[2/19/2011] Preview: Méphisto's masterstroke is slipping that mirror in with the jewels for Marguerite (continued)

Now it's Mirella Freni's turn to discover those fabulous jewels left for her as a trap by the Devil.


OF COURSE WE STILL HAVE TO HEAR
THE OPERA'S ORCHESTRAL INTRO AGAIN

And tonight we're going to hear it conducted by an old friend of Sunday Classics, Pierre Monteux, from one of his three Met broadcasts of Faust, and by the conductor of our 1966 Met Faust, though not from that performance but from his 1976 Erato studio recording of the opera. Note that the Monteux performance isn't as broad as the timing might suggest: The CD editor has tacked the orchestral introduction to the opening scene, almost up to Faust's first word ("Rien!" -- "Nothing!"), onto the Orchestral Introduction. The Lombard performance, however, is as broad as the very lengthy timing would indicate.

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. Live performance, Feb. 19, 1955
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Erato, recorded 1976


NOW TO MARGUERITE'S BIG SCENE

We're going to start off with Valerie Masterson as Marguerite. Then, from the same 1966 broadcast as the John Alexander "Salut, demeure" we had last night, we hear the underappreciated Gabriella Tucci (born 1929), whose full-bodied lyric soprano possessed just about every vocal excellence except an instantly recognizable sound. Finally we hear the lovely Viennese lyric-coloratura soprano Hilde Gueden (1917-1988).

GOUNOD: Faust: Act III, Marguerite, Recitative, "Je voudrais bien savoir" . . . Aria, "Il était un roi de Thulé" . . . Recitative, "Les grands seigneurs ont seuls des airs si résolus" . . . Aria, "Ah! je ris de me voir"

MARGUERITE
Recitative
I would really like to know who this young man was,
if he's a great lord, and what his name is.
Aria
“There once was a king of Thulé,
who, faithful unto the grave,
kept in memory of his beloved.
A cup of chiseled gold -- “
[She interrupts her song.]
He bore himself well, it seemed to me.
[She resumes her song.]
“No treasure had so many charms!
On great occasions he used it,
and every time he drank from it
his eyes filled with tears!

"When he felt Death coming,
stretched out on his cold bed,
to carry it up to his mouth
his hand made a supreme effort!”
[Again she interrupts her song.]
I hardly knew what to say, and I blushed at first.
She resumes her song.[
“And then, in honor of his lady,
he drank one last time;
the cup trembled in his fingers,
and gently he gave up his soul."
Recitative
None but great lords have such a resolute air
with that gentleness.
Come, let's not think about it anymore!
Dear Valentin, if God hears me,
I shall see you again.
Here I am quite alone!
[At the moment of entering the pavillon, she notices the bouquet hanging on the door.]
A bouquet?
[She picks up the bouquet.]
From Siebel, no doubt. Poor boy!
[Noticing the casket.]
What do I see there?
Where could this rich casket have come from?
I don't dare touch it, and yet . . .
Here's the key, I think!
If I were to open it? My hand trembles! Why?
I'm not, in opening it, doing anything wrong, I think.
[She opens the casket, and lets the bouquet fall.]
O God! What jewels!
Is it a lovely dream
that blows me away, or am I awake?
My eyes have never seen such riches.
[She places the open casket on a chair and kneels.]
If only I dared
Adorn myself, for a moment,
With these earrings!
[She takes a pair of earrings out of the casket.]
Ah! here indeed
at the bottom of the casket,
a mirror! How
not to be a coquette?
[She puts on the earrings, stands, and looks at herself in the mirror.]
Aria (Jewel Song)
Ah! I laugh seeing myself
so pretty in this mirror!
Is it you, Marguerite?
Answer me, answer quickly!
No, no, it's no longer you,
It's no longer your face!
This is the daughter of a king,
To whom everyone bows as she passes.
Ah, if only he were here!
If only he could see me this way!
He would find me as beautiful
As a young lady!
Let's complete the metamorphosis!
I've put off trying on
the bracelet and this necklace!
[She puts on the necklace first, then the bracelet. Rising.]
God! It feels like a hand weighing down on me.

Ah! I laugh seeing myself &c.

Valerie Masterson (s), Marguerite; Orchestra of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Serge Baudo, cond. Ponto, recorded live, 1985
Gabriella Tucci (s), Marguerite; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond.
Live performance, Dec. 24, 1966
[Note: Sorry about those couple of technical glitches in the opening line of the "Roi de Thulé" in what's generally a pretty good source.]
Hilde Gueden (s), Marguerite; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Jean Morel, cond. Live performance, Jan. 4, 1958


IN TOMORROW'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST

Finally Faust and Marguerite are left alone together. Is it the most beautiful love duet ever written? Maybe not, or maybe. It is, more than anything, supremely what it is, and tomorrow we try to get a handle on what it is.


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