(Photo: Gary Payne)

At 26 years old, French composer Louise Bertin launched “Fausto,” an Italian semiseria and what would be her third opera. After a largely anti-climatic and tepid response to the 1831 premiere in Paris, the opera would be shelved and forgotten for nearly 200 years. Now in 2026, Opera Neo has revived the work for the first time in nearly two centuries, an American premiere starring young artists who averaged the same age as Bertin was when the opera first graced the stage.

A revival, an American premiere, and an exhilarating lost work wrapped into one, these young artists are sharing their experience of what “Fausto” did for them.

“Working as a team on a work like this is so special because it really feels like making history,” said mezzo soprano Sarah Kathryn Curtis who sang Caterina. Soprano Alexandra Kzeski who sang Margarita agreed saying “since this was the North American premiere, we didn’t need to worry about performance practice or tradition. That made for a great opportunity to forge this show as a team and really tell the story we wanted.”

Starring mezzo-soprano Julianna Smith as the title role, Opera Neo’s Artistic Director Peter Kozma says it was important to have the title role be played by this voice type. Bertin originally intended for the title character to be sung by contralto Rosmunda Pisaroni, but the show was postponed due to the French Revolution of 1830, later being transposed for tenor Domenico Donzelli in the show’s 1831 Théâtre-Italien debut.

“Opera Neo has decided to honor Bertin’s original idea, and cast a mezzo-soprano in the title role, so this production is the first-ever staged performance of the opera as Bertin intended it,” said Kozma.

The cast is overwhelmingly a fan of prioritizing a mezzo.

“This is the only setting of ‘Faust’ where the title character is cast as a mezzo-soprano, and I think that enhances the opera quite a bit,” said baritone Robert Feng who starred as Mefistofele. “More operas should do this in general – give Mezzos the love they deserve!”

Others like soprano Kzeski add that Bertin’s composition of different voices created a unique sound.

“’Fausto’ is a high tessitura for a mezzo and Margarita is a low tessitura for a soprano. Frequently throughout the opera, the duets begin with Margarita singing the lower harmonies, while Fausto sings the higher, leading to a lot of voice crossing. When you have two singers who can sing these roles, the vocal colors are bound to create beautiful music together.”

With the rarity of the title role being a mezzo pants role, Smith welcomed the challenge of debuting this role to American audiences though she is already well-accustomed to pants roles.

“Most pants roles that I’ve played, like Cherubino in ‘Le Nozze di Figaro,’ or even Siebel in ‘Faust,’ are the young, sometimes silly, lightening agent to the opera. ‘Fausto’ is anything but light. I had to learn how to not just play an old man, but play a young man that still has the weight and experience of a jaded person striving for something meaningful. All while singing some of the most difficult music I’ve ever sung! It was such a rewarding challenge.”

Assistant conductor Immanuel Mykyta-Chomsky is also a fan of the the lead mezzo heroine. “I find the use of that to be unique and a special color. I really enjoy how Bertin is able to interweave Margarita’s lines within Fausto’s. It makes their duets and moments more intimate and makes the colors blend in a special way.”

With an American premiere, and a rarely performed opera, comes the challenge of interpreting the work from scratch. But what could be perceived as an issue was instead seen as an exciting task amongst every cast member interviewed. The only recording of “Fausto” was after its unearthing just a few years ago. Christophe Rousset conducted several principals along with the Flemish Radio Choir and Les Talens Lyriques Orchestra recorded under The Bru Zane label.

“The opera follows an aging and disillusioned scientist’s desperate bargain with the Devil to reclaim youth and love, posing eternal questions about the value of knowledge and the price of desire. Both bold and deeply human, “Fausto” invites audiences to rediscover a forgotten masterpiece and encounter a uniquely youthful female perspective on one of Western culture’s most enduring stories,” according to an Opera Neo press release.

As one of the first adaptions of Goethe’s “Faust,” “Fausto” came decades before Charles Gounod’s popular opera in 1859.

A student of Anton Reicha who also taught Berlioz, Bertin came from a relatively wealthy family who owned and founded the Journal des débats newspaper. Born with physical handicap and musical genius, Bertin pursued the path of a composer, radical at the time for a woman. During the early 19th-century when operas from her male contemporaries were most popular, Bertin’s work was met with great opposition from audiences and critics saying the music was either too elaborate or too monotonous.

“When I first heard this remarkable opera and learned that the composer was confined to a wheelchair, I was struck by the feeling that she was running through this exuberant, propulsive score. This is truly an opera like no other,” said Kozma.

Kozma goes on to call Bertin’s “Fausto” “raw, visceral, and unfiltered, blending Mozartian classicism, Italian opera, German magic opera, and emerging French Romanticism into a strikingly eclectic yet deeply personal musical voice.”

Other cast members also noticed influences from fellow notable composers.

“Bertin’s vocal writing struck me as heavily Mozartian, ‘Don Giovanni’ in particular, which helped guide my learning process in the role.” Said Feng who used roles of Leporello and Commendatore as inspiration for his villainous character.

Smith also found Mozart roles a helpful teacher in preparation for his role. “Learning the baseline pitches and rhythms of ‘Fausto’ took longer than standard canon roles, but it was so much easier to make the role my own” Smith’s cadenzas were inspired by the feeling of French grand opera and utilized the freedom to choose between the mezzo or tenor vocal line to opt higher or lower in the tessitura.

Soprano Sophia Grace Donelan covered Margarita and sang in chorus. “This role reminded me a lot of the title role in Floyd’s ‘Susannah.’ She goes through a similar experience of being cast out of her tight, religious community. I also used Margherite in Gounod’s ‘Faust’ for character inspiration.”

Kzeski relied on her coach to helped record piano tracks in order to properly learn the role. In relying completely on the score for all the answers, the soprano also noticed musical influences similar to her colleagues. “I think of this opera as a mix of Mozart with French Grand Opera, with some Donizetti sprinkled in,” said Kzesksi, noting how intense the vocality was.

Feng did bring attention to the fact that while numerous operas in the canon have allowed for multiple runs and rewrites, “Fausto” did not have this luxury after stopping short of it’s only performance in 1831. “If Fausto was allowed more runs and potential rewrites, this could’ve been a staple opera in the repertoire. The denouement leaves much to be desired. The high stakes drama that has lead up to the final confrontation seems a bit stunted in my opinion, and I wish that Bertin could’ve been given more time for rewrites than she was allowed.”

In addition to the lack of runs and compositional edits, conversations amongst scholars and the cast surmise several reasons behind Fausto going unnoticed for as long as it did, one being her gender.

“Female composers in the 19th century were often neglected (Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn) and over the next 30 to 40 years, three more operas based on the story of ‘Faust’ had been composed by Berlioz, Gounod, and even Boito,” said Mykyta-Chomsky.

“We must acknowledge that Louise Bertin was a 26-year-old French woman writing an Italian opera for audiences familiar with Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti. She was competing against men. Plus, not only was she speaking from a perspective that was inherently feminine, but she was also speaking with her young voice,” added tenor David Mejia who sang Valentino. Nonetheless, arguing her gender is a strength that adds to her composition style. “This provides a lot of the angst, drama, and the passion that we hear in her composition…When Valentino arrives in Act three, we are introduced to a noble and devoted young man who deeply loves and cherishes the women in his life, especially his mother and sister. That sense of hope makes his tragic fate at the hands of ‘Fausto’ even more devastating.”

Smith compares “Fausto” to Gounod’s “Faust” as much more emotionally complex and dramatic than the latter. ”In comparing it to the Gounod, Faust’s character is much more developed in Bertin’s adaptation. You see how human, loving, and broken he is during his Act four aria, where he begs God for forgiveness and eventually signs his life away in order to save Margarita’s.” Smith adds one of her favorite aspects of this process was collaborating with the company and fellow colleagues to explore different emotions, questions, and topics of the human battle between goodness and evil.

Whether it be the scene of Margarita’s shunning from her community, her brother Valentino’s murder, or Fausto’s redemption arch, cast members said some of their most favorite scenes were also some of the most emotional works they’ve yet experienced.

“Margarita’s music in Act three was incredibly moving to sing and always left me in tears when I sang it or listened to Alexandra perform,” said Donelan.

Mejia agrees the scene is so devastating, made even more so by the tragedy of Margarita’s brother Valentino. “The first reunion between Valentino and Margarita occurs as she discovers her brother mortally wounded. As he dies, he condemns her, denying her any hope of peace or reconciliation. It is an incredibly heartbreaking scene.”

Conversely, Mejia added his favorite scene as the witch’s lair coming in the finale of Act one. “The music is haunting, exhilarating, and suspenseful, perfectly complementing the introduction of the witch who welcomes Fausto into the mysterious cult led by Mefistófeles. The atmosphere of this scene is strikingly reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut,’ creating an unsettling sense of ritual, mystery, and psychological intrigue. What makes this scene especially compelling is the integration of choreography and dance into the operatic storytelling. The choreography, led by Kareem Mack, adds another layer of dramatic intensity, transforming the Witches’ Den into a visually and musically immersive experience.”

The witch’s lair is where I come in. I was casted to sing La Strega and while vocally the role does not sing a substantial amount compared to the rest of the cast, she remains a pivotal part of the story. La Strega is responsible for giving Fausto the potion of youth he so desperately wants, in her lair that I found to be staged, executed and choreographed in such an electric and thrilling way. Singing my vocal lines while surrounded by phenomenal dancing while standing on a rotating staircase in six inch heels was a thrilling experience that could leave one breathless, especially with the dramatic and quick pacing. Ken Herman, reviewer for San Diego Story agreed “Kozma kept the opera’s dramatic pulse vital with adroit pacing at every turn.”

It was forward-thinking staging to match a forward thinking composer’s opera.

My casemates and I concur that the best part of this entire process was bringing to life this work together. To premiere a forgotten work is a privilege many artists do not always receive.

“I love how the entire team discovered more and more about the piece together as we went along,” said Smith. “As young artists in the opera industry, we are taught to make strategic career moves, which includes learning the ‘right’ repertoire. Some mentors told me that I would be wasting my time learning ‘Fausto’ because I may never perform it again and that people on an audition panel wouldn’t know what to do with it. But doesn’t that make doing it all the more freeing?”

A creative freedom she said was refreshing and liberating as a young artist. “Performing Fausto was not to check a career move off the list, but to share a story and music that needs to be heard by a modern audience. I’m so proud of Opera Neo’s production and I hope that it helps this opera get heard across the world.”

Mejia added, “My favorite part of the rehearsal process was being able to collaborate with artists from all over the country and even other countries outside of the United States. Everyone had a unique experience and level of artistry that was individualized to them, and everyone from chorus, supporting and principal roles were all at a high level of performance capability and expression.”

Moreover, Mejia, recognizes the diversity in this cast with singers coming from a diversity of ethnicities, upbringings, and identities—he himself a first-generation Mexican American from a non-traditionally classical background.

“There are countless extraordinary voices that have been marginalized or forgotten throughout history. By championing these works, we help broaden the repertoire, honor the richness of our shared musical heritage, and create space for a more inclusive future in the arts.”

For Mejia, me and plenty other singers in the cast, we are the first in our families to pursue and sing classical music, and now we are the first in America to sing this work in a public production.

When asked if Bertin’s “Fausto” should be added to the canon of popular operas, a resounding yes came from the cast for numerous reasons.

“Beyond being a great addition to opera house seasons, it’d also be great for scenes concerts, conservatories, etc. especially since it is such a large ensemble show,” said Kzeski.

Mykyta-Chomsky also added how attractive this opera could be to programmers as it is a relatively “fast-paced, energetic show with gorgeous melodies in just a little over two hours.”

Smith agrees saying “It doesn’t fit into any strict style of music, so it keeps the listener guessing. It is fast-paced, with short scenes that shift quickly, making it an easy watch for a modern audience that is used for movies and television.”

The singers further added that singing works by forgotten composers is necessary and effective in keeping opera moving forward.

“It reaffirmed my belief that opera is at its strongest when it embraces diverse voices, untold stories, and works that challenge the traditional canon. Being part of a production that revived an overlooked masterpiece was an incredible privilege, and I felt a deep responsibility to honor the music, the composer, and the collaborative artistry that brought this work to life,” said Mejia.

Bertin, young and physically disabled, would abandon composing operas after her fourth opera, “La Esmeralda,” also received a lukewarm response. Never having seen the success of Opera Neo’s “Fausto,” it is all of our hopes that this work will be adapted to several more big stages lest the grief of never singing this again, which would be a misfortune to both artists and opera-goers.

“As a Latino artist, I hope to continue contributing to an operatic landscape that is more inclusive and representative of the many communities that make up our world. Experiences like this remind me that our responsibility as performers extends beyond singing beautifully—we also have the opportunity to advocate for forgotten works, amplify underrepresented voices, and inspire future generations of artists to see themselves reflected on the operatic stage,” said Mejia.

This opera, along with Opera Neo’s collaborative environment who sees all their young artists as equal collaborators with staff, teaches us about how to revive, invent, and create from scratch.

Kozma said, “Now more than ever, politically, socially and artistically, continually reimagining this timeless art form will remind audiences and young artists why we do this difficult work in the first place. In a time when AI has emerged as a generative force, and the social fabric that connects us is threatened by digital isolation, we are working with intention and joy to keep opera vital and alive. It is our privilege to cultivate the next generation who will carry this art form forward, and to bring our community together through the magic of live performance.”