Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – At the Met, Robert Carsen’s striking production rescues Boito’s rarely-performed MEFISTOFELE from weirdness

• By drediman
• November 14, 2018
• No Comments

Christian Van Horn in Boito’s “Mefistofele” at the Metropolitan Opera.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Robert Carsen production. Earlier this week, that dry spell was broken when I attended a performance of the important Canadian director’s striking, rightfully-acclaimed 1999 production of Arrigo Boito’s rarely-performed Mefistofele at the Metropolitan Opera. The opera, Boito’s take on the Faust legend, is unwieldy in a lot of ways – its huge scale (it’s the very definition of grand opera), murky plotting, and overall just plain weirdness don’t make it a top choice for many of the world’s leading opera houses.

Luckily, the Met took a chance on Mr. Carsen’s staging, which it initially mounted at the turn of the century as a vehicle for the great bass-baritone Samuel Ramey (then at the height of his powers) in the delicious, literally devilish title role. I can’t think of another director capaable of pulling off the task of rescuing this problematic opera with such panache and theatrical bravado. His production of Mefistophele treats the work as an opera-within-an-opera, and the metaphor works magnificently in all respects — visually, theatrically, and logistically. The inspired stagecraft and stream of memorable stage pictures create a steady distraction from the unevenness of the underlying material.

Musically, the evening was more or less a triumph. Stepping into Mr. Ramey’s shoes as Mefistofele was Christian Van Horn. Although not quite the natural charmer that his predecessor was, Mr. Van Horn more than held his own with very good acting (this being his debut in the role, I have no doubt he’ll grow more fully into the role) and an even stronger vocal performance. In the female lead, soprano Angela Meade was affecting in just the right ways, and her big, full-bodied instrument was in fine shape. As Faust, tenor Michael Fabiano may have pushed his voice harder than he should have, but he was nonetheless a handsome, dashing presence. The mammoth choral scenes filled the cavernous Met auditorium with a thunderous sound – a rare occurrence at the huge opera house. The evening was conducted boldly by Carlo Rizzi, under whose baton the mighty Met Orchestra sounded as magnificent as ever.

If you have never seen a Robert Carsen production, I would rush to the Met. Indeed, he’s been responsible for some of my most memorable evenings at the opera over the years; he’s a large reason of why I’m such a fan of the art form. No other opera director has such an uncanny ability to fuse heart and mind to create stimulating music theater. I’ve adored his Dialogues of the Carmelites, Iphegenie en Tauride, and Orfeo ed Euridice for the Lyric Opera of Chicago; his Rusalka and Lohengrin for the Paris Opera; and his Eugene Onegin, Falstaff, Der Rosenkavalier, and now this production of Mefistofele, for the Met.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

MEFISTOFELE
Opera
The Metropolitan Opera
3 hours, 30 minutes (with two intermissions)
Through December 1