Abstract
On March 19, 1859, Faust by Charles Gounod was staged for the first time at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. The welcome was warm, but subsequent changes to the score, together with some ingenious promotional ideas, soon made a resounding success, so much so that, ten years after its debut, the staging at the Paris Opéra consecrated Faust among the masterpieces of the French musical theatre. The scenic design contributed to the approval consistently, being set by a team of well-known artists, according to the custom of the greatest Parisian theaters and making skilful use of current technical devices and stage effects. This paper aims to focus on the astonishing traps and tricks with which Mephistopheles works out to convince Faust to sell his soul. Afterwards, a comparison with the most recent and debated production of Gounod's opera in Paris will be proposed (by Jean-Louis Martinoty in 2011), trying to analyze its distinctive scenic ideas.