The historical figure, Johann Georg Faust, purportedly lived between 1480 and 1540. Legend has it that the German alchemist and healer made a pact with the Devil so as to regain his youth. The attractive story has been interpreted in many different ways and from many different angles by numerous artists. The best-known adaptation is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s tragedy Faust (part of the play was written in Carlsbad, Bohemia), while Charles Gounod’s 1895 opéra lyrique Faust is the most famous musical setting of the legend. The libretto, penned by Paul Jules Barbier and Michel-Antoine-Florentin Carré, is based on the first part of Goethe’s Faust, as translated by Gérard de Nerval. The first version of Gounod’s opera, with spoken dialogue, premiered on 19 March 1859 at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris. The second version, with recitatives and a ballet, Walpurgis Night, was first performed on 3 March 1869 at the Opéra de Paris.
The opera was first staged in Prague in German, on 24 October 1861. The first production in Czech, presented on 6 July 1867 at the New Town Theatre, was conducted by Bedřich Smetana and directed by František Karel Kolár. From 11 January 1884, the opera was performed at the newly opened National Theatre.
The new National Theatre production, created by the German stage director Jan Philipp Gloger, premiered in 2003 in Zurich. The music has been undertaken by the French conductor Sébastien Rouland, general music director of the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken.