Faustian, Not Fustian

The curtain rises to reveal a dilapidated loft-like space, awash in graffiti. Papers are piled haphazardly on cheap fold-up tables. Laptop computers, cell phones — a mess of technological ephemera — lie about in chaotic piles. A mattress on the floor is covered in dirty sheets. Lying limply on top, a slack middle-aged man wearing a T-shirt and loose fitting pajama bottoms cradles his sleep-worn head in his hands. He is muttering. This is supposed to be Faust?

Such a contemporary vision of the Faust story — one with decidedly psychoanalytic overtones, as will be noted — was on view in a recent San Francisco Opera staging of composer Ferruccio Busoni's Doktor Faust. Indeed, this rarely performed early 20th century piece may have been the most compelling of the several works mounted in recent seasons by San Francisco Opera as part of their ambitious “Faust Project.” The undertaking culminated in the world premiere of the John Adams/Peter Sellars collaboration, “Doctor Atomic,” in which Robert Oppennheimer's role in creating the atomic bomb was examined as a modern day deal with the devil. Still it was, arguably, Busoni's vision of Faust that offered the most decidedly modern and psychoanalytically resonant take on this well-known tale. Differences from typical experiences of Faust extended both to the unusual text and score of Busoni's opera — a work that is not part of the standard operatic repertory — as well as to San Francisco Opera's imaginatively conceived stage production. By examining these three elements in turn — text, score, and production — I hope to trace the various psychoanalytic strands running throughout the Faust story, and to make a case — as this particular production did — for its relevance in our time. First, it will be necessary to sketch out the plot of the opera, which is a departure from more familiar versions of the story.

Synopsis

The rather disjointed plot, a series of loosely related episodes, runs as follows: Professor Faust is w