His scene with Robert Frontali's Ford is not just a masterpiece of ruse and ulterior motives, it assumes dazzling layers of complexity. His aria discoursing on the hollowness of honor should inspire you to replay the track for fellow aficionados. Was he born to play Falstaff or what? Cocooned in latex padding and ludicrous codpiece, he is the braggadocio Falstaff, flaunting his rotund baritone voice in every scene he inhabits. Does this production do it justice?īryn Terfel reprises a role that has won him so much acclaim. Its farrago of farce, flirtation, and foibles rarely flags, producing a work of lighthearted entertainment and deep-rooted humanism. Like Orson Wells' film Chimes at Midnight, it is an Falstaffian amalgam of Shakespeare's Henry IV (parts 1 and 2) and The Merry Wives of Windsor but unlike that work, Verdi's comic creation is one of the most memorable comedies of all time. From the eponymous character's apotheosis to his belly in the first scene to the dazzling choral fugue at the conclusion, this production of Verdi's last opera (his second comic one) is a bucket of belly laughs.
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