83-year old conductor gives no-intermission 2-hour show in Beijing

A symphony recently staged in Beijing has altered the end of 'The Damnation of Faust.'

The concert version of 'The Damnation' by French composer Hector Berlioz differs from the original, as 83-year old conductor Charles Dutoit explained.

"In the original, Margret is going to hell, and Faust is saved. But Berlioz did not accept that, so he sent Faust to hell and Margret to paradise," said the conductor, who was joined by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo.

Conductor Charles Dutoit directs the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and The Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo in a concert in Beijing held on Monday evening, Oct 21, 2019.[Photo provided to China Plus]

Dutoit has brought the dramatic legend to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the composer's death. "The visual things must be in your imagination. It's not on the stage," added Dutoit.

The Damnation of Faust is a tragic play and is considered a great work of literature.

"I would like to insist on the fact that since it's not an opera with acts but a dramatic legend in France, we always played without intermission. So it's a two-hour and five minutes long piece without intermission," said the conductor.

The conductor has toured China 32 times.