Gounod’s Faust from La Scala streams free and live on LaScalaTv this Sunday
Vittorio Grigolo sings the title role opposite Marina Rebeka’s Marguerite and Alex Esposito’s Méphistophélès, with Ernesto Petti making his debut as Valentin.
La Scala‘s new production of Gounod’s Faust will be streamed live and free on LaScalaTv this Sunday, 8 November, at 19:30 Milan time (18:30 in London, 13:30 in New York). This last performance of the run will then be free to watch on demand until 15 November.
Faust has not been staged at La Scala since 2010. Daniele Rustioni conducts, and Johannes Erath, making his La Scala debut, directs. He sets the story in an imaginary circus. La Scala describes Gounod’s opera as a retelling of Goethe’s myth that makes room for the story’s romantic side, with special attention to Marguerite.
Vittorio Grigolo sings Faust, Marina Rebeka is Marguerite and Alex Esposito is Méphistophélès. Marcela Rahal sings Siébel. Ernesto Petti, the 40-year-old baritone from Salerno, sings Valentin for the first time. Sets are by Heike Scheele, costumes by Gesine Völlm, lighting by Fabio Antoci and video by Bibi Abel, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala. The production is shared with the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and the Teatro Real in Madrid.
A debut for Ernesto Petti
Valentin is Petti’s first major role at La Scala; he explains what draws him to the character:
Valentin is a character who, in my view, brings values such as faith, honour and a sense of family into Faust. He is the first to bring them on stage, through a sincere prayer, just as the world around him is about to be called into question and slowly swept away. That is why I see him as a kind of moral conscience of the opera: a man who tries to defend what he believes in, but who will himself be defeated by grief and by his own frailties. It is this contrast between strength and vulnerability that makes him so human and, for me, so fascinating to play.
Making my debut in this role at the Teatro alla Scala is a source of deep emotion and great responsibility for me,” he says. “It means even more because Faust belongs to the great French repertoire, a language and culture that are part of my daily and family life.
How to watch
LaScalaTv, the theatre’s video platform, has been free since 1 September with support from Intesa Sanpaolo. You need to register on the platform to watch.
