MEPHISTOFELE
Stephen Smoliar
How come there was never any discussion of the GREAT PERFORMANCES broadcast of
MEPHISTOFELE by the San Francisco Opera? I only got around to watching my tape
last night. Granted, we are not talking about the calibre of Mozart here; but
all that opulent staging worked very well for my money. Ramey looked as if he
had more fun with this role than he had with the Don; and of all the FAUST
operas, this one probably has the most fidelity to Goethe (for what that is
worth).
=========================================================================
USPS: Stephen Smoliar
5000 Centinela Avenue #129
Los Angeles, California 90066
Internet: smo...@vaxa.isi.edu
"It's only words . . . unless they're true."--David Mamet
R. Wilmer
>
>How come there was never any discussion of the GREAT PERFORMANCES broadcast of
>MEPHISTOFELE by the San Francisco Opera? I only got around to watching my tape
>last night. Granted, we are not talking about the calibre of Mozart here; but
>all that opulent staging worked very well for my money. Ramey looked as if he
>had more fun with this role than he had with the Don; and of all the FAUST
>operas, this one probably has the most fidelity to Goethe (for what that is
>worth).
>
Didn't see the broadcast, but I'm always happy to discuss Mefistofele.
I consider the fidelity to Goethe an operatic drawback. Usually philosophical
discourse is not at its best in an opera. I have often heard the
Boito praised for including more of Goethe than the Gounod, but
I think the best parts of Mefistofele are those used by Gounod.
I particularly admire the prison scene. Margarita's ``Spunta l'aurora
pallida'' is extremely beautiful. The better known ``L'altra notte''
is good also.
Again both Boito and Gounod excel in the quartet of the garden scene.
However, I don't think there is anything in Mefistofele that touches
the love duet:
``Laisse-moi contempler ton visage'' and Marguerite's passionate
aria: ``Quel trouble en mon coeur'' (the full power of which is so
very rarely realized in performance).
Faust has two good philosophical arias--``Dai campi'' and one in
the last act that I can't remember the title of (I sometimes give
it to tenors studying with me who have trouble singing high notes
without screaming them). In those two arias the praise about
fidelity to Goethe makes good sense.
I don't much like Mefistofele's two arias although I am a bass. I find
them wordy and untuneful.
I do like the overture and opening chorus with its progressions using
major triads expanding to augmented triads. Boito's reprises of that
theme are particularly effective at the end of the prison scene, redeeming
Margarita when she says ``Enrico (Faust), mi fai ribrezzo'' -- ``You
disgust me'', and then at the end of the opera when Faust sings
``Arrestati, sei bello.'' -- ``Stop, this is beautiful.'' In the
opera, it is.
Richard
Stephen Smoliar
>
>Didn't see the broadcast, but I'm always happy to discuss Mefistofele.
>I consider the fidelity to Goethe an operatic drawback. Usually philosophical
>discourse is not at its best in an opera. I have often heard the
>Boito praised for including more of Goethe than the Gounod, but
>I think the best parts of Mefistofele are those used by Gounod.
This is the usual opinion, which basically argues that Part I is the only part
of Goethe worth producing. However, having seen (what I think was) the first
English-language production of both parts (considerably abridged to fit into
two three-hour portions), I would like to argue that there is some value in
at least some of the Goethe used by Boito and ignored by Gounod. (By the way,
I think that SOME form of truncation is absolutely necessary. The entirety of
Goethe's text is practically a philosophical treatise about everything on which
he ever had an opinion. No one in his right mind would try to fit all that
into a single stage production, let alone an opera! Nevertheless, there are
extended scenes which could be extracted and turned into productions in their
own right. The economic crisis which opens Part II would be particularly
appropriate in these times; and I, personally, would like to see some sort
of opera based on all the homunculus material which comes a couple of scenes
later.)
Dramatically, I think the most important thing about Boito is that he respects
what the pact is all about:
Werd ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
Verweile doch! du bist so schoen!
Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen,
Dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn!
or, as Philip Wayne translated it:
If to the fleeting hour I say
'Remain, so fair thou art, remain!'
Then bind me with your fatal chain,
For I will perish in that day.
When Goethe's play is considered in its entirety, we discover that Faust is
more of a challenge than Mephistopheles initially assumes. It is not enough
for him to experience lust, either with a village innocent or with Helen of
Troy. The man just NEVER seems to find that moment at which Mephistopheles
can claim him! Indeed, in Goethe he never does come out an say those fatal
words explicitly: his dying gasp is about what MIGHT have prompted him to
say them! This makes the play a rather complicated matter for any director.
Boito opts for a simplification which, for my money, works very well: After
he has seen everything else, Faust is granted a vision of Heaven; and THAT
is the moment he wishes to remain. This breaks the spell and causes
Mephistopheles to lose the bet: Faust has rejects all the offering
of Hell in exchange for a single glimpse of Heaven.
Does this work as opera? I am not about to claim that Boito's music is the
greatest thing since sliced bread. It probably does not even have the exotic
quality of a good sun-dried tomato. I would even go so far as to say that the
depiction of Heaven is about as formulaic as you can get . . . that old line
about knowing just which are the right audience string to pull. However, there
is some way in which is all works . . . probably because I am not exposed to it
very often, which keeps banality from seeping in. Boito's opera represents a
triumph of the Comedian from Goethe's first prelude to FAUST, but it still
makes for a good entertainment.
Jon Conrad
his Mefistofele is neither here nor there. (And yes, I am familiar with
Goethe's play; I spent a semester in a graduate seminar studying it in
German.) There's no particular virtue in getting the terms of the wager
right, keeping the prologue in heaven, and including Helen of Troy et
al, if you're only going to pay lip service to them and not really make
musical-dramatic meat out of their implications. And I think Boito
fails on that count.
To me, Boito sounds like a very intelligent man, with some of the
training of a composer, but without the real creative juices of a
composer. His music is patterns, thematic fragments, and repetitions (I
can sympathize, since that was exactly my problem when I studies
composition; I had to acknowledge I didn't have what it takes). Though
carefully chosen for the situation, his music generally sounds too thin
to bear any dramatic weight (to my ears, of course). That doesn't mean
I think Mefistofele is totally hopeless, but it needs lots of help in
performance.
I have seen it live twice, both spectacular productions. One was an
outdoor college production in an unused football stadium, with all the
advantages of size and mass. The other was the excellent NY City Opera
staging, with lots of magical use of scrims and projections to create a
truly otherworldly heaven etc., well matched to the music. That (in
1977) also had Ramey, by the way, before he was really well known.
I haven't seen the tv version yet. I'm promised a loan of the tape for
this weekend. Ramey is usually good in the role, and Gabriela Benackova
is one of the most stunningly beautiful voices around, when she shows
up. (She is known as one of the biggest cancelers in the business, and
has given a whole generation of young sopranos their big break by
getting her spots in important new productions: Kallen Esperian, Cheryl
Studer, Nadine Secunde, to name three. I joke about writing an article
about it, "The Benackova Legacy.")
Jon Alan Conrad
Mark Gresham
>Does this work as opera? I am not about to claim that Boito's music is the
>greatest thing since sliced bread. It probably does not even have the exotic
>quality of a good sun-dried tomato.
Were it to all work as well as the "Prologue in the Heavens"
it might. But from having performed in that, I can say that it
seems Boito's music requires the impact of masses of performers,
and a "broad swath" approach to drama.
The performance I was in of the "Prologue" involved a large
children's chorus portraying the fat naked kids with wings (it was
a 'concert' version, not costumed and staged, BTW) plus a mixed
chorus of about 500. Maybe 700 performers in all. Audience was
not allowed in the single balcony with long arms that were like
ersatz box-seats. That where the rest of the chorus who couldn't
fit on the stage (and some brass players) were who sang in the
conclusion of the "Prologue." Boito's music in that scene
allows for the possibility of spectacle.
Not everybody's sun-dried tomato, and not necessarily mine
either, but it works effectively when performed that way.
Cheers,
--Mark
========================================
Mark Gresham ARTSNET Norcross, GA, USA
E-mail: ...gatech!artsnet!mgresham
or: artsnet!mgre...@gatech.edu
========================================
Lydia Leong
symphonies (or are just starting a collection), Deutsche Grammophon has just
re-released a 35-CD set of Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic,
for about $350. It includes the complete Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner,
Mendelssohn, Schumann and Tschaikovsky symphonies, plus the complete late
Mozart symphonies (unfortunately, Karajan's Mozart symphonies lack bite, but
the rest of the set is excellent, especially the Brahms and Bruckner).
All the symphonies are boxed by composer, in the multi-disc jewel cases.
It's a fairly good deal.
Gary L Dare
>
>Deutsche Grammophon has just re-released a 35-CD set of Herbert von
>Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, for about $350. It includes the
^^^^^^^^^
One question: which one of his Beethoven cycles? Apparently, the one
on DG's budget Galleria line from '77 includes the 9th that a lot of
readers have mentioned in the past as a favourite. There was a recent
Von Karajan 80th birthday set culled from late 50's to early 60's
recordings, with a few exceptions like a concerto with violinist Anne
Sophie Mutter.
gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare No golf courses on
> g...@cunixD.cc.columbia.EDU Mohawk Indian
> g...@cunixc.BITNET burial grounds! (Oka, Quebec)
Stephen Smoliar
> The performance I was in of the "Prologue" involved a large
>children's chorus portraying the fat naked kids with wings (it was
>a 'concert' version, not costumed and staged, BTW) plus a mixed
>chorus of about 500. Maybe 700 performers in all. Audience was
>not allowed in the single balcony with long arms that were like
>ersatz box-seats. That where the rest of the chorus who couldn't
>fit on the stage (and some brass players) were who sang in the
>conclusion of the "Prologue." Boito's music in that scene
>allows for the possibility of spectacle.
The San Francisco kids were not fat (are they supposed to be too heavy to rise
from limbo to heaven?); nor were they naked (even public television has
limits) or winged (are you sure they have wings in limbo?). What made the
production impressive, however, was that it was not necessary to engage any
audience space--you just keep seeing more and more figures (all bearing
candles) on a stage which seems to be getting bigger and bigger. For all
I know, it was staged by Busby Berkeley. The closest I have seen to that sort
of spectacle was the Munich ROSENKAVALIER, in which the footman who preceded
Octavian in his presentation of the rose seemed to go on forever, making it
one of the most deliciously indulgent moments in all of opera.
(By the way, in the that-was-then-this-is-now department, I should point out
that no one in San Francisco seemed to know how to handle the crowds in
KHOVANSHCHINA. It was some of the most feeble staging I had ever seen,
totally defeating the drama of the opera. I also have to confess considerable
sour grapes at paying $180 for two box seats and discovering that not only was
the sight line disastrous but that the seats were in an acoustically dead
spot. Apparently, the way to attend the opera in San Francisco is to watch
it on Public Television.)
shun.cheung
> In article <33...@netnews.upenn.edu> lwl (Lydia Leong) writes:
> >
> >Deutsche Grammophon has just re-released a 35-CD set of Herbert von
> >Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, for about $350. It includes the
> >complete Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Schumann and ...
> ^^^^^^^^^
> One question: which one of his Beethoven cycles? Apparently, the one
> on DG's budget Galleria line from '77 includes the 9th that a lot of
> readers have mentioned in the past as a favourite.
According to an ad I saw, the Beethoven symphony #9 in this set is indeed
the recording from 1977 (I can tell by the soloists in the recording),
which I too consider as a favorite. I assume that the other Beethoven
symphonies in this set are from the same cycle.
--
-- Shun Cheung, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Middletown, New Jersey, USA
electronic: sh...@hou2d.att.com
voice: (908) 615-5135
Dennis Yarak
>The San Francisco kids were not fat (are they supposed to be too heavy to
rise
>from limbo to heaven?); nor were they naked (even public television has
>limits) or winged (are you sure they have wings in limbo?). What made the
>production impressive, however, was that it was not necessary to engage
any
>audience space--you just keep seeing more and more figures (all bearing
>candles) on a stage which seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
I've been meaning to discuss Mephistofele. I saw the production live and
also on TV. I must say the live production was very impressive, while the
TV version's literal approach with the camera significantly reduced its
impact. Ramey live commanded a tremendous presence, but on TV with
cameras following him lamely around, and the incumbent disastrous extra
lighting having an apparent effect on his performance, I was consistently
struck by how poor a representation this actually was of the effort.
The chorus was wearing a hell of a lot more clothes, too (not surprising
in today's absurd climate) which detracted from the sense of the scene and
took away much of its edge.
About KHOVANSHCHINA:
>I also have to confess considerable
>sour grapes at paying $180 for two box seats and discovering that not
only was
>the sight line disastrous but that the seats were in an acoustically dead
>spot. Apparently, the way to attend the opera in San Francisco is to
watch
>it on Public Television.)
Well that's what you should use the net for. Anybody up here can tell you
that the box seats have the worst sound in the hall, and it doesn't matter
whether you're center or to the side.
The orchestra section is quite acceptable almost anywhere (though some
seats are obstructed from supertitles, which might be a blessing depending
on your point of view), but the best sound is at the top of the balcony,
believe it or not. The shape of the War Memorial Opera House creates an
acoustic horn effect that amplifies the sound so that it is loud, clear,
and well integrated at the top of the house! These seats can be had
cheap, too. Problems: Too goddamn hot, and you need binoculars to see
much of anything. The top of the stage is cut off from view, too.
I just found out that the Hockney-designed Magic Flute is coming back this
summer, which is just lovely. Part of a series of Mozart operas.
Dennis Yarak
Now at Apple.
Dan Koren - Database Engineering Manager
Tower Records in Berkeley has got it on sale for $275 - I suppose
other Tower stores may have it at the same price.
dk
--
Dan Koren phone: +1 408-524-7447
Database Engineering Manager MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
{decwrl,pyramid,sun}!mips!dk 930 DeGuigne Dr,Sunnnyvale, CA 94086
d...@mips.COM M/S 6-02
Stephen Smoliar
>
>About KHOVANSHCHINA:
>>I also have to confess considerable
>>sour grapes at paying $180 for two box seats and discovering that not
>only was
>>the sight line disastrous but that the seats were in an acoustically dead
>>spot. Apparently, the way to attend the opera in San Francisco is to
>watch
>>it on Public Television.)
>
>Well that's what you should use the net for. Anybody up here can tell you
>that the box seats have the worst sound in the hall, and it doesn't matter
>whether you're center or to the side.
>The orchestra section is quite acceptable almost anywhere (though some
>seats are obstructed from supertitles, which might be a blessing depending
>on your point of view), but the best sound is at the top of the balcony,
>believe it or not. The shape of the War Memorial Opera House creates an
>acoustic horn effect that amplifies the sound so that it is loud, clear,
>and well integrated at the top of the house! These seats can be had
>cheap, too. Problems: Too goddamn hot, and you need binoculars to see
>much of anything. The top of the stage is cut off from view, too.
>
were good. As I remarked in another message, the primary problem with this
production was its utter incompetence, which was probably tightly coupled to
the fact that none of the stage machinery was working very well. As far as
the general ambiance, my major complaint about sitting under the boxes was
that there was no light by which to read my program before the performance
began! I am beginning to get the impression that the War Memorial Opera House
is the epitome of the elite space. There are probably a handful of seats worth
having and the rest are basically junk for peons like myself at the mercy of
ordering their seats by mail. I did much better several years ago when I
happened to be in town and walked up to the Box Office to find out what was
available. I guess the lesson is that any dealings with the Opera should be
secondary, rather than primary.
Joann Zimmerman
>Well that's what you should use the net for. Anybody up here can tell you
>that the box seats have the worst sound in the hall, and it doesn't matter
>whether you're center or to the side.
>The orchestra section is quite acceptable almost anywhere (though some
>seats are obstructed from supertitles, which might be a blessing depending
>on your point of view), but the best sound is at the top of the balcony,
>believe it or not. The shape of the War Memorial Opera House creates an
>acoustic horn effect that amplifies the sound so that it is loud, clear,
>and well integrated at the top of the house! These seats can be had
>cheap, too. Problems: Too goddamn hot, and you need binoculars to see
>much of anything. The top of the stage is cut off from view, too.
Which is why we always used to get seats in the Balcony Circle, as a
nice compromise - sound almost as good as top balcony, much better
seeing, not excessively expensive, and much cooler than the upper
balcony. An added bonus - the seats seem to be slightly further apart,
and one year we got seats right in the center in the back row of the
Balcony Circle, which had a slightly different curve than the rows
infront of it, for some architectural reason - with the result that
there was actually room for my 6'4" husband to sit without permanent
damage to his kneecaps or to the person in front of him.
--
"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons ..." T S Eliot
...!cs.utexas.edu!walt!jzimm
Mark Gresham
>> The performance I was in of the "Prologue" involved a large
>>children's chorus portraying the fat naked kids with wings (it was
>>a 'concert' version, not costumed and staged, BTW) plus a mixed
>
>The San Francisco kids were not fat (are they supposed to be too heavy to rise
>from limbo to heaven?); nor were they naked (even public television has
>limits) or winged (are you sure they have wings in limbo?).
Sarcasm? No thanks, I have plenty.
I should have put smileys galore there, I guess; versions with
winks to the popular image of pseudo-Reubenesque cherubs.
Wings indeed, and gilted. :-)
(Sort of like a child imagining that Jahweh must look somewhat like
Martin Buber?)
Kirk Loftis
|rise
|>from limbo to heaven?); nor were they naked (even public television has
|>production impressive, however, was that it was not necessary to engage
|any
|>audience space--you just keep seeing more and more figures (all bearing
|>candles) on a stage which seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
|
|I've been meaning to discuss Mephistofele. I saw the production live and
|also on TV. I must say the live production was very impressive, while the
|TV version's literal approach with the camera significantly reduced its
|impact. Ramey live commanded a tremendous presence, but on TV with
|cameras following him lamely around, and the incumbent disastrous extra
|lighting having an apparent effect on his performance, I was consistently
|struck by how poor a representation this actually was of the effort.
I too saw Mephistofele at the War Memorial last year. I agree
that the TV Production just did not do it justice (but I guess TV can
never do an Opera justice). The energy at the Opera was so intense, it
was unbelievable. After the prologue, I felt that I had received enough
gratification for the season tickets that I had purchased (in the
balcony). I do have it on tape and I will be remembering the stage production
everytime I watch it!
|About KHOVANSHCHINA:
|>I also have to confess considerable
|>sour grapes at paying $180 for two box seats and discovering that not
|only was
|>the sight line disastrous but that the seats were in an acoustically dead
|>spot. Apparently, the way to attend the opera in San Francisco is to
|watch
|>it on Public Television.)
|
|Well that's what you should use the net for. Anybody up here can tell you
|that the box seats have the worst sound in the hall, and it doesn't matter
|whether you're center or to the side.
I have Grand Tier this year and I am enjoying those more than the
balcony. It is nice to see the characters and dress without using
binoculars (missing half of what is going on). The sound, I am
satisfied with and I do not have all that HEAT of the balcony.
|The orchestra section is quite acceptable almost anywhere (though some
|seats are obstructed from supertitles, which might be a blessing depending
|on your point of view), but the best sound is at the top of the balcony,
|believe it or not. The shape of the War Memorial Opera House creates an
|acoustic horn effect that amplifies the sound so that it is loud, clear,
|and well integrated at the top of the house! These seats can be had
|cheap, too. Problems: Too goddamn hot, and you need binoculars to see
|much of anything. The top of the stage is cut off from view, too.
|I just found out that the Hockney-designed Magic Flute is coming back this
|summer, which is just lovely. Part of a series of Mozart operas.
|Dennis Yarak
|Now at Apple.
I would recommend the Balcony Circle to most people Cost/Sight and Sound
is optimized here.
Kirk
PS Just my opinions..whatever they are worth (2Cents?)
laraine
audio of a Boito Mefistofele on Netherlands Radio
for 28 more days, (which might interest some, even
though there are a few full-length versions
on YouTube...)
http://www.radio4.nl/luister-concerten/concerten/5685/ntr-operalive-mefistofele-van-arrigo-boito-
C.