Search - Tullio Serafin, Saint Cecilia Academy Orchestra & Chorus :: Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele

Excellent singers in a less than excellent opera

02/03/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is considered Arrigo Boito's masterpiece. Some consider it a semi-masterpiece, but it is definitely the masterpiece among the few operas that Boito composed. I do agree with those who think this opera is a less than ideal masterpiece. I will start the review by discussing the opera's virtues and faults. "Mefistofele" is an opera of uneven quality. The music is very beautiful and serves the plot very well. It is very enjoyable and certainly does its job of conjuring up Heaven, Hell, angels, the supernatural, devilish going-ons, and lively crowd scenes. The Prologue is masterful in its depiction of Heaven. The music is both powerful and serene. The Epilogue is glorious too. It is very powerful and conveys the drama of Faust's redemption and Mephistopheles' defeat very well. The chorus scenes are very enjoyable and contain some of the opera's best tunes. The major drawbacks of the opera are its plot and libretto. The plot is very ridiculous and is unworthy of Boito's glorious music. The libretto is tacky and overdone. Boito was known as a man of letters and he wrote the libretto himself. It would have been better if he had chosen a librettist other than himself and a plot that was more believable and worthy of his music. Boito succeeded with the music of this opera, but not with its plot and libretto.On to the conductor and singers in this excellent recording. Cesare Siepi is in glorious voice and characterizes Mephistopheles very well. Mario del Monaco is also in excellent voice. This was the first time I heard his singing and his voice. I immediately liked both. His is a likeable voice that is loud and powerful. His tendency to sing loudly is evident on this recording, especially in the Epilogue. However, he also sings softly on this recording and when he does, he is quite pleasant to listen to. He characterizes Faust very well with some nice histrionics thrown in for good measure. Renata Tebaldi is a glorious Margherita. For those who are not familiar with her voice, it was a glorious spinto. It was a rich, creamy instrument capable of producing a lot of glorious sound. She was known for her portrayal of Margherita and she gives a glorious interpretation here. She displays her fabulous spinto voice in this role. Her "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" is very well sung with some nice, if not completely competent, coloratura. Her trills in this aria are hard to describe. They almost sound like real trills, but it is hard to tell. Most likely, they're probably fake. When she describes her daily chores to Faust, she has to sing a bit of coloratura in the line "filo sull'arcolaio." She manages the task decently, if not spectacularly. Her Prison Scene is done marvelously. She was not known for deep acting, but you could never say she was dramatically detached like Sutherland was. Her acting in this scene is great. Floriana Cavalli, who sings Elena, is very able. Her voice is strong and pleasant, if not as pleasant as Renata's, with powerful high notes. She has excellent diction. Her Pantalis, Lucia Danieli, is also very able. Conductor Tullio Serafin paces the scenes beautifully. The serene parts of the score are given space to unfold and the dramatic parts are given fast, exciting tempos. This is a great recording of "Mefistofele". This one or the one with Norman Treigle, Plácido Domingo, and Montserrat Caballé will more than suffice if you want to own a recording of this opera.PS. I bought this recording from a seller on amazon.com. It was in mint condition and still had the original shrinkwrap. It pays to buy from those sellers."

A Bit Corrupted

Clemson N. Page Jr. | 12/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was a two-CD set, generally in satisfactory condition, until the final two cuts on the second disc. There were several pauses in that part of the disc."