'Faust' remains devilishly tempting

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Darren Stokes plays the part of Mephistopheles in Opera Memphis' "Faust", which opens Saturday at The Orpheum.

Since Renaissance times, the story of Doctor Faustus, the man who signed away his soul to the devil in exchange for earthly knowledge, has captured the imaginations of composers, authors, poets and artists.

Their interpretations of the German legend have in turn kept audiences coming back to the story, whether to flirt with the supernatural or just to experience some devilishly good artistry.

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Galina Ivannikova, who plays the part of Marthe in Opera Memphis' "Faust," looks over her costume wig during rehearsals for the performances of the classic on Saturday and Tuesday at the Orpheum.

Photo by Mark Weber

Darren Stokes plays the part of Mephistopheles in Opera Memphis' "Faust", which opens Saturday at The Orpheum.

On Saturday and Tuesday, Opera Memphis stages Gounod's "Faust" at the Orpheum theater. Sung in French, it's the company's final production of the season.

"I think that people come these days for the music," said soprano Caroline Worra. "But they get hooked into the drama once they are here."

Though it hasn't been staged in Memphis since 1991, "Faust" is listed as the 18th-most-popular opera by Opera America. This will be the sixth production here since 1966.

One reason is the music. Gounod's five-act grand opera from 1859 is brimming with recognizable melodies. A second-act waltz and a fifth-act ballet are frequently heard on classical radio. Sung by Faust's innocent victim Marguerite, the "Jewel Song" ("Ah! je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir") is a recital staple for young sopranos.

There is so much music, in fact, that cuts are generally necessary in contemporary stagings. Music director Michael Ching excised about an hour of music, wrangling the opera to a more manageable three hours.

The lore of Doctor Faustus dates to the late 1500s, and may be based on a historical figure, Dr. Johann Georg Faust, an alchemist, magician and astrologer from the German Renaissance.

Later, the English playwright Christopher Marlowe made the character famous in "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus," in which Faust makes a pact with Lucifer in exchange for a longer life and having the demon Mephistopheles as a servant.

In the early 1800s, the German Romantic poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his two-part saga of "Faust," from which the play, "Faust and Marguerite," was adapted. That story -- of Faust using his newfound powers to seduce and corrupt an innocent young woman -- became the subject of Gounod's opera.

Damnation is quite the inspiration, it seems, especially to Romantic composers. Hector Berlioz, a contemporary of Gounod, composed a staged concert work, "La damnation de Faust." Franz Liszt expressed demonic fervor in his Mephisto Waltzes and a Faust Symphony. Mahler, Wagner and Mendelssohn also wrote music from the story.

Metropolitan Opera tenor Adam Klein, who has the title role in the Opera Memphis production, says this staging attempts to paint Faust as less of a heartless villain.

"I'm trying to enhance his humanity," Klein said. "I want to give him a nicer edge than the Faust in the book."

Darren K. Stokes, former Opera Memphis artist-in-residence and recent member of Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center, plays Mephistopheles.

"I laugh a lot more than Gounod has in the libretto," he says of playing the bad guy. "The thing I like about the story is that when you call on the devil, nothing actually works out exactly the way you want it to. No matter how smart you are, asking the devil to help you out is never something you can think all the way through to the end."

The sets and costumes of this production have a "steam punk" style, characterized by gothic Victorian technologies out of H.G. Wells.

"We're not using a very flamboyant set," Klein said. "The opera has a lot of magic in the lighting."

The three leads agree that the success of this "Faust" will rely on top-notch singing and old-fashioned acting.

"When there isn't a lot of set or spectacle, that's when people see what you're made of," said Worra, who plays Marguerite. "You've got to be convincing."

Opera Memphis presents Gounod's "Faust"

7:30 p.m. Saturday and Tuesday at the Orpheum theater, 203 S. Main. Tickets are $10-$77. Following the show is a performance by indie rock group On a Dead Machine, which costs $5 for opera attendees. Call 257-3100.

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