Search - Arrigo Boito, Oliviero de Fabritiis, National Philharmonic Orchestra :: Boito: Mefistofele

Stellar performances

Mr JB | Karlskrona Sweden | 12/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This clearly underrated opera is at last given fair justice in the CD catalogue. For, with this specific recording at this price, one needs no longer hesitate, this is now the top recommendation.



It's primary strengths are the conducting of Maestro de Fabritiis and the Faust of Pavarotti. de Fabritiis here manages, unlike for example, Serafin and Rudel, to achieve a great sounding whole performance, of a piece in which there is always the risk of just presenting many great sounding numbers/moments in a row. The spaciousness in tempi may not appeal all, but it largely contribute to the feeling of a spirited whole. The only conductor to partially present a threat to de Fabritiis is in my opinion the almost totally unknown Ivan Marinov on a hard to find recording from the Bulgarian State opera on the Capriccio label. Marinovs singers though, are less notable, although the "lontano, lontano" duet is the best I've ever heard, and the coro of the prologue is just - heavenly. That recording has some flaws though, but at half the price of this, still a good bargain for those on a budget.



Pavarotti, not always one of my favorite tenors, is in glorious voice and presents the true poetry of Faust's character and music. His 'Dai campi', the second act duet with Margerita on believing (or not) in religion, the duet with Elena beginning with "Notte cupa, truce", and the "Giunto sul passo estremo" just before the closing of the opera are just a few mentioned highlights of a great performance. Where Domingo (normally my choice before Pavarotti) for Rudel sounds totally uniform and bland, Pavarotti expresses. And where del Monaco for Serafin is rather hard on the border to coarse, Pavarotti is thoughtful. The only tenor to make a portrayal that comes in the class of Pavarotti's is di Stefano, also for Serafin (but only as highlights of the opera).



Ghiaurov's Devil is rather noble and well-sounding, compared to for example Treigle (Rudel) or Christoff (Gui). Lacking something of pure evil, as you find in Christoff (Gui), Siepi (Serafin) and Ramey (Muti), he still is mightily impressive. Freni is as always, well inside her role and beautiful in voice, which naturally also goes for the luxury casting of Caballe as Elena - Her duet with Pavarotti is especially fine. The rest of the cast is very good, and it's nice to hear Piero de Palma sing the role of Wagner again, as he did 25 years earlier on the Serafin/Siepi/Tebaldi/del Monaco set, still sounding fresh and urgent.



The rivals then? Well, if thinking of this as a showcase for a bass, I must say Siepi (Serafin) and Christoff (Gui) are the best - good fun, and both have darker voices, preferable in a opera such as this. Ramey (Muti) is also good fun, but he's almost the only listenable singer in that set. Ghiaurov is not the first choice devil, nor in timbre, nor in character, but his voice and projection is first class, none the less.



As for the ladies, Freni also has stiff competition, in Tebaldi (Serafin) & Caballé (Rudel) primarily. Her greatest point is in presenting a woman more obviously troubled than both Caballé and Tebaldi - the former almost too sweet, the latter slightly detached though beautiful on the ear. Fans of either of the women will like their special performances. Having all, I slightly prefer Freni. Caballé though, has no match in the catalogue as Elena, with her magically spun tone.



So this set has 3 top of the list performances from it's leads, and the most fluent & sensitive conducting. So, only if the Devil's role is of the greatest importance to you, you might want to look elsewhere, even though you wouldn't go far wrong with Ghiaurov. As for myself, this set is now the one I will come back too for the over-all performance, still keeping the Siepi/Tebaldi/di Stefano/Serafin highlights close to my heart, definately so for the devil.



Last, for those who pays interest in useless detail - the Decca people, has choosen to give this release of the recording a catalogue number that ends with 666!"

Triumphant! Inspirational!

OperaOnline.us | Boston, MA | 07/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2 CD set by DECCA is a re-release of a 1984 recording with a superb cast that boasts Nicolal Ghiaurov as Mefistofele, Luciano Pavarotti as Faust, Mirella Freni singing Margherita and Montsettat Caballe singing the role of Elena. What's to fault there? Nothing! This is a story of Faust (based on the drama "Faust" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) who makes a deal with God in which he boasts that he can corrupt the good Faust. He succeeds all too easily. Faust makes the following deal with the devil: Mefistofele will serve Faust now in life and, in return, Faust will serve his soul to the devil in death - but there is a condition. Mefistofele must satisfy the unsettled spirit of Faust such that he will cherish life and utter the words: "Remain, for thou art fair". If it all sounds heady, it is. The score by Arrigo Boito (he wrote the libretto himself) is celestial, triumphant, inspirational and sumptuous, delivered magnificently by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Oliviero de Fabritiis. Interestsingly, when this opera premiered in 1868 it did poorly, and prompted riots and accusations of stealing ideas from Wagner. Today, we're a little more sanguine about opera and appreciative of true music as art when we hear it, and as it should, Boito's Mefistofele has become an honored great opera. You would expect faithful digital reproduction on a CD and you get it here. The accompanying booklet is helpful with some history and a good explanation of what is going on in each act. If you own this opera on tape or record, you will want to add the CD to your collection for all the reasons digital recordings offer."

Great

G. Golding | Seattle, WA | 05/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is too bad that Boito did not not write more music. His melodic gift is stupendous. Try NOT to join in the chorus that concludes the Helen of Troy act. What notes! All the singers are wonderful, Freni giving a blockbuster portrayal. What a glorious spinto voice this is, always used to thrilling effect. Buy it. It cost mee $50 years ago and now it's cheap!"