AS if to prove that too much of a good thing can be wonderful, the LA Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is currently presenting Falstaff, Guiseppe Verdi’s final work, in which the composer capped his titanic career by fusing his trademark brilliant orchestration and refined melodic invention with plenty of bawdy and uproarious Shakespearian humor.
The story is drawn mainly from the Bard’s The Merry Wives of Windsor but with some added material from Henry IV, and focuses on the well-deserved comeuppance of Sir John Falstaff, an overweight, drunken braggart and hopelessly deluded would-be seducer of ladies of taste and wealth.
Falstaff is best known from his role as early father figure and drinking buddy to the young Prince Hal in Henry V, raising hell in the ‘soups and stews’ of Southwark. By the time of the Merry Wives, Hal has gone on to become king and Falstaff has degenerated into a buffoonish figure who would be merely a figure of fun were it not for his reckless gluttony and huge girth, which combine to bring financial ruin – and broken furniture – to the landlords of several Thameside taverns.
The opera opens in such a hostelry, with Falstaff (played with booming gusto by Roberto Frontali) recovering from a drinking binge with his minions Pistol and Bardolph. Falstaff’s idea of a hangover cure is to imbibe a sizable hair of the dog. His bigger problem is an unpaid bill from his landlord which he cannot cover. His solution is to seduce two of the richest ladies in nearby Windsor while robbing the purses of their husbands. He despatches a page with a pair of love letters to the ladies in question, Alice Ford (Carmen Giannattasio) and Meg Page (Erica Brookhyers) who compare notes and inevitably uncover Falstaff’s plan. Their response is to play along with the pantomime in order to better humiliate him. With that in mind, they invite him, through their go-between Mistress Quickley (the formidable Ronnita Nicole Miller) for an afternoon tryst. Unbeknownst to ladies, Alice’s husband Ford (Marco Caria) also discovers Falstaff’s plot, but fears the worst when he learns of their planned meeting at the family home.
The convoluted plot inevitably works its way to a satisfying conclusion, but not before misunderstandings, high jinks, mistaken identity and comic violence all ensue, before the corpulent knight gets his comeuppance, and with it, a degree of wisdom.
All the principals did trencherman work in Saturday night’s premiere, and mention must also be made of the supporting cast, including last-minute replacement Joel Sorensen as the lecherous Dr. Caius, Ekaterina Sadovnikova and Juan Francisco Gatell as the young lovers Nanetta and Fenton who, by subterfuge and daring finally get the marriage they desperately yearn for, and Valentin Anikin and Rodell Rosel as the shady pair of Pistol and Bardolph.
One of the perennial pleasures of the LA Opera – apart from quality of the performers and orchestra – led so ably by James Conlon – is the excellence of all the other technical staff. Falstaff is no exception, with lush and witty costuming, effective sets, and atmospheric and evocative lighting. Especially notable in Saturday’s show was the contrast in tone between the light and frothy first half, and the somber, gloomy and reflective second, which begins with a sodden and chastened Falstaff climbing slowly from the river Thames, framed only by moonlight and the velvety London night.
When all is said and done, the loose ends tied up and Falstaff’s humiliation is complete, the play ends with a satisfying fugue as Falstaff finds reason to laugh at his tormenters’ own failings, and turns to the audience with a smile and reminds them that ‘he who laughs the best is he who laughs last’. It’s a very fitting and satisfying end to a work of great humanity and humor.
Running time is 2 hours, 40 minutes with intermission.
For tickets and showtimes, please visit laopera.org.
To listen the Falstaff podcast with Music Director James Conlon, visit: www.laopera.org/falstaffpodcast
– Neil Fletcher
