Charles Gounod: Faust

When Gounod created an opera from the legend of Faust, he didn’t stint on melody, and for decades this rollicking romantic drama of love, ambition and the Devil was one of the world’s favourite operas, with arias like the “Air des bijoux” (“Jewel Song”) featuring in the repertoire of every star diva. This brilliant 2019 recording from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques strips away years of overfamiliarity, using the latest scholarship and historic instruments to make Faust sound as fresh, as shocking and as wildly entertaining as it did on its first night in 1859. With Benjamin Bernheim and Véronique Gens heading a suitably Gallic cast, it’s a dazzling way to rediscover a masterpiece in which the Devil really does have all the best tunes.