United States Verdi, Falstaff: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York / Daniele Rustioni (conductor). Broadcast (directed for the screen by Habib Azar) from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, to Cineworld Basildon, Essex, 1.4.2023. (JPr)
In 2013, seeing Richard Jones’s 2009 staging of Falstaff at Glyndebourne, and then the opportunity to see Canadian Robert Carsen’s 2012 production (I saw when it was first put on at Covent Garden) in an earlier Met Live in HD broadcast made me appreciate Verdi’s last opera more than I had in the past because of three performances in such a short time. Both those productions brought what we saw forward to the 1950s and we were definitely not in the time of Shakespeare’s Henry IV. In 1975 (yes, the 1970s!) Falstaff was one of the first operas I saw at Covent Garden in its lavishly traditional Franco Zeffirelli staging with the incomparable Geraint Evans in the title role. At the Met, Carsen’s version crossed the Atlantic and replaced their much-loved Zeffirelli one dating from 1964!
There, I have readily admitted Falstaff has never really been a favourite go-to opera of mine and is on a short list – headed by Ariadne auf Naxos – that I am happy to return to – occasionally! – hoping that I might understand what the fuss is all about. Falstaff at Glyndebourne caused something of an epiphany and my appreciation has been intensified by revisiting what Carsen has done with it. Perhaps it is an age thing, and I am mellowing as the years pass by – though I doubt it? We all know that in 2013, 80 is the new 70 but for Verdi to premiere this masterpiece – and yes, I am happy again to admit that is what it is – in 1893 at such a great age is astonishing. Of course, it wasn’t as if Verdi was just reliving past glories in Falstaff, since there is a degree of musical invention, such as, in the ensembles and contrapuntal finale that Verdi never used before. Taking his inspiration from librettist Arrigo Boito’s cheery adaptation of Shakespeare’s comic verse, Verdi responded with often joyful, always intricate – and extremely sophisticated – music which almost perfectly matches the flow of the words when sung. (The personable conductor Daniele Rustioni discussed some of this in a pre-recorded introductory segment during the interval, which I always think would be better to show before the opera starts.)
Many will have seen Carsen’s wonderful comedy of manners in the cinema or at the opera house because his Falstaff was a co-production with a number of other companies. This is an England recovering after World War II when life was never the same again for many of those who had enjoyed a life of privilege earlier in the twentieth century. A more modern nouveau riche age of entrepreneurial men and more liberated women was emerging. Falstaff is an old reprobate lodging in a luxurious country hotel, the ‘Garter Inn’, with his dubious companions, Bardolfo and Pistola. We first encounter him in an oak-panelled room on a large bed in filthy long-johns (he never changes) and surrounded by evidence of several days’ room service he obviously doesn’t have the money to pay for. Falstaff has clearly ‘gone to seed’ but retains the braggadocio of former days and still believes he is god’s gift to women despite his obesity which for him is evidence of his importance and potency.
Ford shows off his ‘new money’ with a ‘Betty Crocker’ kitchen complete with all the ‘mod-cons’ of post-war days and bright yellow and orange fittings. There is some class-consciousness – rampant in England even in 2023 – and much fun is made of the ‘chattering’ garishly-dressed women disrupting diners and pre-empting the decline of the British Empire by invading the men’s retiring room. In full hunting regalia Falstaff (as the master of the hunt?) presents his inamorata, Alice Ford, a fox’s tail as a gift and she cooks him a turkey! Carsen’s staging is at its best in the madcap Richard Jones-inspired search for Falstaff through all the cupboards as Ford and his workers storm through the kitchen hoping to catch him in flagrante delicto with his wife.
Seeing everything in Habib Azar’s close-up camerawork allows the opportunity to notice things that might easily be missed in the opera house, such as in the ‘dining room’ scene (which should actually be a garden setting) when Bardolfo picks up a napkin to give it back to a diner and walks off to rifle through her handbag he has picked up. Also, in that scene there is a particularly interesting idea from Carsen when he has time literally stand still for Ford’s daughter, Nannetta, who is in love with humble waiter, Fenton, and it gives them a few stolen moments together. I missed the greater intimacy this production had when seen at Covent Garden since having been adapted to the Met’s larger stage Paul Steinberg’s sets now looked too big. Indeed, I mused that everyone is scurrying around the huge kitchen at such a stamina-sapping speed that they would have benefited from using e-scooters!
After the interval – and in a stable setting – a horse is seen nibbling some hay and upstages all else we see for several minutes. I’ve always felt Carsen has run out of ideas until the stunning final tableaux when everyone sits down at long dining table for the wedding supper and Falstaff raises a toast. Tables been used as a ‘runway’ for Nannetta to walk down in her bridal gown as ‘Queen of the Fairies’ and for a clearly reluctant Falstaff – both character and performer – to roll along awkwardly and be tormented by cutlery-wielding, cloaked and horned figures (rather drab costumes here from Brigitte Reiffenstuel) all ready to ‘feed’ on the glutton. Though the wrong Shakespeare, ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ as Nannetta and Fenton get Ford’s blessing after Dr Caius, whom he intended for her, is ‘married’ to Bardolfo. Falstaff accepts the life-changing experience he has had – but whether he has truly learnt his lesson Verdi and Shakespeare leave the audience to decide as he still sings about not only being witty in himself, but the cause of that wit in others!
The huge Met auditorium also broaden the performances from what you might hear elsewhere and there was little that was conversational in this Falstaff. We were frequently reminded that Michael Volle is one of this generation’s leading Wagner singers … and there are few laughs in Wagner as we know. He is a consummate artist but, for me, doesn’t seem a natural comic actor. Regardless he relished his (fat suit) paunch which he referred to as ‘mio regno’ (‘my kingdom’). However, when he sang ‘Ebben?’ (‘Well?’) to Mistress Quickly it was sung just as menacingly as Volle’s Scarpia does to Tosca!
Chauncey Packer and Richard Bernstein were the engaging pair of rogues, Bardolfo and Pistola, and Carlo Bosi repeated his fussy Dr Caius I’ve seen both at Covent Garden and from the Met. Christopher Maltman was the uptight Ford, embarrassed and infuriated by his wife’s perceived deceit and Maltman relished his turn disguised as ‘Mr Fontana’, a Texas oilman or cattle baron, or both. Bogdan Volkov and Hera Hyesang Park were ideally matched as the pair of lovers, Fenton and Nannetta, both clearly infatuated with each other and with voices which blended well together. Ailyn Pérez was a delightfully, open-faced, conspiratorial Alice Ford; Marie-Nicole Lemieux was a suitably fruity-toned and blowsy Mistress Quickly, a formidable woman capable of playing Falstaff at his own game and winning! Jennifer Johnson Cano joined in all the fun and games as Meg Page and completing the entire exceptional ensemble was the Met’s chorus in typically redoubtable form.
Daniele Rustioni was, quite rightly, applauded by the musicians of the exceptional Met Orchestra at this last performance of the current run and also acclaimed by the audience who had heard a fleet-footed, seamless, expressive and nuanced account of Verdi’s complex score to which Rustioni gave an underlying rhythmic pulse. Even though not laugh-out-loud funny this Falstaff was totally engaging and entertaining.
Jim Pritchard
Production:
Director – Robert Carsen
Set designer – Paul Steinberg
Costume designer – Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting designers – Robert Carsen, Peter Van Praet
Revival Stage Director – Gina Lapinski
Live in HD Host – Ryan Speedo Green
Cast:
Nannetta – Hera Hyesang Park
Alice Ford – Ailyn Pérez
Mistress Quickly – Marie-Nicole Lemieux
Meg Page – Jennifer Johnson Cano
Fenton – Bogdan Volkov
Falstaff – Michael Volle
Ford – Christopher Maltman
Bardolfo – Chauncey Packer
Pistola – Richard Bernstein
Falstaff was the funniest comic opera I have seen. The singers acted out the story. I sat there thinking Verdi would have been happy with this production and would have joined the audience in the laughs.