This page  contains my reviews for music published in 1859.

 

1. Charles Gounod: Faust (8/10)

I keep telling myself I don’t like French opera and I keep stumbling on to operas that I kind of like.

I understand (I think) why this has fallen on hard times:

• it’s super long,
• it’s over the top,
• and nobody knows which version to perform. (The notes claim this is close to definitive, but who the hell knows?)

But honestly, I like my operas over the top, and this one feels so much less obvious than the Bizet-type thing. I know I’m a huge snob about this kind of thing, but I can’t help myself. This is idiosyncratic enough (to my ears) and gauche (?) enough to appeal to me, even though I feel like it really shouldn’t.