Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | English | La Damnation de Faust

As part of a festival considering the composer's oeuvre, Leon Botstein leads a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust lacking in French style. 

A poisoned rat, sugary girls and just the small matter of a man's soul. Berlioz's légende dramatique deals minor to the major and in the hands of Edward Gardner and a superb cast, the work truly comes to life and brings the composer's unique flair to the fore.

Edward Gardner's conducting brings out the nuances of Berlioz's complex score, but The Met's concert staging lacks theatrical thrust.

Edward Gardner conducts a richly entertaining account of Berlioz's masterpiece in Birmingham

Christopher Purves bosses the show as Méphistophélès; Richard Jones' production is intelligent and carefully thought through but ultimately unconvincing.

After their terrific Troyens in 2017, John Nelson, Michael Spyres, Joyce DiDonato and Nicolas Courjal return to Strasbourg for a fabulous Faust. 

Sir Mark Elder conducts a memorable performance of Berlioz' masterpiece in Manchester's Bridgewater Hall.

Michieletto's production for the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome is fresh, intelligent and destined to go down as one of his best. 

John Relyea owns the stage as Méphistophélès in Boston Symphony’s Faust. 

The LSO’s pedigree in Berlioz is second to none so La Damnation de Faust acted as the perfect showcase in its “This is Rattle” festival. 

Edo de Waart opted frequently for slow, steady tempi that robbed the music of a lot of its inner vitality.

An unapologetic treat at the Proms and a composition of immediate appeal.

There's no faulting the execution, but the former Python's take on Berlioz's dramatic legend is worryingly inconsistent in tone. 

School’s out for summer and with it the opportunity for the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists to showcase their talents in the end of term main stage performance. 

Paul Groves, Sir Willard White and Ruxandra Donose are the top-flight principals, with excellent support from the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

Joyce DiDonato, Charles Castronovo and Ludovic Tézier rock the Berlin Philharmonie with Berlioz's "légende dramatique".

Christian Spuck's new La damnation de Faust for the Deutsche Oper Berlin is creepy and elegant. Its impact will stay with you long after the opera is finished.

When Hector Berlioz first read Gérard de Nerval's translation of Goethe's Faust, he was entranced: he could not put the book down and worked it into a suite entitled Eight Scenes from Faust. Nearly twenty years later, he came back to the material and expanded it into a larger work La Damnation de Faust, but he was perhaps uncertain as to exactly what it was he had created.

Read our review of Robert Lepage's production of Berlioz­'s La Damnation de Faust in its 2008 roadcast from the Met Opera in New York.