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The Arts Intel Report

La damnation de Faust, by Hector Berlioz (in concert form)

Jan 11–16, 2021
Piazza Vittorio Gui, 1, 50144 Firenze FI, Italy

Banished from American stages over charges of sexual misconduct, James Levine takes up an invitation from one of the institutions abroad loathe to cancel a big name who sells tickets. As music director of the Metropolitan Opera, his interpretation of this most bewitched and bewitching of scores struck the New York Times as “cool and subtle,” not necessarily the description you’d most want to hear in this context. In Michael Spyres (Faust), Marianne Crebassa (Marguérite), and Ferruccio Furlanetto (Méphistophélès), the maestro has at his disposal the kind of stylish principals with whom he surrounded himself in New York. —M.G.