The Devil and the Bourgeoisie

GIUSEPPE PENNISI reviews
Arrigo Boito's 'Mefistofele'

Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele is an opéra maudite, or an opera over which a bad spell seems to hang. It was a fiasco when the seven-hour-plus first version was premièred on 5 March 1868 at La Scala in Milan. It was a major hit when drastically revised, the present version (about two and a half hours of music) was staged on 4 October 1875 in Bologna. This second version, further slightly revised for La Fenice in Venice, was successful nearly until World War II. Then, it disappeared nearly everywhere...

ARRIGO BOITO

ROME

ITALY