Arrigo Boito

2.2.1. Mefistofele

Boito's only completed opera, Mefistofele, is based on Goethe's famous dramatic poem Faust. Boito not only composed the music but also wrote the libretto himself, showcasing his dual talent as a musician and a literary artist.

The opera premiered on 5 March 1868, at La Scala in Milan, with Boito himself conducting. Despite an extensive rehearsal period of 56 sessions, the premiere was a disastrous failure. The audience reacted with whistles and shouts, leading to widespread commotion both inside and outside the theater. The opera was criticized for its excessive length, Boito's perceived amateurish conducting, and accusations of being a clumsy imitation of Richard Wagner's style, a phenomenon derisively termed "Wagnerism." The police intervened and ordered the closure of the production after only two performances due to the unrest. Reflecting on the premiere, Verdi reportedly commented, "He aspires to originality but succeeds only at being strange."

Undeterred, Boito withdrew the opera and undertook extensive revisions, significantly cutting and refining the work. The revised version premiered on 10 April 1875, in Bologna, to a much more successful reception. In this revision, the role of Faust was notably changed from a baritone to a tenor. Today, Mefistofele remains Boito's most regularly performed work, and its prologue, set in Heaven, is a popular concert excerpt. The renowned tenor Enrico Caruso notably included two of its tenor arias in his first recording session.

2.2.2. Unfinished Works and Other Music

Beyond Mefistofele, Boito's compositional output included other significant, though often incomplete, projects. He composed and later destroyed an opera titled Ero e Leandro.

His most ambitious and prolonged compositional endeavor was the opera Nerone (Nero). Boito worked on this opera intermittently between 1877 and 1915, but his perfectionism and slow pace prevented him from completing it during his lifetime. He left only a few sketches for its final act. After his death, the opera was completed by Arturo Toscanini and Vincenzo Tommasini, who worked on the first four acts. Nerone finally premiered at La Scala in 1924, conducted by Toscanini. In addition to his operatic works, Boito also left behind a Symphony in A minor in manuscript form.

2.3.1. Collaboration with Verdi

The relationship between Boito and Giuseppe Verdi underwent a significant transformation, evolving from initial animosity to a profound and highly productive artistic partnership. Initially, their relationship was strained, partly due to Boito's public criticism of Verdi and other traditional Italian composers, and his open admiration for Wagner, which Verdi perceived as a challenge. A specific incident involved Boito offending Verdi during a toast to his long-time friend, the composer and conductor Franco Faccio.

The reconciliation between the two composers was orchestrated by the astute music publisher Giulio Ricordi, whose ultimate goal was to persuade Verdi, who had largely retired from composing, to write new operas. Several reasons contributed to this collaboration: Verdi, despite his initial anger, recognized the validity of some of Boito's criticisms, particularly the need for richer orchestration in Italian opera. Furthermore, Verdi, who always emphasized the importance of high-quality libretti, needed a new capable librettist after the illness of his long-time friend Francesco Maria Piave. Boito, for his part, had not yet achieved mastery in any single artistic field and sought his place by collaborating with a renowned master.

Verdi agreed to a collaborative project with Boito: a revision of the libretto for his 1857 opera, Simon Boccanegra. Musicologist Roger Parker suggests that Verdi undertook this revision as a "test the possibility" of working with Boito before committing to a larger project. Boito's exceptional literary talent allowed him to create a clearer and more dramatically effective revised libretto, which premiered to great acclaim in 1881. This success solidified Verdi's trust in Boito and paved the way for their subsequent, more ambitious collaborations.

Their mutual friendship and respect blossomed, leading to the creation of two of Verdi's final and most monumental operas. Boito provided the subtle and resonant libretti for Otello (based on Shakespeare's play Othello) and Falstaff (which drew upon Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and parts of Henry IV). Boito notably encouraged Verdi to compose Otello, and later, a comic opera, which ultimately led to the creation of Falstaff. These works represent a pinnacle of operatic collaboration, where Verdi's mature compositional technique seamlessly integrated with Boito's sharp literary sensibility. Although Verdi had expressed a desire to compose an opera based on Shakespeare's King Lear, and a libretto existed, this project never came to fruition. Their close association endured for many years, and Boito was present at Verdi's bedside when the elder composer died in 1901.

2.3.2. Collaboration with Other Composers

In addition to his pivotal work with Verdi, Boito also crafted libretti for several other composers. Following the initial failure of his opera Mefistofele, Boito was encouraged by the music publisher Giulio Ricordi to focus on libretto writing for others. He notably provided the libretto for Alfredo Catalani's opera La Falce (1875).

One of his most renowned libretti for another composer was for Amilcare Ponchielli's celebrated opera La Gioconda, which premiered in 1876. For this work, Boito famously used the anagrammatic pseudonym "Tobia Gorrio."

The following table lists the operas for which Arrigo Boito provided the libretti, along with their premiere years:

Boito also provided the text for Verdi's cantata Inno delle Nazioni, which was first performed on 24 May 1862 at Her Majesty's Theatre, London.