I have experienced the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) in the past but never such a larger
than life production as Hector Berlioz's Damnation
of Faust. Manfred Honceck conducted 4 opera
soloists, 170 choir members and the 98 piece Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was a musical powerhouse performance of
good and evil.
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| One of PSO largest productions with 270 artist on stage |
Reflection
This four
part production was a combustion of operatic arias sung in French (with English subtitles) and jockeying periods of only the PSO. At times the symphony sounded breezy and
light, and at other times, fiery and frantic. The Mendelson Choir of Pittsburgh occasionally
added dramatic waves and The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus sprinkled in pure sounds
during the conclusion.
Music, opera and choir came together to tell, as Berlioz’s described it, a “dramatic legend”. In the story, the protagonist, Faust (tenor, Charles Castronovo) is in a state of despair and contemplates ending his life. The devil, Mephistopheles (bass-baritone, Luca Pisaroni) enters and promises him pleasure and fortune and introduces Faust to Marguerite (mezzo soprano, Tara Erraught). They fall in love. There is some passion in between but the climax occurs when Faust is tricked into selling his soul to the devil in order to save his love from prison. This triggers Faust’s descension into hell. Marguerite, who on the other hand repents from her sin, ascends to Heaven.
Even without
the story narrative or the aria’s lyrics, I enjoyed the contrasts in the composition portraying good and evil and joy and sorrow. The symphony
opened with a breezy sweet flow of piccolos and flutes with the added choir “Tra La La”. Later, deeper sounding solo cellos and then violins produced a melancholic wave. The symphony mimicked the story with interesting injections of bells
and other sounds, especially brass. It was an evening filled with musical contrasts as opposite as heaven and hell.
This show punched with potent vocals. Charles Castronovo, as Faust, had a magnetic
effect as a smooth tenor. Luca Pisaroni, as the devil, was a mesmerizing bass-baritone
and Tara Erraught, as Marguerite, was a powerful mezzo soprano that filled the theater.
The anticipated ending was one of my favorite moments. Faust is dragged to hell as the symphony takes a wild ride with brass, drums, and fiery
strings. It all crescendos with a unified female choir scream and ends with the choir bass “Oh Dread”.
In contrast, the symphony lightened, harps were added, and the choir sang “Praise Hosanna” with the angelic sounds of young voices as Marguerite entered Heaven.
Damnation of Faust was a spectacular dramatic night where diverse genres
emulated the sounds of temptation and redemption. It
was night where good and evil took flight with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
(I will definitely keep the PSO in my empty-nest tool box for enjoyable dramatic musical experiences and more. For more of what is next for the PSO go to pittsburghsymphony.org )