Boito: Mefistofele, Muti (2-CD)

“There is a wholeness to Muti’s sense of how the drama should unfold and make its impact, which works well in a possibly otherwise unfamiliar work. No one holds back to make the delivery at all anodyne.” — Classical.net

Arrigo Boito — Verdi’s greatest librettist — was also a noted composer, best known for his Italian operatic treatment of Goethe’s tragedy Faust. His Mefistofele is much closer in spirit and letter to the original source than Gounod’s French version, predating him by roughly a decade. Boito seems to have been more fascinated by Mephistopheles than by the title character, on par with his treatment of the famous villain Iago in adapting Shakespeare’s Othello for Verdi, and gives the character his moment in the spotlight with the title role, performed here by Samuel Ramey. In this 1995 recording, Riccardo Muti leads the forces of the Teatro alla Scala in this rarely performed work.

Boito Mefistofele
Samuel Ramey Mefistofele
Vincenzo La Scola Faust
Michèle Crider Margherita/Elena
Eleonora Jankovic Marta/Pantalis
Ernesto Gavazzi Wagner/Nereo
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala
Roberto Gabbiani chorus director
March 1995, Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Discs: 2
Record Label: RCA
Release Date: August 26, 2016