Faust old age, youth, eternity and their dilemmas
Wisdom and youth at the price of love, the innocence of others and your own soul. That is the essence of Faust: to look in the mirror and see your hidden face. It is the state of inner hell.
The events narrated in Faust take place in the territory of present-day Germany in the 16th Century, but they could be set in any period, and in any place or moment of time, as the two main characters are eternal and universal: God and the Devil. Good and Evil. The masculine and the feminine. The young and the old. Life and death. What is different and, at the same time, what is inseparable.
Charles Gounod portrays with his intense and profound melodic style the journey backwards in time of the elderly thinker Faust, who has reached old age in full possession of his mental faculties; a curse in itself that makes him desperately long for a youth he only knew through books.
The first major highlight of the Les Arts season is the premiere of a new production of Faust, conducted by Lorenzo Viotti, one of today's most charismatic and revered conductors. The Swiss conductor will make his debut at Calatrava's building with a solid vocal cast of renowned names at the theatre, such as Iván Ayón Rivas in the complex and tormented role of Faust, the imposing stage presence of Alex Esposito as Méphistophélès and the versatile soprano Ruth Iniesta as Marguerite. After his debut in Valencia with Les contes d'Hoffmann, German stage director Johannes Erath once again delves into Goethe's legendary character, with a more dramatic and visually striking version, leading an international co-production by Les Arts with La Scala, the Berlin Staatsoper and the Teatro Real.
