[Met Performance] CID:204640
Faust {592} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/2/1965.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
December 2, 1965
FAUST {592}
Faust...................John Alexander
Marguerite..............Mary Costa
Méphistophélès..........Justino Díaz
Valentin................Mario Sereni
Siebel..................Marcia Baldwin
Marthe..................Gladys Kriese
Wagner..................Russell Christopher
Dance...................Ivan Allen
Dance...................Sally Brayley
Dance...................Patricia Heyes
Dance...................Edith Jerell
Dance...................Fern MacLarnon
Dance...................Hans Meister
Dance...................Nira Paaz
Dance...................Howard Sayette
Conductor...............Georges Prêtre
Review of Irving Kolodin in the Saturday Review
For its tenth "Faust" of the still-young season, the Metropolitan ventured the uncharted way of three American principals, of whom only John Alexander as Faust had sung his role previously on its stage. That it came out at a recognizably
artistic destination was due, in its first instance, to the aptitudes and instincts
of Justino Diaz. The young basso's solid column of sound, from the top to the bottom of his range, provided a vibrant support to the requirements of Gounod's
music. And, despite his youthful bearing (incongruous for one who has been so
long in the Devil business as Méphistophélès) there was the makings of an excellent dramatic impersonation in his easy assumption of the prominent part
in the drama its performer must bear. Alexander's artful management of line and phrase qualified him as the vocal equal of anyone yet heard in the season's sequence of performances, but he could do much more, dramatically, without verging on anything close to overacting. Mary Costa's conception of Marguerite, for all its visual appeal, was vocally tentative, breathy, and lacking either the quality or quantity of sound that earned her a Metropolitan opportunity. The orchestra responded well to George Prêtre's persuasive direction.