Gounod: Faust / Kaufmann, Pape, Met Hd (dvd)

Jonas Kaufmann (Faust), René Pape (Méphistophélès), Marina Poplavskaya (Marguerite), Russell Braun (Valentin), Jonathan Beyer (Wagner), Michèle Losier (Siébel) Orchestra & Chorus of The Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Jonas Kaufmann leads an all-star cast in a thrilling performance of Gounod’s melodrama. ”Mr. Kaufmann, a Met superstar… was a handsome, vocally splendid Faust. He sang the pensive and romantic passages with veiled dusky colorings and tender lyricism, and unleashed pent-up power in full-bodied phrases, capped by fearless high notes.” The New York Times. Double Tony Award winning stage director Desmond McAnuff’s production, hailed by the New York Times as “rich with ideas and theatrically daring”, presents Faust as an atomic scientist inhabiting a dark world shot through with Cold War resonances. Alongside Kaufmann, a typically gold-standard Met cast includes the “phenomenal” René Pape as Méphistophélès and the “ideally-suited” Marina Poplavskaya as Marguerite. Star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin draws an “elegant, darkly textured performance” from the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.

Price: $22.98