The title role has been a showcase for many of the world’s leading basses and bass-baritones, but there is much more that keeps this opera in the repertory.
Christian Van Horn in the title role of Boito's 'Mefistofele' Photo: Karen Almond/Met Opera
Sunday 6 January at 6.00pm on RNZ Concert
Metropolitan Opera 2019 Season
BOITO: Mefistofele
A self-consciously cosmopolitan thinker, Boito created Mefistofele as a manifesto for a new aesthetic appropriate for the nascent nation of Italy.
The grandeur of its conception, including the scenes in Heaven, its moments of the irresistible lyricism, and its devilish passages for soloists and chorus are all further reasons why this opera continues its hold on audiences.
A scene from Mefistofele at the Metropolitan Opera Photo: Karen Almond/Met Opera
Mefistofele takes place in a variety of locales varying from the fantastical to the quotidian: in Heaven, in the German city of Frankfurt, in Faust’s study, on a high mountaintop frequented by witches for their revels, in a prison cell, and in a scene from Greek mythology.
Jennifer Check as Helen of Troy in Boito's'Mefistofele' Photo: Karen Almond/Met Opera
The son of an Italian father and a Polish mother, Arrigo Boito was born in 1842 and quickly achieved notoriety as a literary man- accomplished in poetry, journalism, and art and music criticism - and librettist. Most notably, his career was intricately involved with that of Giuseppe Verdi, for whom he provided libretti for Otello and Falstaff.
Boito crafted his own libretto for Mefistofele after Faust, a drama by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) - a preeminent figure of German literature and a well-regarded authority on philosophy, art, and music.
Cast:
Angela Meade (Margherita), Jennifer Check (Elena), Michael Fabiano (Faust), Christian Van Horn (Mefistofele), Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Children's Chorus, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Joseph Colaneri
Christian Van Horn as Mefistofele and Michael Fabiano as Faust in the Epilogue of Boito's 'Mefistofele' Photo: Karen Almond/Met Opera
