Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Mefistofele


I hadn’t known much about Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele, but am now mightily impressed with parts of it, like the prologue in heaven above, although still a bit puzzled with others, despite having seen it twice now. This is one of our big-bucks new productions – of which we get several each year – intended to raise the profile of the opera, which seem to be largely entrusted to the compelling direction of Balázs Kovalik, who together with designer Csaba Antal also brought us Elektra as set in one of Budapest’s 19th century bathhouses a few years ago. Actually this production premiered last year, but for some reason I didn’t get a good opportunity to see it then.

As an operatic work, it’s uneven in its brilliance, a bit like Goethe’s Faust itself (Yes, I read it way back when. Both parts. In English.) Which is I suppose what you would expect from an Italian Wagnerite who, despite being trained in music, composed little other music and is mainly known as Verdi’s librettist for Otello, Falstaff, and Simon Boccanegra. Also, you can tell that it’s been cropped from a much longer work, which is perhaps why it doesn’t hang together so well. 


But where it’s brilliant, it’s brilliant, and also provides an opportunity for a visual feast. The opera, after spending so much money on this production, kindly posted high-grade clips of the two grander scenes. Both are well worth watching on full-screen. Up top is the prologue in heaven where Mephistopheles makes his bet for Faust’s soul with God, via God’s middle management, who then proceed to sing the praises of the boss with great vigor. The little kids are the cherubini, the souls of children who died across the ages flitting around the cosmos, including one in a Bart Simpson shirt who apparently left this vale of tears circa 1991. I’m not sure who the scruffy guy getting shaken down is. An earthly penitent? With opera on this scale you get the sense that subplots are being worked into the fabric of the scene.


The provocative second clip is from the Witches’ Sabbath in Act II, recast as an average Saturday night at your local Budapest pub. There’s a lot going on here, including scantily clad dancers to please every gender and persuasion, some of which doesn’t show up on this clip. Declaring his contempt for the wicked world and his intention to destroy it, Mephistopheles, with a knowing grin, hoists the EU flag. I hope this doesn’t affect our funding. Also there's some cocaine being blown on stage. 

The opera sort of loses its way after this, much like Goethe’s version, although Faust’s new love Marghereta (played by Gabrielle Létay Kiss and Zsuszanna Bazsink, who was the stronger of the two. I saw both casts) gets an intense death row scene before being converted into Helen of Troy and the action switches to Ancient Greece and some kind of magic tanning booths. Mefistofele, which is supposedly one of the great bass-baritone roles, is played competently by Gábor Bretz and more than competently by András Palerdi. Faust himself seems somewhat inconsequential as a singing role, which is presumably intentional since he’s no longer even the nominal star of the show. 

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