Falstaff (opera)

Template:Verdi operas Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan to great success.

Falstaff was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and was only the second of his 28 operas to be a comedy. It was also the third of Verdi's operas to be based on a Shakespearean play, following his earlier Macbeth and Otello. (Verdi had also toyed with the idea of writing an opera based on King Lear, and Arrigo Boito later tried to interest him in Antony and Cleopatra, but neither project was ever brought to fruition.)

While it has not proved to be as immensely popular as the Verdi works that immediately preceded it, namely Aida and Otello, Falstaff has long been an admired favorite with critics and musicians because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodic invention. It is in the standard repertoire of many opera companies.

Performance history

The first performance of Falstaff took place on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan, to great success. The illustrious French baritone Victor Maurel, who had created the role of Iago in Verdi's previous opera, Otello, sang Falstaff at the premiere.

The first performance abroad was in Vienna, on 21 May 1893. Hamburg first saw Falstaff on 2 January 1894, conducted by Gustav Mahler. In the UK, the opera was first presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 19 May 1894 with Arturo Pessina in the title role, while the US premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on 4 February 1895 with Victor Maurel as Falstaff.

The opera is still frequently performed throughout the world.

Roles

Verdi directing the rehearsals of Falstaff

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 9 February 1893 (Conductor: Edoardo Mascheroni)
Sir John Falstaff, a fat knight	baritone	Victor Maurel
Ford, a wealthy man	baritone	Antonio Pini-Corsi
Alice Ford, his wife	soprano	Emma Zilli
Nannetta, their daughter	soprano	Adelina Stehle
Meg Page	mezzo-soprano	Virginia Guerrini
Mistress Quickly	contralto	Giuseppina Pasqua
Fenton, one of Nannetta's suitors	tenor	Edoardo Garbin
Dr Caius	tenor	Giovanni Paroli
Bardolfo, a follower of Falstaff	tenor	Paolo Pelagalli-Rossetti
Pistola, a follower of Falstaff	bass	Vittorio Arimondi
Mine Host of the Garter Inn	Silent	Attilio Pulcini
Robin, Falstaff's page	Silent

Synopsis

Time: The reign of Henry IV, 1399 to 1413

Place: Windsor, England

Act 1

A room at the Garter Inn

First edition cover

Falstaff is surrounded by his servants Bardolfo, Pistola, and the innkeeper. Dr. Caius arrives and accuses him of robbery, but the excited doctor is soon ejected. Falstaff hands a letter to each of his two servants for delivery to Mistress Alice Ford and to Mistress Margaret Page, both of whom are wealthy married women. In these two identical letters, Falstaff professes his love for each of them, although it is really their husbands’ money that he covets. His servants Bardolfo and Pistola refuse, claiming that 'honour' prevents them from obeying him. Falstaff sends the letters by a page instead. Falstaff then rebuffs his "honourable" servants by saying that honour is intangible and cannot be either eaten or felt like a hair being pulled or being saved from death by honour (L'onore! Ladri...! / “Honour! You rogues...!”) and chases them out of his sight.

Ford's garden

Alice and Meg have received Falstaff's identical letters. They are furious about the letters and, in conjunction with Mistress Quickly and Nannetta Ford, resolve to punish the knight. Meanwhile, Ford has been warned of the letters by Bardolfo and Pistola, and all three are thirsty for revenge. Alice walks out of the scene, since Ford is very jealous and she does not want him to find out. Finding a moment alone with Nannetta, Fenton (an employee of Ford) woos the boss' daughter, who responds favorably. The women return home and Mistress Quickly is asked to invite Falstaff to a rendez-vous with Alice. The men also arrive at the scene, and Bardolfo and Pistola are persuaded to introduce Ford to Falstaff, but under an assumed name. At the end all swear revenge on Lord Falstaff.

Act 2

Engraving by Ettore Tito of act 2, scene 2, from the original production. Ford and the servants creeps towards Fenton and Nannetta, who they think are Falstaff and Alice, behind the screen, while the women stifle Falstaff in the laundry basket.

A room at the Garter Inn

Bardolfo and Pistola (now in the pay of Ford), pretending to beg for forgiveness for past transgressions, announce to their master the arrival of Mistress Quickly, who delivers the invitation to go to Alice's house that very day between the hours of two and three. She also delivers an answer by Mistress Page and assures Falstaff that neither is aware of the other's invitation. Falstaff celebrates his potential success ("Va, vecchio John" / "Go, old Jack, go your own way”). Ford is now introduced as Signor Fontana; he offers money to the fat knight to intercede for him with Mistress Ford. Falstaff is puzzled at the request, but "Fontana" explains that if Mistress Ford falls for Falstaff, it will be easier for her to fall for Fontana too. Falstaff agrees with pleasure and reveals that he has already succeeded, because he has a rendez-vous with her at two – the hour when Ford is always absent from home. While Falstaff dresses in his most splendid array, Ford is consumed with jealousy (È sogno o realtà? / "Is it a dream or reality?").

A room in Ford's house

The three women plot their strategy ("Gaie Comari di Windsor" / “Merry wives of Windsor, the time has come!"). Nannetta also learns that her father plans to marry her with Dr. Caius, a man old enough to be her great-grandfather, but all the women declare that that will not happen. Mistress Quickly announces Falstaff's arrival, and Mistress Ford has a large hamper and a screen placed in readiness. Falstaff's attempts to seduce Alice with tales of his past glory ("Quand'ero paggio del Duca di Norfolk" / “When I was page to the Duke of Norfolk I was slender”) are cut short, as Mistress Quickly reports the arrival of Master Ford, who comes with a huge retinue of henchmen to lynch his wife's lover. When the angry Ford and his friends appear with the aim of catching Falstaff red handed; he hides first behind the screen and then the ladies hide the knight in the hamper. In the meantime, Fenton and Nannetta have hidden behind the screen. Upon returning from their search for Falstaff, the men hear the sound of a kiss behind the screen. They think that they will at last grab Falstaff with Alice, but instead find Fenton, who is ordered by Ford to leave. In the meantime Falstaff has been complaining that he is sweating too much inside the hamper. When the men again proceed with the search, the women order the hamper to be thrown into the ditch through the window, where Falstaff is compelled to endure the jeers of the crowd.

Act 3

Falstaff. Costume design by Adolf Hohenstein for the premiere at Teatro alla Scala

Before the inn

In a gloomy mood, Falstaff curses the sorry state of the world. However, some mulled wine soon improves his mood. The fat knight receives another invitation through Mistress Quickly, who blames the servants for what happened to him; the invitation consists of going to Herne's Oak dressed up as the Herne the Hunter, aka the Black Huntsman. Although dubious at first, Falstaff promises to go. He enters the house with Mistress Quickly to be filled in more details for his attire, and the men and women concoct a plan for his punishment. Dr. Caius is promised Nannetta's hand in marriage and is told how he may recognize her in her disguise, but the plot is overheard by Mistress Quickly.

Herne's Oak in Windsor Park on a moonlit midnight

Fenton arrives at the oak tree and sings of his happiness ("Dal labbro il canto estasiato vola" / “From my lips, a song of ecstasy flies”) ending with “Lips that are kissed lose none of their allure.” Nannetta enters to finish the line with “Indeed, they renew it, like the moon.” The women arrive and disguise Fenton as a monk, telling him that they have arranged things so as to spoil Ford and Dr. Caius' plans. Nannetta, playing the role of the Fairy Queen, instructs her helpers ("Sul fil d'un soffio etesio" / “On the breath of a fragrant breeze, fly, nimble spirits”) before all the characters arrive on the scene. Falstaff's attempted love scene with Mistress Ford is interrupted by the announcement that witches are approaching, and the men, disguised as elves and fairies, soundly thrash Falstaff, who recognizes Bardolfo in disguise and the joke is over, acknowledging that he has received his due. Ford announces that a wedding shall ensue (a second couple "coincidentally" asks to be married at that time also) and Dr. Caius finds that instead of Nannetta, he has landed Bardolfo who is dressed in the same fairy queen outfit as Nannetta and Ford unwittingly has married Fenton and Nannetta. Falstaff, pleased to find himself not the only dupe, proclaims in a fugue, which the entire company sings, that all the world is folly and all are figures of fun (Tutto nel mondo è burla... Tutti gabbati! / "Everything in the world a jest...").

Scoring

Verdi scored Falstaff for 3 [[flute]s (third doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, timpani, percussion (triangle, cymbals, bass drum), harp, and strings. In addition, a guitar, natural horn, and bell are heard from offstage.

Recordings

Main article: Falstaff discography

References

Notes

Cited sources

• Budden, Julian, The Operas of Verdi, Volume 3: From Don Carlos to Falstaff. London: Cassell, 1984. ISBN 0-304-30740-8
• Hepokoski, James Arnold, Verdi Falstaff, Cambridge University Press, 1983, ISBN 0-521-28016-8. Online at Books.Google.com.uk Retrieved 3 July 2011
• Kimbell, David (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4
• Melitz, Leo, The Opera Goer's Complete Guide, 1921 version
• Osborne, Charles, The Complete Opera of Verdi, New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1969. ISBN 0-306-80072-1
• Parker, Roger, "Falstaff", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Two. London: MacMillan Publishers, Inc. 1998 ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• Steen, Michael, The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, Icon Books, 2003, ISBN 1-84046-485-2. Online at Books.Google.com.uk
• Toye, Francis, Giuseppe Verdi: His Life and Works, New York: Knopf, 1931

Other sources

• Phillips-Matz, Mary Jane, Verdi: A Biography, London & New York: Oxford University Press, 1993 ISBN 0-19-313204-4
• Walker, Frank, The Man Verdi, New York: Knopf, 1962, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982 ISBN 0-226-87132-0
• Werfel, Franz and Stefan, Paul, Verdi: The Man and His Letters, New York, Vienna House 1973 ISBN 0-8443-0088-8

External links

• Libretto – giuseppeverdi.it
• Detailed information on the key arias – aria-database.com
• Detailed Falstaff discography – operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
• San Diego OperaTalk! with Nick Reveles: Verdi's Falstaff – University of California Television (UCTV)