The new production of Gounod's Faust at Folkoperan in Stockholm (seen Sept. 25) saw the work considerably scaled down by director Mira Bartov, who dispensed with the chorus altogether and made additional cuts in the score. Bartov nevertheless presented the story coherently; with the six soloists doubling as commenting chorus on a few occasions, it all worked well. The concept was to highlight the lives of a few tenants in one big apartment building, the apartments, designed by Monika Frelin, serving as the backdrop for the action. During the overture, the inhabitants woke in turns, as if startled out of a nightmare, to begin a new day. As Faust sat hunched on a bench in front of the building, he was approached by a dandyish Méphistophélès. Thus the game was set in motion.
INGRID GÄFVERT
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