October 12 in the Vilnius House of Congresses and on October 13 Kaunas State Philharmonic will play the dramatic legend "Faust's Condemnation" by the French composer Hector Berlioz, known as a music artist. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra invited a bunch of extremely bright and talented soloists to perform this magnificent work. Faust will be played by Edgar Montvidas, the tenor who conquered the world's most famous concert halls, his beloved Margarita by Milda Tubelytė, who works in Germany, and Mephistopheles by the charismatic Spanish boss Rubby Amoretti. The expressive, dramatic and extremely emotional piece by H. Berlioz will also be performed by two choirs - Kaunas state choir (conductor Petras Bingelis) and boys and youth choir "Ėuoliukas" (conductor Vytautas Miškinis).
The French composer H. Berlioz (1803-1869) was the truest romantic both in life and in music. He created as he lived - passionately, intensely, egoistically, neurotically, confusing reality with fantasy. For him, music was an expression of his ego, a testament to his thoughts and emotions. The impetus for the birth of H. Berlioz's works was always provided by literature - inspiring poetry and prose plots. He sought to reveal the details of a literary work as precisely and colorfully as possible, using the entire arsenal of musical techniques available to him. H. Berlioz was a master of orchestration, a true artist. None of his contemporaries had such a flashy, rich palette of orchestral colors. It is not for nothing that H. Berlioz is often called the "Delacroix of music".
The story of Faust takes us to the 1509th century. the beginning. In 1480, the University of Heidelberg awarded the degree of Doctor of Theology to Johann Georg Faust, born about 1540 in Württemberg. Apparently, Faust also studied magic at the University of Krakow and claimed to be able to match all the abilities and excellences of Christ. It was said that Dr. Faust lectured on the works of Homer while flying, was able to summon the spirits of mythological characters, and thereby fascinated and horrified young students. Allegedly, he died that way - in XNUMX during a flying lesson. After the death of Doctor Faustus, people said that he got all his supernatural powers from the devil in exchange for his soul.
This word-of-mouth story quickly caught the attention of literati. In 1589, the English playwright Christopher Marlowe wrote the play "The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus". This is the first known work of literature that perpetuates the legend of Faust. But the most brilliant work on this topic was born two hundred years later, when the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his epic poem "Faust". Goethe's "Faust" is permeated with philosophy, it expresses eternal themes - the struggle between good and evil, between reason and feelings. All this provided inspiration for more than one generation of artists.
Berlioz was 24 when he read Goethe's Faust. "I couldn't tear myself away from the book," the composer later wrote, "I read it while eating, in the theater, on the street... Everywhere!". A couple of years later, H. Berlioz's Eight Scenes from Goethe's Faust (1829) appeared. All scenes are in different forms - choral, ballad, romance. In the cycle, the composer did not try to follow the course of events, the most important thing for him was to convey different moods. After 15 years, H. Berlioz returned to the theme of Faust and his previously written music. Finally, on December 1846, 6, at the Opéra Comique theater in Paris, conducted by H. Berlioz himself, the dramatic legend for soloists, choir and orchestra "The Doom of Faust" was performed for the first time. A year later, "The Condemnation of Faust" was performed in Berlin, and another year later - in London. However, the true glory of the work began only after the composer's death - the work is performed and staged more often than all of H. Berlioz's operas.
Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra concert "The Damnation of Faust" will take place on October 12. at 19 p.m. in the Vilnius House of Congresses and on October 13 at 17 p.m. Kaunas State Philharmonic. Tickets can be purchased at Tiketos, Teatrai.lt, Vilnius Chamber of Congress and Kaunas State Philharmonic ticket offices.
