"Faust" finale, Chicago 1980

Since "Faust" is about to be telecast from the Metropolitan Opera, I thought I'd rummage through the video vault and bring you the opera's finale, from a 1980 Lyric Opera of Chicago production. The top-drawer cast included Alfredo Kraus (Faust), Mirella Freni (Marguerite) and Nicolai Ghiaurov (Mephistopheles), conducted by Georges Pretre. The late Danny Newman, LOC's great PR man, told me he thought the production worked better on TV than in the house. Sadly, it has never been made available on home video and probably never will. Once Unitel's rights lapsed, the master tape made it as far as a New York City office ... and there, for all I know, it still reposes, various interested parties having been unable to effect a VHS or DVD release. So enjoy these few minutes of magnificence.