Berliner Tageblatt - Rare Italian opera returns to Moscow after nearly 120-year hiatus

Rejected by contemporary audiences for its experimental musical style and length -- the original was over five hours -- "Mefistofele" has since come to be recognised as a masterpiece of the genre and is the only completed opera by Italian composer Arrigo Boito.

The show follows the life and death of the legendary German scholar Faust, who sells his soul to a demon in exchange for infinite knowledge and worldly pleasures.

"For the first time in almost 120 years, Moscow audiences will see a production of this rare gem of the Italian operatic repertoire," the Bolshoi Theatre said in a post on social media.

Ildar Abdrazakov, who will be playing the demon, described the production as "wonderful".

"This is a magnificent work -- one of the greatest ever written for my voice type, the bass," he told AFP.

The Bolshoi Theatre, run by pro-Kremlin conductor Valery Gergiev since 2023, was among the most prestigious opera houses in the world but has been shunned by most foreign artists since Russia launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

"Mefistofele" premiered in Milan in 1868 and was last shown at the Bolshoi in 1909.

B.Shevchenko--BTB