The latest Palazetto Bru Zane’s retrieval from the valley of lost things is Louise Bertin’s Fausto of 1831.  It’s unusual in two respects.  First of all it’s written by a woman (and quite a young one – she was 26) and secondly it’s an Italian language opera by a French composer written for the Théâtre-Italien in Paris; a theatre which produced mainly operas by Mozart and Rossini (its long time artistic director) with a few from other contemporary Italian composers such as Bellini and Donizetti; some composed for Paris, some imports.

Fausto is a four act adaptation of Goethe’s well known, and much adapted, poem so the libretto is fairly predictable although it does have a rather abrupt and undramatic ending.  The music though is quite unusual.  The orchestral writing is colourful and harmonically quite adventurous for the period, if a bit heavy on the brass.  It’s certainly very much of the Romantic and owes, one imagines, more to Beethoven and Weber than to the Italians.  The vocal writing is a bit mixed.  As it’s an opera semi seria there’s a fair amount of recitative with fortepiano accompaniment but there are also long accompanied passages which typically lead into quite complex and effective ensemble numbers.  There are a few interesting solo arias, including a rather good cabaletta for Marguerite in Act 2, but none of it provides much opportunity for the singers to show their virtuosity which may be one reason it didn’t stay in the repertory or enjoy a late 19th century revival as a “diva vehicle”.  Even Mefistofele’s patter song in Act 2 doesn’t really have the panache of someting like “Largo al factotum”.

The performances are good.  Christophe Rousset conducts with Les Talens Lyriques which allows him to take things pretty fast (which I think is authentic) and to reinforce that with the slightly abrasive sound of period instruments.  Unlike the first performance, at least as reported in the press at the time, the woodwinds and brass play impeccably!

Fausto is unusual in that the title role can be sung by a tenor or by a soprano singing an octave higher and there’s even a version for contralto.  The first performances used a tenor but the recording goes with soprano Karine Deshayes who has sufficiently dramatic high notes for the job and generally is very solid.  The sweeter sound of Karina Gauvin as Marguerite makes a pleasing contrast.  Croatian bass Ante Jerkunica manages to be both sepulchral and playful.  If one misses a tenor in the title role there are some suitably heroic high notes from Nico Darmanin as Valentino and Marie Gautrot’s dark mezzo, as Catarina, contrasts nicely with the two sopranos.  The chorus is the Flemish Radio Choir and they sound pretty good.  All in all, it’s a very decent performance.

Recording quality is excellent and the presentation is the usual lavish Bru Zane affair.  There’s a 123 page bilingual (French/English) book with, besides text and translation, a mass of contemporary and modern material on the work, it’s reception and the process of creating a modern performing edition.  The recording, which will be released in January 2024, comes either as a 2CD set with book or as MP3 or FLAC (CD quality and 24bit/96kHz) with digital booklet.  I listened to CD quality digital.  If I were buying I’d be torn between the physical offering because of the book and the hi-res digital.

Overall, I think this is an interesting and worthwhile addition to the Bru Zane project but I don’t think Fausto is as good musically as some of their other offerings.  It’s certainly not as exciting as the other “devil opera” that premiered in 1831; Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable.

Catalogue number: Bru Zane BZ1054