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When this ballet music is performed in the opera it precedes act V
Quote from a site in French:
«The bankruptcy of the Théâtre-Lyrique, where "Faust" had been created
in 1859, overwhelmed the Opera eager to appropriate a work whose success
continued to grow. However, Gounod had to commit to writing a ballet.
Reluctant to "indulge in a work that is so essentially profane”, as he
tried to find in the religion a way out of the crisis of creative
sterility he was going through, he asked Saint-Saëns to do it...
Then found the inspiration of an elegance and a quality that neither he,
nor Saint-Saëns, nor even Massenet, ever exceeded.»
In practice, to please the public of the time he was forced to write a
ballet that has almost nothing to do with the opera.
It was a simple pretext, because of the "African costumes", to show
"lightly dressed" girls. (Original idea to raise money! ?)
Anyway, being a great musician, the result is wonderful and the ballet
can stand by itself.