he legend of Faust has attracted many great talents, from Goethe to Gounod, Busoni to Thomas Mann. Each artist has found reflections of himself or his era in Faust's fabled plight, and Berlioz was no exception. Yet beyond any biographical resonance, the story was also the perfect canvas for Berlioz's cinematic Romanticism. "La Damnation de Faust" is one of his most dazzling scores, and to be sure, the journey to hell has never been quite so picturesque.
Over the years, some have staged Berlioz's "légend dramatique," as he described it, but this approach seemed utterly redundant after hearing the sonic Technicolor that the New York Philharmonic is currently dispensing in Avery Fisher Hall. Charles Dutoit led the orchestra, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and a strong set of soloists in a robust and satisfying performance on Thursday night. It will be repeated tonight and Tuesday.
As Berlioz recalled in his memoirs, Goethe's work left "a strange and deep impression" when he first discovered it as a young man, and Faust's spell resurfaced almost 20 years later, when the composer was on tour in central Europe in the mid-1840's. He had only a small portion of a prepared libretto, so he wrote the rest himself, and set it to music with striking ease, composing "in coaches, in trains, on steamboats," across Central Europe.
The score is a grand, shimmering thing, a marvel of orchestration that not only dramatizes Faust's tumultuous inner world but also narrates his outer journey with remarkable clarity: from his estranged early wanderings in nature to his final nightmarish ride on the Devil's magic horses, encountering rainstorms of blood on his way and flocks of huge night birds that beat him with their wings.
The sheer inventiveness of the writing is beyond question, but whether Berlioz's work comes across as spellbinding or as an extended exercise in orchestral special effects depends largely on the soloists. Thursday's performance boasted an excellent duo in Paul Groves as Faust and Sir Willard White as Méphistophélès. Mr. Groves captured both the despair and the alienation of the early Faust and the ardency awakened by his love for Marguerite. Mr. White was commandingly sinister in his role, undercutting the emotional Faust with cool reserve and a burnished yet stentorian bass full of rich and complex colors.
Susanne Mentzer was a handsome if less charismatic Marguerite, and Christopher Feigum made a respectable Philharmonic debut as Brander, singing the drunken "Song of a Rat."
Fine choral performances also made this "Damnation" a pleasure, especially in the diaphanously beautiful dream sequence by the Elbe. Mr. Dutoit's reading favored clarity and continuity over sensuousness or emotional extremes, but he made his case persuasively enough. And his decision to perform the piece in a single two-hour stretch without intermission seemed just right: the gauzy spell of the music remains intact, and when the Devil is this good at his job, you don't really miss the coffee break.
"La Damnation de Faust" continues tonight at 8 and Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, (212) 875-5656.
