[Met Tour] CID:165840



Faust
State Fair Auditorium, Dallas, Texas, Mon, May 10, 1954




Faust (513)
Charles Gounod | Jules Barbier/Michel Carré
Faust
Thomas Hayward

Marguerite
Nadine Conner

Méphistophélès
Jerome Hines

Valentin
Robert Merrill

Siebel
Margaret Roggero

Marthe
Thelma Votipka

Wagner
Lawrence Davidson


Conductor
Kurt Adler







Review 1:

Dr. Jack Frederick Kirkpatrick in the Dallas Times-Herald
A King-Sized Devil Gets Due in ‘Faust’

On Monday evening the Devil, for once, received his due. A great crowd of people came to State Fair Auditorium through a driving rain and an unnecessary traffic jam in order to give it to him. His name was Jerome Hines, and they say he is six feet and seven inches tall. That’s a good size, even for the Prince of Darkness.


No doubt about it, Mr. Hines carried the show off with him in his king-sized pocket in this Metropolitan Opera farewell performance of Gounod’s “Faust.’ He was a stunning Mephistopheles in appearance, in deportment, in voice. A commanding figure of wicked ness, he gloated and leered and rolled out his powerful bass organ-tones in a sinister paean of triumph to the satisfaction of the most exacting. The cause of righteousness had tough sledding all evening long.


Robert Merrill, however, was real competition. As Valentin he was duly spitted and disposed of, but as one of the most thrilling baritone voices in the operatic world today he had a victory or two. Certainly one of these wags “Avant de quitter ces lieux,” sung without much subtlety but with plenty of Merrillian manly ring.


Substituting for tenor Jussi Bjoerling, originally cast as Faust, was a young upcoming American, Thomas Hayward. His voice, not overly big, nevertheless generates an abundance of youthful ardor and carried well enough to make forcing unnecessary. His “Salut! Demeure chaste et pure” was fresh and ingenuous, if not utterly ravishing, and his Act II contribution to the ensemble was noteworthy for reliability.


Nadine Conner was the Marguerite of the performance. She did not make, or did not want to make much of the role other than a fairly static foil of innocence to Faust and the bad company he kept. Her singing is notable for its nicety of intonation and it carries astonishingly well, but there is little excitement present even in spots like the Jewel Song and the Church Scene.


Margaret Roggero was the Siebel, Thelma Votipka the Marthe and Lawrence Davisson the Wagner. Kurt Adler conducted.


Controversial Production

This was the highly controversial new production of “Faust” with the period moved up to 1830 or thereabouts. Mephistopheles get in his deviltry with few aids from the costume beyond a red-lined cape and a shadow-casting top hat. The soldiers carry guns; Faust might pass for a companion of Rodolfo and Mimi.


Some of these new sets of Rolf Gerard are enormously effective, especially the philosopher’s den with its book shelves mounting to Heaven and the Street Scene looks more like a Cyprus swamp than it does the abode of purity and innocence; the Gates of Heaven set in the finale to Act IV might prove useful in a possible future staging of a radio daily serial of sorrow.


Scenes Messier

The concerted scenes become more animated but far messier – at least on a stage like ours. The Kermesse (now a Fair Grounds) and the Street Scene become a jungle of principals and supers doing their utmost to bring chaos out of order.


The music sounds the same. It is a question whether or not anything was lost or gained in moving up a few centuries.


One thing is certain: a Hines in horns would be just as tall and make things just as hot for Faust and Marguerite.



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