 | Good theater piece
rating: 4
Artful sets and costumes, excellent casting and acting = a balmy evening's theatrical event. Plus, the singers are quite well in tune, which cannot be assumed in Verdi productions. The music? Well, I can't say it's much to the point. Now if the same libretto had been set by Rossini... However, the last act, the ghostly stuff, does finally reach the level of compositional subtlety and complexity to be emotionally effective. Five stars for that act, three stars for the first and longest parts, averaging about four stars.
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Interminable recitative
rating: 3
I am grateful for the reviews for operas on these pages. They are very helpful-especially when one is trying to decide whether to buy this opera, or that opera-and budget constraints require one to make a hard choice.
I have wound up with about $140 worth of operas that I wish I had not purchased. I am sorry to say that this is one of them. I understood that it was a kind of Swan Song for Verdi- who always wanted to do a light opera after all those years of opera seria. What I found was a very exhausting, endless recitative (" A style of vocal music intermediate between speaking and singing".) I am especially fond of reviews by those fairly new to opera -as many Are discovering them now -with their new improved home theatre sound systems and big screens, crystal clear images, and subtitles!
Producers should not lose sight of this phenomena. Opera is enjoying a considerable resurgence of interest in these peculiar things called opera.
Some serious attention needs to be paid - especially in staging opera buffa...actors thinking they are "madly amusing and cute" only serves to completely draw and quarter the very comedy they are required to limn. Comedy is not easy to pull off at all. It is important that the players take themselves dead seriously...it is the audience and the audience alone that gets to be amused.
I realize that I am leveling critical remarks at a well loved master composer in this inimitable Verdi. Yet honestly, I kept watching the darn thing thinking..."well, we are going to have some beautiful arias soon, aren't we?"...and they Never happened!!.... groan.
I do compliment the musicians, and the performers, the costume seamstresses, and set builders. Tremendously fine work there. this is a piece to buy and study for that reason alone, for any who might be interested in a well staged production.
But opera, as it has been argued for centuries, is About The Music! It really is about the music! Sadly, you will not find that here. I will have to try another production and see if there is any improvement made over this one. I owe it to anyone who has to limit his purchase to one or two operas "this month" that they may happily skip this one if you love music, and admire the beauty of the human voice.
There is, however, one great young pair that turns in a good performance in this Falstaff, and that would be Francisco Araiza who plays a fervent suitor/lover with Janet Perry, who plays the daughter of the principle Lady of the house. If I have piqued your interest at all regarding good music and glorious singing, I can enthustiastically recommend this same Francisco Araiza who plays "The Prince" in the Cinderella story by Rossini, called "La Cenerentola" staged by a most imaginative Jean-Perre Ponelle ( what a wonderful staging it is! ). There you will hear some fabulous musical score...absolutely breath-taking. It is one that I watch again and again. Not so much that one gets tired of it, but just enough...it does call to you to come and watch/ nay listen!-to a certain scene again. Of course, we are talking about Rossini, aren't we? In my view only Donizetti and Bellini compare favourably when it comes to astounding melody, duet, trio, quartet, quintet syncopation, and Rococco choral architecture, which builds and builds, til you think you can't stand anymore building- only to smile in awe and wonder as the music erupts and explodes, musically speaking, like the grand finale fireworks display at the end of a bombastic Fourth of July extravaganza....oh where are the Rossinis today?
sigh...but again, I digress.
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Falstaff Opera
rating: 5
This DVD of a live performance of Falstaff is a good learning experience for a theater performance.
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SENSATIONAL!
rating: 5
What a delightful experience, this video or DVD! The cast is A-One! The names GiuseppeTaddei and Raina Kabaivanska conjure up dramatic roles such as Scarpia and Tosca along with Christa Ludwig, ever dramatic as well. Yet, here they all are showing fantastic abilities with grand comedy! A highlight for this listener is the patter-type quartet of Alice Ford, Meg, Quickly, and the lovely Nanetta, daughter of the Fords. Taddei is beyond superb! The flirtatious scene between Mistress Alice and Sir John Falstaff is so cleverly done, it is almost "naughty ". Kataivanska and Taddei are marvelous together. The scene of the cloying Dame Quickly (Christa Ludwig), as she lures Falstaff to his "tryst" with Alice and/or Meg, is one of the most hilarious scenes in all comic opera! Rolando Panero, is wonderful, in frustrated anguish imagining his lovely wife planning a tryst with this buffoon, Falstaff! As for the buffoon, few, if any basso, struts and minces quite like Taddei! Shakespeare would have thoroughly appreciated the masterful music setting Verdi made of his "Merry Wives of Windsor," and parts of "Henry IV." Verdi, in turn, would have fallen in love with Maestro von Karagan and this brilliant cast of super artists! Surely there has been no more SENSATIONAL performance than this one! Opera devotee or not, if you like Shakespeare, surely you will enjoy this!
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An excellent DVD at a bargain price
rating: 5
This is one of the best performances of Falstaff that I have seen. The singing, acting, and conducting are all first rate, and the the convential staging is very effective. And all that comes at a price much lower than other DVDs.
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