Name: Falstaff
Start: 2023-08-12T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-08-30T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Großes Festspielhaus

Organization

Dirigat

Ingo Metzmacher

Regie

Christoph Marthaler

Bühnenbild

Anna Viebrock

Kostümbild

Assistant Director

Joachim Rathke

Assistant Costume Designer

Lasha Iashvili

Lichtgestaltung

Sebastian Alphons

Dramaturgie

Malte Ubenauf

Bariton

Gerald Finley

Sir John Falstaff

Simon Keenlyside

Ford

Tenor

Bogdan Volkov

Fenton

Thomas Ebenstein

Doktor Cajus

Michael Colvin

Bardolph

Bass

Jens Larsen

Pistol

Sopran

Elena Stikhina

Mrs. Alice Ford

Tanja Ariane Baumgartner

Mrs. Quickly

Mezzosopran

Cecilia Molinari

Mrs. Meg Page

Leise

Marc Bodnar

Der Wirt vom Gasthaus "Zum Hosenbande"

Liliana Benini

Robin

Chordirektion

Huw Rhys James

Salzburger Festspiele

Giulia Semenzato

Ännchen

Orchestra

Ensemble der Angelika-Prokopp-Sommerakademie der Wiener Philharmoniker

Others

Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor

Wiener Philharmoniker

Italienisch

Falstaff

Salzburg

Österreich

Großes Festspielhaus

Public

Deutsch

Englisch

Genehmigt

Instrumentalist

Klavier

Violinist

Cellist

Violist

Flutist

Clarinetist

Guitarist

Organist

Percussionist

Oboist

hornist

Bassoonist

Trumpeter

Contrabassist

Harper

Saxophonist

Trombonist

Harpsichordist

Bassist

Accordionist

Tuba Player

Recorder Player

Lutenist

Tenor Violinist

Timpani

Mandoline Player

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Violino Piccolo Player

Viola da Gambist

Musette de cour Player

Viola Pomposa Player

Archlutenist

Vibraphonist

Cornettist

Viola d’amore Player

Theorbist

Komposition

Libretto

Choreographie

Tänzer

Schauspiel

Videogestaltung

Übersetzung

Tongestaltung

Korrepetition

Maske

Leitender Produzent

Haar

Andere

Stage Manager

Chor

Orchester

Poet

GesangslehrerIn

Lehrer

Photographer

Rundfunk

Writer

Writing and performance

Chorus Director

Wig & Makeup Designer

Orchestra Operations

Illustrator

Extra

Singer

Countertenor

Bass-Bariton

Gesprochen

Kinderstimme

Alto

Continuo

Falstaff Verdi

What makes an opera a comic opera? Possibly the fact that everyone involved is constantly disguising themselves in order to vex other people, exact revenge, get hold of the right marriage partner or lay their hands on somebody else’s money? In German this kind of piece is usually called a ‘Verwechslungskomödie’ (comedy of mistaken identity), in English a comedy of errors, which is much more appropriate, especially in the case of Shakespeare, whose play The Merry Wives of Windsor served as the main inspiration for Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera. A ‘comedy of errors and mistakes’ — as a genre description that would perhaps hit the nerve of the Falstaff plot where it hurts most: title figure, victims and adversaries rigging themselves up in disguises in backrooms and front gardens is a sure sign that behind the chaos of mistaken identities yawns an abyss of human inadequacy. All the plot strands go back to this: too fat, too poor, too lovestruck, too jealous, too gullible, too feeble, too timid. To put it another way: in his Falstaff Verdi presents a panopticon of helplessness, an action-packed standstill of body and spirit culminating in one of the most extraordinary finales in the history of opera. While Verdi’s grandiose music sets the vocal cords vibrating wildly at the Garter Inn, the trains of thought of most of those present remain peculiarly sluggish and at most go leadenly round and round in slow motion. The world in which Shakespeare and Verdi unleash their comedies is ponderous and backward. At times one wishes that a voice would interrupt the action from the depths of the wings to prevent further abstruse complications. But you only get that on film sets, when after someone yells ‘Cut!’ the cameras are realigned, scenes rewritten and new takes shot. Opera is inflexible in this respect and relentlessly demands the (more or less convincing) resolution of all intrigues, reconciliations and wishful thinkings.
Christoph Marthaler and Anna Viebrock’s staging of the exuberant Falstaff score marks the continuation of two long-ongoing stories: on the one hand this is their seventh joint project at the Salzburg Festival, and on the other it resumes their artistic exploration of Verdi’s works that began with Luisa Miller at the Frankfurt Opera, followed by productions at the Opéra Garnier in Paris (La traviata) and at Theater Basel (Lo stimolatore cardiaco). It is incidentally no secret that Marthaler and Viebrock once brought back from a trip to Italy a small chocolate bust of Verdi which has survived in excellent condition to this day. Just a few, extremely endearing cracks mark the so-called ravages of time. The bust stands under a small glass dome, impassively awaiting what is to come. But if you take it out and examine it closely, you’ll see that this Verdi is smiling. It’s a very subtle smile, almost as if he had the final lines of his last opera in mind:
.

We’re all duped! Each one
pokes fun at the other.
But he who laughs last,
laughs longest.
That perhaps someone else could end up having the last laugh — namely the individual who samples the composer’s bust despite the evident antiquity of the chocolate — is part of the irony of fate for which Verdi had a passionate and lifelong enthusiasm. So he would probably have approved if everything turned out quite differently once again. Including one’s own errors.

Malte Ubenauf
Translation: Sophie Kidd

English

Falstaff by Verdi, Mi. 16 Aug. 2023, Ab (2023/2023), Unter der Regie von Christoph Marthaler,, Dirigat Ingo Metzmacher, Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Österreich

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