MEFISTOFELE
Mefistofele, which first saw the light of day in 1868, is the major work of a minor composer, Arrigo Boito. As an operatic composer Boito is a cut above Leo Delibes, but only just. Boito’s true contribution to opera lies in his work as a librettist for the aging Verdi, particularly in his masterpieces Falstaff and Otello. The music in Mefistofele has a few high points, such as the celestial choruses in the prologue and epilogue, but most of it is composed in a workaday Italian set-piece idiom that can’t support the difficult subject of Goethe’s Faust.
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Rounding out the vocal side of the music, the Lyric Opera Chorus (in its maiden effort under the direction of new chorus master Donald Palumbo) confidently negotiated Boito’s difficult score and was particularly effective in the celestial sequences. The Lyric Orchestra played well for Bruno Bartoletti, who capably conducted the massed forces of orchestra and chorus.
