A notable aria from this opera was added for Charles Santley at its English premiere despite Henry Chorley's disastrous attempt at a libretto.
A notable aria from this opera was added for Charles Santley at its English premiere despite Henry Chorley's disastrous attempt at a libretto. In this work's first act, one central character tells three fortunes, predicting death for two characters and telling another that any flower he picks will wither, before launching into a raucous song about worshiping the golden calf. After hearing a ballad about the King of Thule, this work's lead soprano looks into a (*) mirror and imagines herself as a princess upon finding a casket of precious metals outside her door; that character's ascent to heaven in Act 5 later ends this work. The title character rejects a litany of history's most beautiful women in a cave on Walpurgis Night after having a vision of a sister of Valentin who sings the "Jewel Song," Marguerite. The title character is transformed into a handsome youth to court his love after making a bargain with Mephistopheles in, for 10 points, what Charles Gounod opera inspired by a Goethe drama?
A notable aria from this opera was added for Charles Santley at its English premiere despite Henry Chorley's disastrous attempt at a libretto.
Faust