Reutter composed
Doktor Johannes Faust as an opera in three acts and five scenes to a
libretto which Ludwig Andersen based on an old puppet play
Doktor Faust on the
Faust topic, in a version by
Karl Simrock. Andersen was the pen name of
Ludwig Strecker, director and editor of the music publisher
Schott-Verlag. Strecker published the opera for Schott, the libretto in 1935 and the score in 1936. The opera was premiered by the
Oper Frankfurt at its house (now the
Alte Oper) on 26 May 1936, staged by
Walter Felsenstein and conducted by . It was a success. The premiere in Austria was on 18 December 1940 at the
Graz Opera, conducted by Karl Fischer, with Alfred Schütz as Mephisto. A revised version was presented at the
Staatstheater Stuttgart on 8 June 1955, staged by Kurt Puhlmann and conducted by
Ferdinand Leitner. This performance was recorded, with Bernd Heyer as Faust and
Gustav Neidlinger as Mephisto. Reutter tried to create a people's opera (
Volksoper), similar to Werner Egk's
Die Zaubergeige, which was also composed to a libretto by Andersen and published by Schott. The music is moderately progressive, using many dances. The opera, which takes about two hours to perform, is set in
Mainz and
Parma in the 16th century. It is one of many adaptations of the Faust topic. == Roles ==