FALSTAFF
GIUSEPPE VERDI
January 21st to 31st 2021
Sala Principal
Approximate running time: 2h45
FALSTAFF
Giuseppe VerdiCommedia lirica in three acts
Libretto by Arrigo Boito
based upon William Shakespeare’s
The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV
Salieri, Balfe and Adam had already put music to the adventures of Sir John Falstaff before Arrigo Boito presented this very peculiar character to Verdi. The choice of an old womanising opportunist, full of wisdom turned to cunning, was undoubtedly a very good one for renewing the interest of the old composer. The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV provide the plot for this third foray by Giuseppe Verdi into the work of Shakespeare: a crepuscular comedy that breathes new life into Verdi’s methods of composition. The whole world is a joke, after so much tragedy: that’s life, when it reaches its close.
Picture: Matthias
Baus
Creative Team
Musical direction
James Gaffigan
Stage direction
Mario Martone
Scenery
Margherita Palli
Wardrobe
Ursula Patzak
Lighting
Pasquale Mari
Choreography
Raffaella Giordano, Anna Redi
Cast
Sir John Falstaff
Ambrogio Maestri
Ford
Mattia Olivieri
Fenton
Juan Francisco Gatell
Dr. Cajus
Jorge Rodríguez Norton
Bardolfo
Joel Williams++
Pistola
Antonio Di Matteo
Mrs. Alice Ford
Ainhoa Arteta
Nannetta
Sara Blanch
Mrs. Quickly
Violeta Urmana
Mrs. Meg Page
Ana Ibarra
Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana
Chorus
master Francesc Perales
Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana
++Centre de
Perfeccionament
A Staatsoper Berlin production
Audio
Synopsis
Falstaff, a fat and grotesque character, is planning to get money
from two rich neighbours, Alice Ford and Meg Page, by sending each
of them a love letter. The two wives discover they have received
the same letter, and decide to play along and punish him, with the
connivance of Mistress Quickly and Nannetta, Alice’s daughter.
Informed of Falstaff’s intentions from the latter’s servants, Ford
also wants revenge. In this he seeks the aid of the young Fenton,
who is in love with his daughter Nannetta. The meeting between
Alice and Falstaff turns out to be a disaster, but allows Ford to
see that his wife is faithful. Now the men and women join together
to ridicule Falstaff. After a series of amusing misunderstandings,
Fenton and Nannetta end up married and Falstaff recognises he has
learned his lesson.
