Metropolitan Opera – Verdi’s Falstaff. March 8, 2019.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat DD30, $25).

Story.  See previous entry.

Conductor – Richard Farnes.  Dr. Gaius – Tony Stevenson, Sir John Falstaff – Ambrogio Maestri, Bardolfo – Keith Jameson, Pistola – Richard Berstein, Meg Page – Jennifer Johnson Cano, Alice Ford – Helena Dix, Mistress Quickly – Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Nanneta – Golda Schultz, Fenton – Francesco Demuro, Ford – Juan Jesus Rodriguez.

I enjoy Verdi’s Otello and MacBeth, operas based on Shakespeare’s plays of the same title.  Falstaff, somehow, never appealed to me that much.  Maybe it’s because comedies don’t appeal to me that much, or Verdi’s last opera sounds so different from his earlier works.

Either the Playbill is playing things up, or I am just too dense for this level of sophistication: I must say for me Falstaff can be seen every five or ten years, not more frequently than that.  A couple of quotes from the Playbill that were a bit over the top: “more truly Shakespearean than its Shakespearean source,” and “the complex counter-rhythms of the ensemble that ends Act I are both funny and the perfect depiction of people at cross-purposes.”  Perhaps true to an assiduous student of the opera, but not to a casual listener (this is my third encounter.)

A recent WQXR broadcast had during the intermission an interview with several of the leading ladies in this season’s production.  Ailyn Perez as Alice Ford (a-li-ce in Italian) was billed as “first among equals” (my phrase).  Tonight’s Alice was sung by Helena Dix, from Melbourne, Australia, in her Met debut.  She did okay.  The one new voice was that of Golda Schultz, and could she sing.  Her voice was silky smooth, and she could hold her breath.

I saw this production when it was first introduced at the Met in 2013 (a bit over 5 years ago.)  I remember many of the sets, but don’t remember the one where everybody wore horns, which one would think was among the most memorable. Similarly the 10-voice fugue escaped my memory, so I made sure I caught it today.  In that cast were some familiar names: Christian van Horn as Pistola, Angela Meade as Alice, and Stephanie Blythe as Quickly.  Cano and Jameson sang the same roles.  The conductor was Levine, and he again is the one who shall not be mentioned.

Another quibble was the kitchen scene.  It was lit so brightly that I had trouble reading the LED panel.  Perhaps not necessary as the action spoke for itself, but being able to read the punchlines might have helped.

Curtain Call.  From left: Dr. Gaius, Bardolfo or Pistola, Nanetta, Ford, Alice, Falstaff, Fenton, Quickly, Meg Page, Bardolfo or Pistola.  We didn't wait around for the conductor to get on stage.

The New York Times review is quite positive.  The reviewer mentions the production has a subtext of feminist ascendancy.  One can argue if that's the case, but if it is, isn't it already in the original play, or at least when this production first ran in 2013?

There were quite a few empty seats, and we moved much closer to the center aisle at the beginning of the performance (say seat DD12).  I bought these rush tickets using my cell phone while inside a coffee shop; and I didn’t get started until 12 noon.  Cheap seats evidently meant it was okay to abandon basic audience décor as the lady behind us thought it was okay to turn on her cell phone and unwrap candy during the performance.

We took the train up, so it was after midnight when we got home.