When Hector Berlioz was sent by his physician father to study medicine in Paris, he instead entered the Conservatoire to study composition. Goethe’s Faust, in a French translation by Gérard de Nerval, formed the basis of the Damnation of Faust, which Berlioz termed a Légende dramatique. The plot centres on Faust’s bargain with Méphistophélès, the seduction of Marguerite, her imprisonment for matricide and her salvation, while Faust himself is dragged down to Hell, in damnation. These events are vividly captured with all Berlioz’s skill of dramatic orchestral writing. The opera includes the popular Rákóczy March and two frequently-performed dance movements: Minuet of the Will-o’-the-Wisps and Dance of the Sylphs.