Charles Gounod composed his five-act opera ‘Faust’ based on the tragic play of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Considered by some as the greatest work of German literature, Goethe’s ‘Faust’ was first published in 1808 and is divided into two parts. Gounod’s opera is an adaptation of the first of these parts and since its premiere in 1859, it has become one of the most often-performed operas in the world. In 1869, in order for the opera to be performed at the Paris Opera, a ballet se...