Gounod: Faust ***
Zsolt Haja (Valentin) and Gábor Bretz (Méphistophélès)
© Péter Rákossy
Hungarian State Opera, Budapest, 26th May 2015
The devil may not get all the best tunes in Gounod’s Faust, but Gábor Bretz certainly stole the show in this new production at Hungarian State Opera. Polish director Michał Znainiecki has a lot of fun, combining the surreal with Eurovision kitsch, full of lurid colours, in his staging. In an evening low on Gallic finesse, Bretz’s Méphistophélès triumphed, whether enjoining Faust to snort cocaine in the Bacchus Disco or strutting round in golfing gear playing cricket through a row of deckchairs, which (as an Englishman) threw me completely.
Read the full review on Bachtrack.