Arrigo Boito's concert version of Mefistofele closes the fifth season at the Palau de les Arts

• Ildar Abdrazakov (Mefistofele), Ramón Vargas (Faust) and Yannick-Muriel Noah (Margherita) lead the cast of this title which will be offered on April 27 and 30

Valencia (25.4.11).- Director Nicola Luisotti recreates the Faust myth at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía with the concert version of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele on April 27 and 30.

The maestro from Viareggio, described by the Washington Post as an 'Italian phenomenon', is a regular in the pits of London's Covent Garden, New York's Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and Venice's Teatro La Fenice. Principal guest conductor of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Luisotti has held the position of music director of the San Francisco Opera since 2009. The Italian joins the roster of renowned conductors who lead the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov (Mefistofele) leads the cast of this opera, which also includes Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas (Faust) and Canadian soprano Yannick-Muriel Noah (Margherita). María Luisa Corbacho (Marta/Pantalis), Javier Agulló (Wagner/Nereo), and Lucrezia García (Elena) complete the cast of this concert version, which also features the Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana and the Escolania de la Mare de Déu dels Desemparats.

Mefistofele was the only opera completed by the Italian composer Arrigo Boito. It premiered at La Scala in Milan on March 5, 1868, although the composer later revised the original score. The definitive version of Mefistofele was first performed on May 13, 1876, at the Teatro Rossini in Venice.

This title joins the extensive list of works that illustrate the legend of Faust, the wise man who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power. This myth finds its greatest expression in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, the text on which the libretto of this opera is based. This is the second foray of the Valencian venue into the Faustian tradition, following the excellent reception of Gounod's Faust in 2009.

This concert version of Mefistofele closes the fifth opera season at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía. Opera performances will return to the cultural center on May 28 with the 4th Festival del Mediterrani, presided over by Zubin Mehta. A new production of Puccini's Tosca, a revival of Beethoven's Fidelio, and the concert-spectacle 'Trilogia Romana' conducted by Georges Prêtre and staged by La Fura dels Baus are the highlights of this event.