Doktor Faust was left incomplete at the time of Busoni’s death. Intended as his masterpiece, the opera’s genesis was complex and long. Based on Goethe’s tragic play, the story of Faust’s pact with the devil is well known but the opera’s structure represents Busoni’s unique conception, cast in two Prologues, a beautiful orchestral Intermezzo and three scenes. Exploring ideas of rationality and metaphysical doubt as well as the concepts of artifice and pretence inherent in operatic performance, the result is one of the most creative and unsettling of Busoni’s works.

“…The surprising scenes by Gia Forma, the costumes by Mariana Fracasso and above all the decisive video edited by D-Wok compete to the strong impact of one visionary show but always intelligible and engaging. The intricate structure of the score is conveyed with admirable clarity and stylistic understanding by the conduction of Cornelius Meister, obtaining a superb performance from the orchestra and choir instructed by Lorenzo Fratini. …Despite the vocal wear and tear, Dietrich Henschel embodies Faust with excavated phrasing and great acting skills…” – La Nazione Firenze

“The credit goes to the director Cornelius Meister: his is an accurate reading, which untangles Busoni’s score with clarity and continuous tension.” – Corriere Fiorentino

“…It is a sort of work-autobiography. Therefore in staging it, Davide Livermore portrays the legendary characters as stand-ins of the musician himself: a psychoanalytic game of mirrors, reflected in a marvelous set apparatus in turn made of walls of mirrors onto which to project real objects, such as Faust’s library, or emotional geometries of lights, skies, constellations.” – Corriere della Sera

Cast:
- Doktor Faust: Dietrich Henschel (baritone)
- Mephistopheles: Daniel Brenna (tenor)
- Wagner/Der Zeremonienmeister: Wilhelm Schwinghammer (bass)
- Herzog von Parma/Soldat, Bruder des Mädchens: Joseph Dahdah (tenor)
- Die Herzogin von Parma: Olga Bezsmertna (soprano)
- Ein Leutnant: Florian Stern (tenor)
- Drei Studenten aus Krakau: Martin Piskorski (tenor), Marian Pop (baritone), Lukas Konieczny (bass)
- Jurist/Levis: Marcell Bakonyi (bass)
- Theologe/Gravis: Dominic Barberi (bass)
- Naturgelehrter/Asmodus: Zachary Wilson (baritone)
- Studenten aus Wittenberg: Martin Piskorski (tenor), Franz Gürtelschmied (tenor), Marian Pop (baritone), Florian Stern (tenor), Ewandro Stenzowski (tenor)
- Beelzebuth: Franz Gürtelschmied (tenor)
- Megäros: Ewandro Stenzowski (tenor)
- Frauen Stimmen: Mariia Kokareva (soprano), Olha Smokolina (soprano), Aleksandra Meteleva (mezzo-soprano)
- Extras: Elena Barsotti, Carolina Braus, Maya Quattrini, Emanuele Marchetti, Francesco Pacelli, Leonardo Paoli

Director: Davide Livermore
Set designer: Giò Forma
Costumes designer: Mariana Fracasso
Lights designer: Fiammetta Baldiserri
Video: D-Wok
Assistant director: Diego Mingolla
Video director: Matteo Ricchetti

Recording place: Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
Recording date: 14 February 2023