Busoni's Doktor Faust
Klaus Michael Gruber (stage director), Philippe Jordan (conductor) — With Thomas Hampson (Faust), Günther Groissböck (Wagner), Gregory Kunde (Mephistopheles), Reinaldo Macias (The Duke of Parma), Sandra Trattnigg (The Duchess of Parma)...
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Cast
Klaus-Michael Grüber — Stage director
Eduardo Arroyo — Stage design
Eva Dessecker — Costume designer
Jürgen Hoffmann — Lighting
Thomas Hampson — Faust
Günther Groissböck — Wagner
Gregory Kunde — Mephistopheles
Reinaldo Macias — The Duke of Parma
Sandra Trattnigg — The Duchess of Parma
Martin Zysset — A Lieutenant
Chor des Opernhauses Zürich
Jürg Hämmerli — Chorus Master
Orchester der Oper Zürich
Philippe Jordan — Conductor
Program notes
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.
