Arrigo Boito Archive

Arrigo BOITO: Mefistofele, Blu-ray (2016)

by Audiophile Audition | Jun 4, 2017 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

If you can ignore the tedious staging, the singing is good. Arrigo BOITO: Mefistofele, Blu-ray (2016) Cast: René Pape, Joseph Calleja,  Kristine Opolais, Karine Babajanyan.  Music: Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Chorus and Children’s Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper. Conductor: Omer Meir Wellber Director: Roland Schwab Studio: Unitel. Blue-ray. [l1/18/16] Run Time: 140 minutes Video: 1.77:1  Color.  Audio: Dolby, NTSC, Stereo Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese Extras: None Rating: ***½ Half a century ago in high school, I took my first girlfriend to my first opera recital. We heard the Chinese bass-baritone Yi-Kwei Sze (1915-1994) sing. From Mefistofele he performed the lively and bizarre aria  “Son spirito che nega.” (“This is the spirit of denial.”)  I had never heard whistling in an aria before, and was so impressed I vowed to see the entire opera soon. Alas, it was not to be for a very long time. This is mostly because Mefistofele is so overshadowed by Gounod’s Faust (which cherry-picks Goethe’s Faust) that it is nowhere near the repertoire. Still, I had great hopes for this recording. Alas, they were (mostly) unfounded. Arrigo Boito is best known for the libretti of Otello and Falstaff, which he wrote for Verdi. His […]