Campbell Vertesi

 I don't normally like to write reviews of my colleagues.  This is made easier by the fact that I almost never get to sit in the audience for a performance.  Last night was an exception though, and since I'm not directly involved in the production, I feel OK telling you all that Opera Memphis' Faust is a good production, and worth seeing.

Last night I saw the opening performance of Opera Memphis' Faust.  I love that show.  It's the first opera that really got to me, and I still remember walking away from the theatre thinking that Mephistopheles was soooo cool. 

This was a great rendition, that really shone in the places where most productions fall down.  The Walpurgisnacht ballet for example, is usually hard for companies to pull off.  Not in terms of technical difficulty; I mean in terms of keeping the audience's attention, and maintaining the flow of the plot through what is essentially a character development dead spot.  In the Opera Memphis production however, the dancing was one of the highlights of the evening.  It was a mesmerizing combination of lewdness, sensuality, and beauty that had me, at least, spellbound.  It struck what seemed to me to be an excellent balance - dirty enough to shock at times, without being offensive or graphic.    

The other normally-weak scenes that stood out were Valentin's death, the church scene and the finale.  All of those seem difficult for directors; maybe it's the abrupt change of focus to Marguerite, or maybe it's some dramatic ambiguity in the score, but somehow people have a hard time making these scenes connect.  In the Opera Memphis production, they were incredibly effective.

 No question that soprano Caroline Worra as Marguerite had a lot to do with selling those particular dramatic moments.  She was utterly convincing as the fallen woman, and had me on the edge of my seat . Baritone Mark Walters as Valentin produced a huge, rich sound that filled the hall.  It was a pleasure to hear every note.  His dramatic and vocal intensity onstage carried the death scene, and for once I didn't question why a dying man would take the time to sing an aria. 

Of course, the traditionally strong parts were strong as well.  Bass-Baritone Darren Keith Stokes was an excellent Mephistopheles - totally comfortable in the tessitura, his voice was colorful and even from bottom to top.  He sold Le Veau D'Or particularly well, and seemed comfortable all through that difficult aria.  I won't lie, I am obscenely jealous of anyone who gets to play Mephistopheles - but Mr. Stokes did a fantastic job.  Tenor Adam Klein sang the title role - his is probably the only performance I've seen where Faust's instant-love-just-add-water for Marguerite was actually believable.  This man knows how to turn on romantic tension, and the pull between the lovers was a driving force whenever he was onstage.

I really enjoyed this show, and I recommend it to anyone in the Memphis area.  Some excellent singing, a great production, and dammit - more than a decade later, Mephistopheles is still soooo cool.