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A new role for his 40-year career. Méphistophélès in the opera Faust by Gounod

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - ARTS

Worthy of a great opera house

DANIEL COTÉ - The Daily

The giddiness of love and unreason were explored in the most seductive, poisonous and dramatic way imaginable on Friday night during the premiere of Gounod's opera Faust. Presented in front of a room where almost all the seats were occupied, at the Théâtre Banque Nationale in Chicoutimi, this production by the Société d'art lyrique du Royaume, brilliantly directed by Guylaine Rivard, plunged the spectators into the heart of an orchestrated drama by the Evil One himself.

Played by soprano France Bellemare, who takes on a leading role in her home region, this character eventually succumbs to temptation when jeweled clothing and an oversized jewelry box appear inside his residence. First piece of bravery of the evening, the air of the jewels gave rise to a trans guration operated in real time, through the voice and the face of Marguerite. Her natural modesty gradually gave way to a feeling that was unknown to her until then: coquetry.

From then on, the game was won for Faust, authentically in love with the beauty,but just as instrumentalized by Méphistophélès who, in the guise of Gino Quilico, has covered all the registers of deceit. It was a role for him and the result was impressive. Good-natured when it came time to charm Marguerite's neighbor and then hide from her over-attentive gaze, he showed his true personality as the opera progressed, culminating in the fourth act, when the unfortunate victim of his shenanigans, pregnant with Faust who has just killed his brother, cries on the grave.

Surrounded by the members of the choir, who had just delivered a chilling funeral song, she implores the Lord, rediscovers the intonations of the faith that has always inhabited her, but it is Méphistophélès, imperial, who answers her. The choir, once again, sings a heartbreaking song, a song of the end of the world relayed by the incarnation

The opera would have taken n on this that no one would have been disappointed. However, the last act proves to be the most disturbing, at the same time as the most successful. We discover Marguerite chained in a prison where, by the magic of shadow puppets, skulls and skeletons can be seen. She killed her son and her reason sank, as evidenced by the celestial song which welcomes Faust, loved as on the first day, against all common sense. Then comes a final transformation, thanks to a scene whose details will be kept silent, but which pushes the emotion to its climax. A remarkable nale, worthy of a great opera house.

Dialogues of the Carmelites - Opéra de Montréal 2017

World Premiere - Les Feluettes 2016

Online Complete review;Front Stage

San Francisco Chronicle by Joshua Kosman

Quilico sounded fine, in full command of his suave, expressive baritone. Lithe and strikingly handsome, Quilico looks every bit the licentious libertine. His singing was energetic and precise, with a pleasantly dark timbre.

Jean Valjean

The Oregonian, Mark Mandel

Gino Quilico is one of the worlds best lyric baritones. Quilico's voice, darker than it was a decade ago is a leaner instrument than the burly baritone of his father, Louis Quilico, but it's equal to the demands of Iago at every point. Quilico is an outstanding actor. His Iago is highly intelligent and Quilico wisely shows the villainy only when Iago is alone; in public, he's cheerful, ingratiating and fatally easy to trust.