Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s ´Faust` undoubtedly thrilled the readers of his time and, at the latest with the French translation by Gérard de Nerval, the story of Faust and Margarete also became extremely popular in France. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) was utterly fascinated by the plot and enthusiastic about setting the ballads in the play to music. In 1929 he published . However, it took Berlioz several more years before he finished the four-act opera, which was first performed in Paris in 1846. Although the with its full orchestra, chorus and soloist cast was undoubtedly conceived for the big stage and belongs to the genre of opera, concert performances are still common today.
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