Arrigo Boito is one of those composers whose fame rests on only one or two
works, in his case the opera
Mefistofele and the incomplete
Nerone - on which he worked for over forty years.
Mefistofele was completed when the composer was 26 years old. He
had hardly produced anything previously. Nevertheless the premiere in Milan
had stirred great interest in advance, especially of the negative variety,
among advocates of “pure” Italian opera. The opening Prologue in Heaven, the
most radical section of the opera, was actually well-received, but much of
the rest was booed. The second performance was spread over two nights; the
opera was in this version five and a half hours long. It fared no better -
being found too “symphonic” and “futurist”. The police had to intervene and
the remaining performances were cancelled.
Boito burnt most of the score and proceeded to create a new opera. This
version comprises the Prologue and Epilogue in Heaven, the parts familiar
from Gounod’s opera, the Witch’s Sabbath with its famous “Ecco il Mondo”,
and the classical Sabbath with Helen of Troy. The revision took him seven
years, but at its premiere in Bologna in 1875, it was a triumphant success
and was quickly heard in numerous other countries. It has never been off the
boards since.
In its final version
Mefistofele inevitably invites comparison
with Gounod’s and Berlioz’s works on the same theme. It has been said that
Gounod set Goethe’s Faust to music while Boito wrote music for Goethe’s
Faust. While both operas are inevitably episodic, as is Berlioz’s work,
Boito seems more concerned with the overall breadth of Goethe’s poem, and
with the conflict of good and evil, rather than the actual story of what
happens to Faust.
Although these discs contain a performance from San Francisco from 2013,
the production dates back to the 1980s and has been seen in other cities. It
holds up well dramatically, although some of the scenic choices may seem
strange. The Easter Sunday section of Act I is a little distracting with
Faust and Wagner in nineteenth century dress while other characters seem to
have wandered in from Versailles in the 18
th century and others
seem loyal to the actual medieval setting of the opera. On the other hand
the slanted staging of the Garden Scene in Act 2 is highly effective as is
the classical Sabbath in Act 4. The staging in Heaven at the beginning and
end of the opera will not please everyone but is an imaginative response to
the scenic problems inherent in Goethe’s poem.
Nicola Luisotti leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra competently but
without much excitement. The Orchestra itself plays magnificently,
especially the woodwinds. They provide the requisite “big” sound in the
scenes in Heaven and in the Witch’s Sabbath, but really shine in the
delicate solos and ensembles in other sections. Even more impressive is the
Opera Chorus, both musically and dramatically. Under Ian Robertson they lend
a refinement to their playing that stands out even from other performances
of this opera I have experienced. Like the orchestra they are powerful in
the big choral numbers but lend true delicacy in other scenes such as the
Easter Sunday section and the Classical Sabbath.
Both sound quality and filming in these discs is unfortunately rather
distant and this is especially unfortunate in the solos and small ensembles,
although it doesn’t seem to hurt the orchestral playing. There are none of
the extras that many have come to expect from opera DVDs.
In the title role Ildar Abdrazakov is sufficiently imposing and yet
imparts a slight sense of foreboding that, as always, he will lose Faust’s
soul in the end. He is almost too cynical in the Prologue in Heaven but
sufficiently menacing and sepulchral in “Son lo spirito …” His duet with
Faust at the end of Act 1 is first rate. He is again almost too cynical in
the scenes with Margherita, but this quality serves him well in the Witch’s
Sabbath section. His singing here is powerful without being strained and he
never lets the chorus overwhelm him. His voice shows some signs of strain by
Act 4, but he is both powerful and plaintive in the Epilogue when he
realizes that once again he has lost out to the forces of good.
Ramón Vargas is in great voice here. In “Dimmi se creddi” in Act 2 he is
both touching and forthright and in most of his scenes with Patricia Racette
as Margherita in Act 3 he is equally effective. He also holds his own in his
duets with Abdrazakov. However, his natural amiability sometimes comes
through in his portrayal of Faust and in such scenes as the Witch’s Sabbath
he seems more genial than horrified. However, in the Epilogue he is very
convincing as he resists the efforts of Mefistofele to distract him from his
view of the Ideal.
Patricia Racette is in some ways the star of this performance. She is
extremely effective as the innocent Margherita in Act 2 but almost harrowing
as the betrayed Margherita of Act 3, resisting in the latter the Director’s
effort to exaggerate the Act’s inherent drama. Unfortunately she is a little
less dramatically convincing as Elena, but her singing leaves nothing to be
desired. In the lesser roles Chuanyue Wang is a serviceable Wagner and Renée
Rapier ably conveys Pantalis’ loyalty to Elena.
There are only two competing DVDs of
Mefistofele presently
available. One is, interesting enough, a filming of the same San Francisco
Opera production as in these discs, but dating from 1991, featuring Samuel
Ramey as Mefistofele [
review]. Ramey was perhaps the Mefistofele of his generation
and is somewhat more forceful than Abdrazakov. The other is a 2008 version
from the Teatro Massimo in Palermo with Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title
role [
review]. The latter is a fine performance musically but
somewhat disappointing scenically. Neither of the two earlier releases can
be dismissed but these new discs, overall, are their equal and,
consequently, merit high praise.
William Kreindler
