Boito's Mefistofele : Philipp Himmelmann (stage director), Stefan Soltesz (music director) - With Erwin Schrott (Mefistofele), Charles Castronovo (Faust) ... / Nele Münchmeyer, director.

[Place of publication not identified] : SWR, EUROARTS in co-operation with ARTE, 2016.

1 online resource (1 video file (2 hr., 21 min., 44 sec.)) : sound, color

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Presented at Baden-Baden's Pentecost Festival, this production of Boito's Mefistofele captured the hearts of both audiences and critics--a rare feat! The success was unmistakably due in great part to the presence of Erwin Schrott--already celebrated for his performance as a seductive, witty, and diabolical Mephistopheles in Gounod's Faust. The masterfully subtle Charles Castronovo incarnates the disillusioned philosopher Faust, who makes a deal with the devil. Philipp Himmelmann's staging combines simple elements (a stage curtain made of silvery filaments and a giant protean skull) to incredible effect to tell the story of Goethe's Faust. Centered around the antagonistic character of Mephistopheles, this Italian opera alternates between the lyricism of Verdi--for whom Boito wrote the librettos of Othello and Falstaff--and the ambitious "gesamtkunstwerk" of Wagner in which the composer is his own librettist. The only completed opera that the Italian composer ever wrote, Mefistofele was celebrated by critics and received standing ovations from its audiences. Going toe to toe with Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust (1846) and Gounod's Faust (1859), Boito's Mefistofele was an artistic breath of fresh air in a century when, between Verdi and Wagner, everything seemed to have already been done

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English; Italian

August 11, 2023

Stage director, Philipp Himmelmann ; lighting designer, Bernd Purkrabek ; video designer, Martin Eidenberger ; set designer, Johannes Leiacker ; costume designer, Gesine Völlm.

Bernd Purkrabek ; Martin Eidenberger ; Johannes Leiacker ; Gesine Völlm ; Philipp Himmelmann.

Mefistofele / Arrigo Boito.

Erwin Schrott (Mefistofele) ; Charles Castronovo (Faust) ; Angel Joy Blue (Elena) Alex Penda (Margherita) ; Jana Kurucová (Marta) ; Bror Magnus Tødenes (Wagner) ; Luciana Mancini (Pantalis) ; Rudolf Schasching (Nerèo) ; Philharmonia Chor Wien ; Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe ; Students of Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe ; Münchner Philharmoniker ; conductor, Stefan Soltesz.