Mefistofele

Mefistofele is an Italian opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue; with music and libretto. It is by Arrigo Boito and is based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust. It was first performed in Milan, on March 5, 1868. A revised version was performed in Bologna, on October 4, 1875.

Recent performances

The opera was performed as part of the 2013/2014 season at the Croatian National Theatre, in Split. The director was Michał Znaniecki and the conductor was Nikša Bareza.^[1]

In August 2014, the opera was performed in the 13th Opera Festival of the Theatro da Paz in Belém, Brazil. Mefistofeles was played by Denis Sedov and Faust was played by Fernando Portari.^[2]

Principal characters

• Mefistofele - bass
• Faust - tenor
• Margherita - soprano
• Elena - soprano

Discography

• 1931: Nazzareno de Angelis (Mefistofele), Antonio Melandri (Faust), Mafalda Favero (Margherita), Giannina Arangi-Lombardi (Elena); Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Lorenzo Molajoli - (Italian Columbia)^[3]
• 1953: Giulio Neri (Mefistofele), Gianni Poggi (Faust), Rosetta Noli (Margherita), Simona Dall' Argine (Elena); Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Franco Capuana - (Elsa Music)
• 1958: Cesare Siepi (Mefistofele), Mario Del Monaco (Faust), Renata Tebaldi (Margherita), Fiorana Cavalli (Elena); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Tullio Serafin - (Decca)^[4]
• 1973: Norman Treigle (Mefistofele), Plácido Domingo (Faust), Montserrat Caballé (Margherita/Elena); Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel - (EMI Classics)
• 1982: Nicolai Ghiaurov (Mefistofele), Luciano Pavarotti (Faust), Mirella Freni (Margherita), Montserrat Caballé (Elena); London Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Oliviero de Fabritiis - (Decca)^[5]

References

1. Information on the production Archived 2015-10-01 at the Wayback Machine (in Croatian)accessed 7 June 2015
2. News announcement from G1 (in Portuguese) accessed 7 June 2015
3. "Boito - Mefistofele". Naxos Records. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
4. "Boito - Mefistofele". The Decca Record Company London. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
5. "Boito - Mefistofele". The Decca Record Company London. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2015.

Further reading

• Ashbrook, William (1998), "Mefistofele", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Three. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• Ashbrook, William (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
• Borovsky, Victor (1988), Chaliapin, New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-56096-5
• Harewood, Earl of and Antony Peattie (Eds.) (1997), The New Kobbe's Opera Book, London: Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-181410-3
• Sadie, Stanley, (Ed.)(1997), The New Grove Book of Operas New York: Palgrave Macmillan.