“Faust” by Charles Gounod ♡

Premiere / date of written: 19 March 1859

Libretti

#	Language	Authors
1	French	Jules Barbier, Michel Carré
2	English
3	Russian	П. И. Калашников

original libretto
line-by-line of the original libretto

History

• 1859 March 19 — World premiere of Charles Gounod's opera "Faust" at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris.
• 1866 August 27 — Birth of Danish tenor Erik Schmedes in Copenhagen; he debuted as Valentin in Gounod’s *Faust* and became notable in Wagnerian roles at the Met.
• 1883 October 22 — The Metropolitan Opera opened its first season in New York City with Gounod's "Faust" (sung in Italian).
• 1883 October 22 — Met Opera opening night documented in house materials: the first Metropolitan Opera House (39th St. & Broadway) opened with "Faust."
• 1917 November 17 — The Metropolitan Opera opens a new Joseph Urban–designed production of Gounod's 'Faust.'
• 1965 December 22 — On 1965-12-22, Montserrat Caballé made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Marguerite in Gounod’s "Faust" (the same performance also marked Sherrill Milnes’s Met debut).

Images

Notable videos

Audio recordings

Year	Cast	Conductor, Opera chorus and orchestra	Label, Comment	Buy
1953	Nicolai Gedda, Boris Christoff, Victoria de los Ángeles	André Cluytens Théâtre National de l' Opéra de Paris Orchestra and Chorus	EMI Cat: CMS 5 65256-2; Malibran Cat: CMS5652562 (mono)

External links

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The Met Faust archives On October 22 back in 1883, the Met opened its doors for the first time with a performance of Faust. Check out the Met archives for reviews and behind-the-scenes info from that first opening night!