chef-d'oevre

Updated: July 7, 2026

'Faust' marks the zenith of Gounod's career. After 1859 he was content for the most part merely to repeat the ideas already expressed in his chef-d'oevre, while in form his later works show a distinctly retrograde movement. He seems to have known nothing of the inward impulse of development which led Wagner and Verdi from strength to strength.

R. A. (Richard Alexander) Streatfeild - The Opera : A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions of all Works in the Modern Repertory.