Jewel song - G. Benackova

Slovak soprano Gabriela Benackova sings the Jewel song from Gounod's FAUST
Vienna State Opera 1985

Category:

Music

Tags:

• faust
• gounod
• opera
• benackova
• araiza
• raimondi

[ChantantReve]

no disrespect intended but I got a flashback from The Sound of Music...

Yes, she's got a beautiful, rich, round tone.. it has true depth.

[EmilyGreene1984]

Gabriella has a beautiful voice for the role of Marguerite, perhaps the best I've heard on YouTube thus far. But the production quality, IMHO, is atrocious. In the opera (and story), Marguerite was a religious woman, but by no means was she a nun at any time in the story.

[MastersoftheOpera]

@Eleuthere13 . I also dislike how Ken Russell made Marguerite a nun. This was never in Gounod's original version where Marguerite is merely a poor, innocent village girl who goes astray when she falls in love with Faust. This was a fine production but by far the worst part was the ballet girls who appear in every scene and distract you from the story. Ballet is ballet and should never be merged with opera.

[Eleuthere13]

Medieval women were not dressed in black and white... This is definitely a nun. This setting is apalling. You wonder whether they understand the lyrics or not.

[AchillesValda]

BRAVO Gabriela!!! I love this inscenation... But the ballet, I do not like something there, too - I agree with MastersoftheOpera

[MastersoftheOpera]

Film director Ken Russell's 1985 Vienna State Opera production of Faust has it's great moments but on the whole, I dislike how he "twisted" the original Gounod creation. By far the worst part of this production is the dozens of dancing girls! The ballerinas are a distraction in every major aria and scene. Araiza as Faust, Benackova as Marguerite and Raimondi as the Devil are marvelous. The period-setting is great as are the costumes.

[suzanneetmoi]

In this Krn Russell production, Marguerite is a nun and instead of the usual redemption, faces a guillotine at the end. It also eliminated the big Walpurgis night scene.. It had it's supporters but was ultimately replaced by a new production in fall of 2008.

[Greatfan]

Well, it seems you know a lot about staging....Bravo !

[Merryjest]

He aimed at nothing, and he got it- the whole regie is *nothing*. Without Raimondi and Benackova, this whole production would have been a trainwreck.

[Greatfan]

I meant, Russell does not aim at nothing, at the end Faust " wakes up". He had dreamt of a liason with a nun, with the devil but now he is save in his investigating room, old again...but...watch the finale, it explains all this apparent nonsense. A genial staging.-

[Greatfan]

If you watch at the finale, all what happens is Faust's nightmare. The devil defies God so the nun ( it is definitely a nun dress not anything else ) gets tempted with richness and sex. She becomes pregnant as in condemned by a church full of priests andnuns but instead of a baby she has a doll. This is revolutionary staging in the best sense for it has a meaning, a goal, a concept. It is not just " pour epater les bourgeois ". Bravo Russell !