by Henning Hoholt
Photos: Michael Rashkovsky
In the opera and ballet world it is videly known that I prefer classical operas and ballets where the history are keept in the original time periode. If the time periode shall be moved it shall be done not to spoil the original works.
This has for me to do with to keep the originality in how the composers were meaning it from the very beginning.
I dont mean that we shall experience the classical opera and ballets as museum pieces. The talented regisseurs, scenographs, costumiers and choreographers do still have all the posibilityes that they do neded and to be creative.
That is what the regisseur and scenographs have done with the opera Faust by Charles Gounod at The National Opera Theatre in Vilnius.
By creating a combination of a gotic style decoration for the three first acts, which are beign changed effectively without missing the atmosphaire and combinated this with a planet atmosphaire, that could have been from a starwar film. By using see through front in between when needed giving us the feeling of the way down to the devils (Mefistos) residence down in the underworld.
Changing to an open stage, still with the planets around in the last acts Walburgis night, with app 30 dancers and final 60 persons angel choire.
A wonderful choire, excellent orchestra and soloists, headed by the National Operas great bass through some decenniers Vladimiras Prudnikovas, and with a wonderful Siebel, Laima Jonutyte, A Faust with a beautiful voice, Bronius Tamasauskas and as Margaretha Alma Buzaite, the perfromance were in good hands. When we in addition got the Arturas Malikenas as Valentin and and Laima Domikaite as Dame Marte, it was a perfromance where the qualitees of the singers was taken good are of. Headed by the outstanding young conductor Martinus Staskus
Yhe opera are having a production of Faust that they can be very proud of.
This production was first performed in 1998, and will hopefully remain on the repertoire for a very long time.
Henning Hoholt, hoeholthus@c2i.net
