Organization

Singer

Baritone

Thomas Hampson

Doktor Faust

Tenor

Gregory Kunde

Mephistopheles

Soprano

Sandra Trattnigg

Duchess of Parma

Andreas Winkler

Studen

Conductor

Philippe Jordan

Stage director

Klaus Michael Grüber

Set designer

Eduardo Arroyo

Costume designer

Eva Dessecker

Lighting designer

Jürgen Hoffmann

Chorus master

Jürg Hämmerli

Bass

Günther Groissböck

Wagner

Der Zeremonienmeister

Reinaldo Macias

Duke of Parma

Soldat

Martin Zysset

Leutnant

Leutnant/ Student

Miroslav Christoff

Megäros

Megaros/ Student

Gabriel Bermúdez

Asmodus

Naturgelehrter

Giuseppe Scorsin

Theologe

Gravis

Tomasz Slawinski

Jurist

Levis

Opernhaus Zürich

Orchestra

Philharmonia Zürich

Others

Chor der Oper Zürich

German

Doktor Faust -  (Doctor Faust)

Zurich

Switzerland

Opernhaus

"“Procure me the unconditional fulfilment of my every wish for the rest of my life, let me embrace the world – the East and the South, which call out to me –, let me understand completely man’s actions and extend them in unheard-of ways; give me genius, and give me also his suffering, so that I may be happy like no other.” (Ferruccio Busoni)

Doktor Faust remained a fragment at the time of the composer’s death. Busoni died in 1924, unable to complete what he himself described as his “state masterpiece” – an opera to which he had a deep personal attachment. The missing scenes from the score – the appearance of Helen and Faust’s closing monologue – were completed by his pupil, Philipp Jarnach, whom Busoni had become acquainted with during his period in exile in Zürich. In this form the opera was given its first performance in Dresden in 1925. Then in the 1980s the conductor Anthony Beaumont came across previously undiscovered sketches by Busoni and produced a new version of Doktor Faust, which was premiered in Bologna in 1985. The current recording uses the Jarnach score.

“[Thomas Hampson possesses] all the physical and vocal energy one could wish for…..flourishes and ornaments leap out of his melodic lines….the gestures [are] also natural, his phrasing and pitch sure. Mr. Hampson, as his career justifiably grows, has preserved an unmannered charm.” The New York Times"

Plunge into the mind of a tormented, exacting revolutionary, disillusioned with the world around him and with what life has—and doesn't have—to offer him. In his quest for perfection, the frustrated genius feels compelled to create, to express the music he hears and wishes to share with the world. This is the music of Doktor Faust, an opera by Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni, for which he wrote the libretto himself, and on which he labored feverishly in the years leading to his death in 1924. He nonetheless left it incomplete, and the task fell to his student Philipp Jarnach to provide the finishing touches.

A host of marquee names, led by Thomas Hampson in the title role, bring their talents to this early 20th-century masterpiece, with Busoni's score conducted expertly by Philippe Jordan. The Faustian legend comes to life in a staging that blends action, adventure, and philosophical reflection, punctuated by diabolical visions created by the demon Mephistopheles, performed by the fiery Gregory Kunde in an elegant production by Klaus Michael Grüber.

Doctor Faust by Busoni, From (2006/2006), Directed by Klaus Michael Grüber,, Conductor Philippe Jordan, Opernhaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

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Program, About & Synopsis

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