Mephistopheles & Other Bad Guys Kevin Short, Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra, & Lawrence Foster

• Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893): Faust, CG 4 (Excerpts):
• 1 Faust, CG 4 (Excerpts): Le veau d'or est toujours debout 02:17
• 2 Faust, CG 4 (Excerpts): Vous qui faites l'endormie 03:10
• Arrigo Boito (1842 - 1918): Mefistofele (Excerpts):
• 3 Mefistofele (Excerpts): Son lo Spirito che nega 03:53
• 4 Mefistofele (Excerpts): Ecco il mondo 02:43
• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): 6 Songs, Op. 75:
• 5 6 Songs, Op. 75: No. 3, Aus Goethes Faust (Arr. D. Shostakovich for Voice & Orchestra) 02:13
• Fidelio, Op. 72:
• 6 Fidelio, Op. 72: Ha! Welch ein Augenblick! 03:27
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384 (Excerpts):
• 7 Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384 (Excerpts): Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden 02:19
• 8 Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384 (Excerpts): O, wie will ich triumphieren 03:44
• Carl Maria von Weber (1786 - 1826): Der Freischütz, J. 277:
• 9 Der Freischütz, J. 277: Schweig! Damit dich niemand warnt 03:17
• Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880): Les contes d'Hoffmann (Excerpts):
• 10 Les contes d'Hoffmann (Excerpts): Prologue. Dans les rôles d'amoureux langoureux 02:41
• 11 Les contes d'Hoffmann (Excerpts): Scintille, diamant 02:40
• Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901): I Lombardi alla prima crociata:
• 12 I Lombardi alla prima crociata: Sciagurata! 05:02
• Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869): La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H. 111 (Excerpts):
• 13 La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H. 111 (Excerpts): Voici des roses 02:37
• 14 La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H. 111 (Excerpts): Devant la maison "Serenade of Mephistopheles" 02:21
• Gordon Getty (b.1933): Mephistopheles to Faust:
• 15 Mephistopheles to Faust (Version for Voice & Orchestra) 03:00
• Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881): Mephistopheles's Song in Auerbach's Cellar "Song of the Flea":
• 16 Mephistopheles's Song in Auerbach's Cellar "Song of the Flea" (Arr. I. Stravinsky for Voice & Orchestra) 03:09
• Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): The Rake's Progress:
• 17 The Rake's Progress: I Burn, I Burn! I Freeze! 01:49
• Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791 - 1864): Robert le diable:
• 18 Robert le diable: Voici donc les débris du monastère antique 03:08
• Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883): Das Rheingold, WWV 86A:
• 19 Das Rheingold, WWV 86A: Bin ich nun frei "Alberich's Curse" 03:31
• Total Runtime 57:01

Info for Mephistopheles & Other Bad Guys

In opera, specific voice types are often associated with certain types of characters. Numerous and diverse associations exist also for the bass voice, who can be a father, a villain, an elderly man, a religious figure, a comic character- or, indeed, a combination of the above. One recurring association for this voice type, however, deserves particular attention: that with evil, wicked, even diabolical characters. It is on that immensely fascinating association that this collection of arias is focused. The nineteen selections- composed by Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Gounod, Offenbach, Verdi, Boito, Mussorgsky, Stravinsky and Getty- take us on a journey through a period spanning some two hundred years, exploring how composers working in diverse national and institutional contexts and writing in an array of styles and genres exploited the bass voice to engage with the depiction of such characters.

This colorful repertoire is sung by the esteemed American bass-baritone Kevin Short, whose powerful voice is as sensuous as it is sinister. Short is accompanied by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, led by its Music Director Lawrence Foster.

Kevin Short, bass-baritone
Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille
Lawrence Foster, conductor

Kevin Short
Versatile American bass-baritone Kevin Short is thrilling audiences around the globe in a wide range of repertoire ranging from the depths of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Monteverdi’s L’Coronazione di Poppea to Verdi’s Attila, Carmen’s Escamillo and Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer.

A sampling of his North America appearances include performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Washington Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Pacific, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Sarasota Opera Company, Spoleto Opera Festival, Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Opera de las Americas.

His European and Asian credits include appearances with multiple opera companies, orchestras, and festivals. A few of which include Paris’ Opera Comique, Welsh National Opera, Kazan State Theater-Russia, Theatre Caen, Grand Theatre du Luxembourg, Oper der Stadt Köln, Stadttheater Stuttgart, Theater Aachen, Theater Basel, Theater Bern, Theater St. Gallen, Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, Savonlinna Festival-Finland; Bregenzer Festspiele-Austria, Baden-Baden Festspiele-Germany, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence-France, Festival Montpellier-France, l’Opéra de Rouen-France, l’Opéra de Reims-France, Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan and festivals in Beijing, China; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Granada, Valencia, and Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Kevin also enjoys an active concert and recital schedule and has worked with the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Handel and Haydn Orchestra-Boston, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Filharmonisch Orkest, Swiss and Italian RAI Orchestra, Radio France Orchestra, Marseille Philharmonie, Gulbenkian Orchestra-Lisbon, Portugal, Parma Reggio Emilia Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic, Thüringen Symphony Orchestra-Germany, Jena Symphony-Germany,Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Russia, Omsk Philharmonic-Russia, Siberian State Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Hiroshima Symphony, the Kazan Symphony for the opening of the Universiade Games in Kazan, Russia, and the Winter Olympics Festival Orchestra for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Kevin received his training at Morgan State University, B.S., the Curtis Institute of Music, M.M., and the Juilliard School of Music’s American Opera Center. While attending these institutions he was a prize winner in numerous competitions and garnered many awards. A few highlights include the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Internazionale Concorso per Voce Verdiane, the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition, the Bruce Yarnell Competition for Basses and Baritones, the Liederkranz Competition, and awards from the Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, Shoshana Foundation, and the George London Foundation.

Booklet for Mephistopheles & Other Bad Guys