Арриго Боитоның "Мефистофель" операсы

Opera by Arrigo Boito
the demon

Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was librettist only). The opera was given its premiere on 5 March 1868 at La Scala, Milan, under the baton of the composer, despite his lack of experience and skill as a conductor. However, it was not a success and was immediately withdrawn after only two performances. Revisions in 1875 resulted in success in Bologna and, with further adjustments in 1876 for Venice, the opera was performed elsewhere.

Boito began consideration of an opera on the Faustian theme after completing his studies at the Milan Conservatory in 1861. Mefistofele is one of many pieces of classical music based on the Faust legend and, like many other composers, Boito used Goethe's version as his starting point. He was an admirer of Richard Wagner and, like him, chose to write his own libretto, something which was virtually unheard of in Italian opera up to that time. Much of the text is actually a literal translation from Goethe's German to Boito's Italian. The most popular earlier work based on the legend was Charles Gounod's opera Faust, which Boito regarded as a superficial and frivolous treatment of a profound subject. Furthermore, Boito was contemptuous of what he saw as the low operatic standards prevailing in Italy at that time, and he determined to make his new work distinctive, both musically and intellectually, different from anything that had been heard before. He hoped that it would be a wake up call and an inspiration to other young Italian composers. The Piano–vocal score was completed in 1867 while Boito was visiting relatives in Poland.

As the evening of 5 March 1868 premiere performance progressed, the hostility of the audience, unfamiliar with Boito's avant garde musical style and unimpressed by many of the scenes (notably the scene in the emperor's court), steadily increased. Furthermore, the work was far too long and the cast inadequate for the complexities of the music. When the curtain finally came down well after midnight, it was clear that the premiere had been a failure. After just two performances, with the second one being divided into two sections and presented on successive evenings, the opera was withdrawn. Boito immediately set to work revising his opera, greatly reduced its length by about one third by making many scenes smaller in scale. The most important changes were the following: Boito removed the entire first scene of the original act 4 (scene in the imperial court), symphonic intermezzo "La Battaglia" and expanded act 5 as an epilogue, adding the duet "Lontano, lontano" to act 3 in the process. Faust was changed from a baritone to a tenor. The revised version was premiered in Bologna on 4 October 1875, this time sung by what is generally regarded to be a very fine cast, and was an immediate success. This change in reception is thought to be partly due to Boito's revisions making the opera more traditional in style, and also to the Italian audience having become familiar with, and more willing to accept, developments in opera associated with those of Richard Wagner. Boito made further minor revisions during 1876, and this version was first performed at the Teatro Rossini in Venice on 13 May 1876. The first British performance took place at Her Majesty's Theatre, London on 6 July 1880 and the American premiere was on 16 November 1880 in Boston. Chaliapin made his first appearance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 25 May 1926. Parts of a subsequent performance on 31 May were recorded by His Master's Voice. In 1969, the New York City Opera presented a new production by Tito Capobianco, with Norman Treigle scoring his greatest success in the title role. The Metropolitan Opera has given the work from time to time since it first appeared there on 5 December 1883. The Royal Opera in London has only given one performance of the opera, a concert version in March 1998 at the Barbican Centre, with Samuel Ramey as the title character. As Mefistofele, Ramey made the role a signature one, appearing in many productions in the 1980s and early 1990s, including one given by the San Francisco Opera in November 1994. San Francisco Opera revived the 1994 production of the opera as the first production of its 2013/14 season with Ildar Abdrazakov as Mefistofele, Patricia Racette as Margherita and Ramón Vargas as Faust. The opera was performed as part of the 2013/14 season at the Croatian National Theatre (HNK Split), directed by Michał Znaniecki and conducted by Nikša Bareza. In August 2014, the opera was performed at the 13th Opera Festival of the Theatro da Paz in Belém, Brazil, after a 50 year hiatus from Brazilian theaters. There Mefistofele was played by Denis Sedov and Faust played by Fernando Portari. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Dutch National Opera's performance of Mefistofele in 2020 could not go ahead as planned, so an alternative production of the work titled Faust [Working Title] was performed. The concept of this production was created by director Lisenka Heijboer Castañon and conductor Manoj Kamps, in which they invited composers and arrangers to respond to Boito's original work. This included a new arrangement of Boito's famous prison aria ‘L’altra notte in fondo al mare’ from Mefistofele arranged by the British composer Grace Evangeline Mason for the Moldovan soprano Olga Busuioc who was an original cast member for the production.