A dramatic legend in four acts
Written by Hector Berlioz, Almire Gandonnière & Gérard de Nerval
From Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Musical direction: Sylvain Cambreling

Stage direction: Alex Ollé, Carlos Padrissa (La Fura dels Baus)

Stage design and wardrobe: Jaume Plensa

Lighting: Heinrich Brunke

Chorus directed by: José Antonio Sainz

Margarita: Vesselina Kasarova

Faust: Paul Groves

Mephistopheles: Willard White

Brander: Andreas Marco

Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin

Chorus: Orfeón Donostiarra de San Sebastián

Tölzer Knabenchor (coro de niños)

Produced by: Festival de Salzburg 1999

A project by La Fura dels Baus / Jaume Plensa

Felsenreitschule

Opening 19 August 1999

21,23,25,27 & 29 August 1999

LA FURA DELS BAUS

La Fura dels Baus is currently undertaking four different projects about Faust, bringing it to the theatre, the opera, the cinema and the Internet, with a large video presence in some. What is the cause of that polyhedral passion for the great European myth?

ALEX OLLÉ:-After the shows of La Fura language, the opening act for the Barcelona Olympic games and the direction of the operas Atlantida by Manuel de Falla and The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, Carlos and I assumed the challenge of doing a show in more conventional spaces. When Gerard Mortier suggested the Damnation of Faust, we returned to Goetheīs text finding that the work had enough attractive elements so that could well represent our aim to work in Italian style theatre with a conventional text. The ductility of Goetheīs work offers a lot of links to our own working methods. So we had an opera project, a drama, F@ust v 3.0., and we decided to expand the subject into a movie, our first movie.

Minimal effort allows you to go deep into the subject and expose it in these different media. There are several things that are difficult to achieve in a concrete media but are perfectly possible in others. In addition, choosing Faust makes easier for us to go into the contemporary aspects in this classical myth. We must bear in mind that Goethe was himself an author from the contemporary era. The contradiction Faust is trapped in, the battle between the senses and the reason, is something thatīs being increased at the end of that century. I have a theory that says that, in the arts scene, the ends of centuries tend to be thoughtful, opposite to the beginnings, which are usally hyper creative.

CARLOS PADRISSA:- We donīt like todayīs artistīs frivolity, who every month speak about a different subject. We like to go deep into the subjects. Four different points of view about Faust are the least you can do at the end of that millennium. Faust is in the air and not only because of the Goethe anniversary. We are all unsatisfied and we search for the secret of happiness. Faust has the key.

What differences will the audience that goes to the two shows you are going to perform in Salzburg perceive between the two works?

ALEX OLLE: Each of the shows is coherent with the media that it is conceived for. Maybe the Damnation is much closer to La Fura language than the theatre version. The fact that we are working with a choir reminds us of the stage movement we used to do with the audience during our first shows. The size of the stage reminds us also of those spaces we used to have.

For the opera we have developed the idea of the container, a huge cylinder that represents Faustīs mind in itself. We have unmarked it all within the time of a sun eclipse, as a reflection of a specific moment in Faustīs life, in which he feels specially unsatisfied. The aesthetic treatment is different in the two works. They are similar, however, in the duality concept with which we face the subject of Faust. We have moved away from a religious vision of Mephistopheles, in order to see him as the alter ego of Faust. This is a common focus in two of the works and even in the film script we are working on. However, despite the differences, all of the works have the visual and emotional feeling of a show by La Fura. We have also avoided arrogance in looking to the myth of Faust. We havenīt tried to achieve all thatīs in the work. We only focus on the concrete aspects we develop.

How will, what you call La Fura language (Lenguaje furero), although you didnīt use the word during your first productions, influence the mise-en-scene of the Berlioz opera?

CARLOS PADRISSA: -We are autobiographical. We are always acting ourselves. When we were 25 we made an "act", breaking theatre. We locked the audience in a place and made them secrete adrenaline. These were the beginnings of the La Fura language. But the basis of our language are in the beginning of Tragedy, When men were like half gods. The background is

in that world previous to the duality between the heart and the mind. Our ceremonies come from Classical Greece and the Middle Ages, following the secret path of rituals. We no longer 25 but we are doing the same. Maybe in a more delicate and mystical way, but the risk relating to the stage remains in place. When Faust and Mephist fall , physically, to the abyss, through that cylinder designed by J.Piensa, the audience will fall with them, will secrete the same adrenaline as La Fura. Maybe we have simplified the gesture.There is nothing gratuitous. We centre the action and focus the point of view.

La Fura has worked with very different stage spaces, such as an old funeral home, stadia, industrial units and recently Italian theatres. What do you think of the Felsenreitschule space, where the Damnation will be performed?

ALEX OLLÉ: -This stage is a very typical La Fura one. It is an space that allow us to use fireworks, for example, because is not made of wood. We have already used spaces such as the facade of Granada Cathedral, where we opened "Atlantida". This kind of real spaces, which have been used as refuges during war times or as horse-riding schools, have a very special feeling. The slaughterhouses, the unused prisons also have it. Maybe conventional theatres donīt have it. There is a special energy in these places which you can perceive when you are working there. In the Felsenreitschule you can add the charisma that comes from the prestige of the artistic productions presented by the festival.

CARLOS PADRISSA: -The place is perfect for a group like us. We are used to strange places with energy, places where you can perceive something, and this place is like that. In addition, the fact that we have a 40-meter long stage allows us to do special things. I suppose this could be the kind of space Wagner would have chosen to do his total work. The place offers the best

view. You can also open the ceiling, which is like having a convertible theatre. That mountain, that tree, that broken rock which penetrates the earth... thatīs what we try to do: To penetrate the insides of people.

Eleven recordings by La Fura until now, in several formats and based on their scenic performances. We can deduct that the musical aspect is in the character of your creations. In which way do you face the operatic stages? With "sacred" and closed musical proposals?

CARLOS PADRISSA: -We imagine that the music was composed by us. In this particular case it is immensely satisfying, because the Berlioz piece is wonderful. With our own music we close our eyes and imagine actions. The whole process for the Damnation of Faust is similar. A music like this can create immense worlds.

ALEX OLLÉ: -Music has always been an essential element in all our shows. It has marked the rhythm of the work. In all the operas we have done we apply our previous experience. Opera is, in a certain way, a logical step in our career. We try to approach the sensibility that rises from the score, trying to understand the composer. We search for the basic contents, the emotional background of the creator, to perform them later with scenic freedom.

JAUME PLENSA

How deeply is Jaume Plensaīs stage designing linked with the music for The Damnation of Faust and the mise-en-escene by La Fura Dels Baus?

JAUME PLENSA: -More than working over the surface of things I like to work the point of origin that generates them. Searching for the soul of things, their DNA, the deep structure. The cylinder on the stage tries to describe this concept. My work is centred on that point so that La Fura has to dress this soul with a body. This could be a strong shock, because the Felsenreitschule has deeply romantic structures within its structure, while the cylinder has a more industrial character. A love and hate relationship will be created between the space and the stage design. This friction will create energy. The cylinder is not only a static image, but also a theatrical tool for the actors and singers, so they will be able to work with this energy constantly present in the space.

How has your stage designing progressed while with La Fura?

JAUME PLENSA: From the very first production we made together, "Atlantida" by Manuel de Falla, it was an almost perfect union. Parallel stories were developed that used to find some points in common. In Salzburg the place is so special, almost a dream, that it drives our work in some ways. We have been developing this piece for three years and now that is about to be opened, I think it will worth it, meaning that neither them nor me could go on with the piece without thinking of that particular place.

As the main subject of the piece, Faust acts as a reference when designing the cylinder. Could you explain which interpretation of the myth of Faust is present in your work?

JAUME PLENSA: Berlioz searched for purity. The opening and the end of the opera have a great smoothness. The composer wrote this work about Faust because they have a point in common: Faust is looking for transformation, closing the big circle that is life itself. The cylinder on the stage is very close to that Faust idea. Everything begins and ends at the same point, but needs this transformation. This cylinder can be opened and closed, it is permanently working throughout the piece.Itīs like a big industry of life. One moment it will be a great foundry where characters will be created. In others, it will be the house, the more intimate place. It has several interpretations, but the main is as a soul exercise. This is essential in Faust: the concept of transformation. His entire agreement with Mephisto, who finally is Faust himself, but his dark side, is an attempt to transform his soul, but he transforms only his skin. The cylinder is like a bone, an atomic unit around which everything is transformed.

JAUME PLENSA

Born in Barcelona in 1955, is today, one of the most important sculptors of Europe in the field of plastic arts.

Since 1980, and his first exhibition in Barcelona, he has worked and lived in Berlin, Brusselles,

England (invited by the Henry Moore Institute), France (by the Atelier Alexander Calder), and now he resides between Paris and

Barcelona. He has been professor in the École national des Beaux-arts in Paris.

Since 1992 he has been awarded several national and international prizes, including:

"Medaille des chevaliers des arts et letters" Ministry of Culture 1993, France

1st prize of sculpture of the "39 salon de Montrouge", 1994 France

"Premi Nacional dīarts plàstiques. Premis nacionals de cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya 1997", Barcelona "Premio de la Asociación de Críticos de Arte for best work of ARCO", 1998, Madrid. "Premio KOINÉ-SEAT per līArte", 1988 Italy

His work has been shown in a large number of art galleries and museums all across Europe, The United States, and Japan:

Galerie Nationale de Jeu de Paume, París; The Henry Moore Sculpture Trust, Halifax (England); Malmö Konsthalle, Malmö

(Sweden): Stadtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim (Germany); Musée dīArt Contemporain, Lyon; Museo Luigi Pecci, Prato (Italy)...etc

An important part of his work is focused on public sculpture. He has permanent works in cities of Spain, France, Japan, England, ... He is currently working in three new public projects for the cities of Seul, Stockholm, and Jerusalem.

In November 1998 he will open a new exhibition at the Kestner Gesellschaft Museum in Hannover with recent works and in January 1999 in the Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig museum in Vienna. For 1999 he has exhibitions scheduled in New York and Chicago with the Richard Gray gallery, in Japan at the space Tamada Projects corporation of Tokyo and finally a retrospective exhibition including recent work at the Velazquez Palace in the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid in December 1999 and which will tour several museums across Europe and the United States.

Jaume Plensaīs sculpting work has passed through various stages: forged iron, with works composed of large quantities of recycled materials (iron, bronze, copper), created characters, anthropomorphic forms drawn through cutting, folding and assembling.

In 1986 he began series of sculptures directly in melted iron, with the oldest melting method known. This resulted in a number of great sculptures related to the earth, the rocks and the magma.

His work, although always in melted iron, abandons almost totally mimicry and later incorporates light. Mixing light and iron he achieved incredibly beautiful works. Then he adds written texts to his works in raised relief. Poetic texts, phrases or simply words, as a kind of material, as a colour, as a brushstroke extra to his work. Since then he hasnīt stopped working with light, or with melting. He has sometimes changed materials according to the requirements of the work or its space. His pieces can be made of aluminium, bronze, or brass. Always at human scale.

His sculptures show containers, cabins, hollow spaces. During the last years, his melting materials have included synthetic resin and melted glass. Even alabaster, mysterious and transparent, helps him build these "houses" with soul, personal and non-transferable due to their own dimensions and emotions. With light, always at a disturbing level, and the texts, used like a track or a door, give his current work that poetic and lyrical sense.

Since 1996 he has collaborated with La Fura dels Baus in some of their performances: The lyrical works "Atlantida", by Manuel de Falla and "the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian", by Claude Debussy and the theatre work F@ust, v. 3.0.

LINES

LA FURA DELS BAUS

The company performed street theatre between 1979 and 1983. After "Accions" they became the artistic sensation of the moment. The basis of this work was formed of various resources including music, movement, use of industrial and natural materials, application of new technologies and the direct implication of the audience into the show. Everything was dominated by a collective creation where the actor and the author were the same entity. These aesthetics would create "la Fura language" (Lenguaje furero), which was developed through successive shows like "Suz o Suz", "Tier mon", "Noun", and continued with "Manes". More than a million people around the whole world have been involved in this "Lenguaje furero".

During the nineties the company has brought its projects to the text theatre, the digital theatre, the opera, or the performance of grand events, amongst other activities. La Fura dels Baus performed the opening act of the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, the city where the company has been based from the beginning. Companies such as Pepsi or Mercedes Benz have booked promotional "actions" with them.

Faithful to its principles of participative creation, La Fura develops projects through the Internet. Fmol has generated the collective creation of part of the music for the theatre performance F@ust v 3.0. , A liberal version of Goetheīs Faust, currently on tour.

"Ombra", a show about García Lorca, arises after a first action, "dadle café", performed for the film "Muerte en Granada", starring Andy García. The company has presented musical recordings of their productions. During the last year the recordings of the music from the first show, "Actions", have been edited, along with the music from "Residual symphony" and "Fmol", two works with the music from "Faust". New technologies continue to influence their work, as in "Work in Progress 97", a workshop about their activity. In this show, scenes that were happening simultaneously in different cities were linked within a concept of digital theatre.

With "Atlantida", by Manuel de Falla and "The martyrdom of Saint Sebastian", by Claude Debussy, La Fura has gone into the world of opera. Currently they are working, in collaboration with Jaume Piensa, on a performance of "The Damnation of Faust" by Hector Berlioz for the Salzburg festival 1999. Thus the circle, that began with the creation of music for shows with singular instruments like the motors from cars and washing machines, today will be closed with the use of a great philharmonic orchestra for the Salzburg show.