Chelsea Opera Group: Mefistofele

Matthew Scott Rogers conducts the orchestra and chorus of Chelsea Opera Group in a rare concert performance of Boito's Mefistofele. Although now better known as the librettist of Verdi's Otello, Arrigo Boito was a fine composer in his own right. For his opera on Goethe's Faust he produced a string of beautiful arias and stirring choruses. He uses a large orchestra to conjure up heaven, hell and everything in between. Mefistofele differs greatly from Gounod’s Faust. Boito tries to convey more of Goethe’s original than just the romance of Faust and Margherita and includes also the Witches’ Sabbath in the Harz mountains and the Classical Sabbath at which Faust meets Helen of Troy. The opera is preceded by a magnificent choral Prologue set in heaven and ends with a short Epilogue depicting the death of Faust.