Angela Gheorghiu Cancels Faust At Baden Baden

Earlir Today Angela Gheorghiu Put Up These Comments in reference to Her Cancellation of Faust 
"I am very sorry to have to turn down the offer from the Baden-Baden-Festspielhaus to perform in Faust in June this year. It has always been one of my principles not to sing in a new production that has not been conceived from the very beginning for me. It is also rather unusual for me to have to replace another singer. Nevertheless, I have tried to make it possible and to be available for the whole period but unfortunately I have not been successful in doing this."

However she has since taken down the comments after numerous Social Media blogs criticized her intolerant and arrogant response.

What Do You Think of this Statement? 

Gheorghiu Replaces Netrebko

Angela Gheorghiu will replace Anna Netrebko in Baden Baden in the new production of Gounod's Faust. The soprano known for cancelling ironically has been on the rescue mission as of later. She recently  savid the day when Harteros pulled out of a high profile concert last month. Now Gheorghiu's Marguerite replaces Netrebko's in both Hamburg andBaden Baden.

Netrebko was to have sung the role in four theaters but decided to leave the production because she did not feel her voice suited it anymore.
Netrebko will instead give a concert in Baden-Baden with arias from Macbeth, Trovatore, Manon Lescaut, Adriana Lecouvreur, etc., on Tuesday, 10th (June). Faust-ticketholders wil be allowed to buy discounted tickets for that concert, but the Faust-tickets can't be returned.

 The Baden Baden production will be directed by Bartlett Sher and will also star Erwin Schrott and Charles Castronovo.  

Netrebko Withdraws from All Faust Productions

A Statement was recently released on Anna Netrebko's page: 

"I am so sorry to have to withdraw from the role of Marguerite in Faust. After much consideration and intensive preparation, I have come to the conclusion that the role is not right for me. I had been very much looking forward to debuting this role at the Royal Opera House and following it with further performances in Vienna and Baden-Baden. Unfortunately, I must now withdraw from all these productions. I am very sad to be disappointing my fans in these cities and hope they will understand the difficult decision that I have had to make. However, I am very much looking forward to returning to The Royal Opera to perform with the company again in 2015."

The soprano was to have to made her role debut at the ROH and was later to have sung two more runs. There have been no replacements of yet but the companies are working hard to find a new soprano. 

Faust Opens Tonight

Des McAnuff's Faust opens tonight with Piotr Beczala John Relyea and Marina Poplavskaya. The prodution will conducted by Alain Altinoglu.

For more on the production click on our preview linked here.

For our review of the production click here 

Faust Preview 2012-2013 Season

Des McAnuff's incomprehensible production returns to the Met starring Piotr Beczala and Marina Poplavskaya.

The Production
Last year the Met unveiled The English National Opera's production of Faust replacing Andrei Serban's visually lavish production of Faust. Gelb's reason for replacing a production that had only been shown 13 times was because he wanted a more theatrical Faust. However what he got was an incomprehensible and confusing production. Rather than pleasing the audience with a dazzling, energetic and colorful take on the simple love story, Gelb bored audiences and critics alike. The production which takes place during World War 2 in Faust's laboratory has interesting and diverting sequences as well as interesting lighting effects. However when McAnuff is forced to work with the heavy material, he runs out of ideas and relies on the singers to engage the audience. As an audience member it did not matter how beautiful the singers were singing because I was confused and uninterested by the action. Critics were also not impressed by the work. They stated that "there was something about an atomic bomb, and Faust being a middle aged man with a mid life crisis who actually DRINKS the poison and then suddenly has a flashback because he returns to that moment where he drank the poison and dies as the final curtain comes down. Confused? So was I. McAnuff mentioned a flashback sequence, but only confusion arises from this: in a flashback, someone goes back to their youth, which Faust promptly does after Mephistopheles gives him the potion. However, Faust does not immediately turn young when he drinks the poison. He remains old, and invokes the devil to make him young again and the story proceeds as it normally does. It could have been interpreted that he flashed back when the devil showed up except McAnuff shoots this interpretation in the foot the moment Faust returns to the moment when he drank the poison the first time at the end of the performance." Critics also questioned many aspects of the production including where  Marguerite goes when she dies, Where are those stairs leading her to at the end, Is there a heaven in a universe where Science has presumably become/ destroyed God, and why is the Atomic Bomb concept abandoned after the Walpurgis Night Scene and make no impact on the opera's final scene. The point is the production was unclear and unfocused. Gelb's decision left me never wanting to see another Faust until this production is removed forever from the Met.