V from The Age of Innocence 

next to whom?

Ummm...Mark Twain called it "the Gilded Age" because the gilding (the values, morals, culture, social structures and hierarchies) were the thinnest of quality over base metal.

Faust is the basis of both the Phantom of the Opera and Dorian Grey. An old wise man Faust, with a death wish makes a deal with Mephistophiles (the devil) ,drinks an elixer and becomes young again and falls in love with an enchanting young woman Marguerita. She rejects him, which only makes him love her more, as she is pursued by another young man. She finds jewelry assumes, it is from Faust and so it is implied that he will be able to seduce her. She becomes pregnant and he leaves her alone ruined socially. Her brother returns from war and learns what Faust has done he duels him and with his dying breath curses his sister to hell. She is charged with murder of her child. Faust cannot save her. She goes to heaven. Faust falls to his knees to pray as her spirit disappears.

Faust by Gounod

In the book, it is performed in Italian (i.e., German story by Goethe, set in French for the opera by Gounod, and therefore performed in New York for an English-speaking audience . . . in Italian!). Frankly, I can't tell if they're singing in French or Italian, lol.

They sing it in italian- like in the novel written.