Verdi: Falstaff

Program Title: Flat Baroque: High Brow Radio by Low Brow Folks
Description: In this episode, we present Giuseppe Verdi’s 3 act comic opera entitled Falstaff featuring Arrigo Boito’s Italian libretto adapted from Shakepeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and several scenes of Henry IV parts 1 and 2, an opera that first premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1893.

Set in Windsor, England between 1399 to 1413 common era during Henry IV’s reign, this opera casts a number of roles including the title character Sir John Falstaff a knight written for a bass-baritone vocalist. Other characters include Ford, a wealthy man, his wife Alice, their daughter Nannetta. Fenton, one of Nanetta’s suiters, one Dr. Caius, Meg Page, Mistress Quickly, two of Falstaff’s henchmen named Bardolfo and Pistola, and two silent characters including the host of the Garter Inn, and Robin, Falstaff’s page, in addition to a chorus of townspeople, Ford’s servants and masqueraders dressed as fairies.

The performance of Verdi’s Falstaff presented here is that performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker accompanied by Rundfunkchor Berlin and conducted by Claudio Abbado in 2001 featuring the voice talents of Bryn Terfel, Thomas Hampson, Danil Shtoda, Adrianne Pieczonka, Dorothea Roschmann, Larissa Diadkova and more.

There are three acts to this opera, the first two take place in part 1 and the last in part 2. Acts do not, unfortunately line up precisely with broadcast hours.

Host(s): Dinah Jansen
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Listen (h:mm:ss) 1:12:15	falstaff_pt._1.mp3	Download (8)
	falstaff_pt._1.mp3	173,403k 320kbps Stereo
Listen (h:mm:ss) 0:44:07	falstaff_pt._2.mp3	Download (11)
	falstaff_pt._2.mp3	105,883k 320kbps Stereo
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