistopheles, Faust)
40. Is my love awake or sleeping (Mephistopheles)
41. What can I do for you? (Valentin, Mephistopheles, Faust)
42. Over here, come at once! (Martha, Chorus, Valentin, Marguerite, Siébel)
43. Pay heed to my words, Marguerite! (Valentin, Chorus)
44. Over the heather, through the marshes (Chorus)
45. No further! (Faust, Mephistopheles, Chorus)
46. Till the sun awakes in the east (Mephistopheles, Chorus, Faust)
47. Honeyed nectar, share your pleasure (Faust, Chorus, Mephistopheles)
48. May your elation, O careless love (Mephistopheles, Faust)
49. Intermezzo
50. Go back! (Faust, Mephistopheles)
51. My heart quails at the thought of this meeting! (Faust)
52. Ah! Do I hear my lover's voice? (Marguerite, Faust)
53. Make haste now! (Mephistopheles, Marguerite, Faust, Chorus)
54. I. Dance of the Nubian Slaves
55. II. Slow Dance
56. III. Ancient Dance
57. IV. Cleopatra's Variations
58. V. Dance of the Trojan Women
59. VI. Mirror Variations
60. VII. Phryne's Dance
After listening to this Faust, one can feel something very like awe. The structure is massive, the workmanship infinitely thorough, the boldness of stroke (dramatic and musical) almost breathtaking.
No doubt the performance contributes to the awe. That's because in many ways it's a very good one, and partly because it underlines seriousness and grandeur. But it appears that David Parry has joined the swelling ranks of the slowcoaches. The Church scene and Faust's solo in the garden, for instance, are probably the slowest on record. Happily, there's nothing boring about it. This recording and its production keep the stage in view, and it's particularly good to have the chorus in such clear focus.
The principals, too, form a strongly gifted team. Paul Charles Clarke, the Faust, is an interesting tenor, thrustful both in tone and manner yet capable of gentleness and delicacy. He never lets us forget that this is his story; when he sings everything counts. By comparison, Alastair Miles's Méphistophélès seems a mild-mannered type with reserves of authority and a magnificent voice. The absence of overt devilry may pass as a virtue, but the absence of character is surely taking the disguise too far. Gounod's Mephisto is a joker, a man of the world and an exhibitionist; this one, rarely in the spotlight, loses it entirely when Marthe enters the garden in the person of Sarah Walker.
The Valentin, Gary Magee, has a fine, vibrant baritone and rises well to his high notes and big moments. Diana Montague is an excellent Siébel (and how she rises to hers). The Marguerite, Mary Plazas, is totally likeable, ingenuous but not winsomely so, touchingly sincere in her love and her loss, clean in the scale-work of her Jewel song, a little underpowered in the grand melody of the Church scene, but having a powerful high C in reserve. The English version by Christopher Cowell reads well. — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
No doubt the performance contributes to the awe. That's because in many ways it's a very good one, and partly because it underlines seriousness and grandeur. But it appears that David Parry has joined the swelling ranks of the slowcoaches. The Church scene and Faust's solo in the garden, for instance, are probably the slowest on record. Happily, there's nothing boring about it. This recording and its production keep the stage in view, and it's particularly good to have the chorus in such clear focus.
The principals, too, form a strongly gifted team. Paul Charles Clarke, the Faust, is an interesting tenor, thrustful both in tone and manner yet capable of gentleness and delicacy. He never lets us forget that this is his story; when he sings everything counts. By comparison, Alastair Miles's Méphistophélès seems a mild-mannered type with reserves of authority and a magnificent voice. The absence of overt devilry may pass as a virtue, but the absence of character is surely taking the disguise too far. Gounod's Mephisto is a joker, a man of the world and an exhibitionist; this one, rarely in the spotlight, loses it entirely when Marthe enters the garden in the person of Sarah Walker.
The Valentin, Gary Magee, has a fine, vibrant baritone and rises well to his high notes and big moments. Diana Montague is an excellent Siébel (and how she rises to hers). The Marguerite, Mary Plazas, is totally likeable, ingenuous but not winsomely so, touchingly sincere in her love and her loss, clean in the scale-work of her Jewel song, a little underpowered in the grand melody of the Church scene, but having a powerful high C in reserve. The English version by Christopher Cowell reads well. — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
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