Boito: Mefistofele (Great Scenes)
Tullio Serafin
Label
Decca
Catalogue No.
4824757
Barcode
00028948247578
Format
1-CD-CD
About

The sole, completed opera by one of the nineteenth-century’s most shrewd librettists, ‘Mefistofele’ has always held a tenuous place on the fringes of the repertoire but its merits were established in the minds and ears of countless record-buyers in the 1960s and 70s by this 1958 Decca recording, the first to be made in stereo and one which had the field to itself for years.

As Conrad Osborne observed in an extended review in High Fidelity magazine, here is a work laden with stunning dramatic effects and of course blessed with a libretto (Boito’s own) of great poetic strength – and yet overshadowed, unfairly so, by Gounod’s looser stage treatment of the same story. Decca cast the new set from strength. In the pit, the unpredictable genius of Tullio Serafin and in the title role, the superbly intelligent baritone of Cesare Siepi leading, what Osborne recognised as ‘the best sung ‘Mefistofele’ since the days’ of the Cetra recording led by Lorenzo Molajoli. Particular praise was reserved at the time for Renata Tebaldi, singing the role of Margherita which was never within the ambit of Callas.

In the role of Faust, Giuseppe di Stefano recorded his parts between June and July 1958 but, for reasons not confirmed, the part was re-recorded by Mario Del Monaco later the same year for the first issue of the set in April 1959. Harold Rosenthal observed in Opera that ‘with Siepi offering a well-sung and individual portrayal … and Tebaldi at her very best, this could have been an outstanding set’ – but for the presence of Del Monaco. Perhaps in recognition of its error, fifteen years later Decca issued generous excerpts from the opera featuring Di Stefano, thereby eventually publishing the passages he sang. This is the recording reissued here.

TRACK LISTING / ARTISTS

ARRIGO BOITO
Mefistofele: Great Scenes

Cesare Siepi – Mefistofele
Giuseppe di Stefano – Faust
Renata Tebaldi – Margherita
Lucia Danieli – Marta
Piero de’ Palma – Wagner

Orchestra e coro dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma
Bonaventura Somma,
chorus master
Tullio Serafin

Track previews
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Epilogue: Cammina, cammina...
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act III: L'altra notte in fondo al mare
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Prologue: Ave, Signor degli angeli e dei santi!
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Prologue: Preludio
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act III: Spunta l'aurora pallida
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act III: Sorge il dì
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act III: Lontano, lontano, lontano
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act III: Dio di pietà! son essi!
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act II: Dio clemente, nuova, ignara
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Epilogue: Giunto sul passo estremo
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act II: Dimmi se credi, Enrico
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act II: Cavaliero illustre e saggio
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act I: Se tu mi doni un'ora di riposo
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act I: Sono lo spirito che nega
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act I: Che baccano!
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act I: Dai campi, dai prati
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Epilogue: Ave Signor, Signor degli angeli
Mefistofele (Excerpts), Act I: Sediam sovra quel sasso
Recording information

Recording Producers: James Walker, Christopher Raeburn
Balance Engineers: James Timms, Roy Wallace
Recording Location: Santa Cecilia, Rome, Italy, 17 June–6 July 1958
Original Decca LP Release: SET 558

Reviews

‘Tebaldi is perfection as Margherita, and sings with the most glorious and opulent tones I have heard from her for a long time.’ Opera

‘It is a pleasure to hear again that eager tone [of Di Stefano], ardently filling such passages as […] the Garden scene and the aria in the Epilogue. All the work’s plums are here … Serafin directs this often lovely and individual score with all his familiar skill.’ Opera