Washington National Opera Presents Giuseppe Verdi's FALSTAFF 10/10-30

Washington National Opera (WNO), under the leadership of General Director Plácido Domingo, presents Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff in seven performances, October 10 to 30 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. This effervescent re-telling of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV pokes fun at one of Shakespeare's most distinctive and beloved characters, the pompous drunkard Falstaff. The cast features a host of WNO debuts, including British baritone Alan Opie in the title role, American soprano Tamara Wilson, baritone Timothy Mix and German conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing. Falstaff is performed in Italian with English supertitles. See below for production information, performance dates and ticketing information.

Hailed by BBC Music as "one of the few truly great Verdi baritones of our generation," British baritone Alan Opie makes his WNO debut in the title-role of Falstaff. He has received international critical acclaim for his nuanced interpretations of Falstaff, Rigoletto and Nabucco. His performance as Falstaff with the English National Opera earned him a nomination for the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. (Note: Alan Opie replaces Gordon Hawkins in the role of Falstaff.)

Making her WNO debut in the role of Mrs. Alice Ford is American soprano Tamara Wilson, hailed by the Houston Chronicle as "a voice of steely beauty and great power...a bona fide Verdi soprano." American mezzo-sopranos Elizabeth Bishop and Nancy Maultsby return to play Mrs. Meg Page and Mistress Quickly, respectively. A host of rising young talents are also featured in this production, including the 2008 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant recipient, baritone Timothy Mix, who sings Ford in his WNO debut. Former WNO Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists Yingxi Zhang and JiYoung Lee play Verdi's young lovers, Fenton and Nannetta.

Praised by Opera Today for his "superlative conducting," German conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing leads the WNO Orchestra and Chorus in his company debut, paired with returning director Christian Räth. The production team includes sets by Hayden Griffin, costumes by Michael Stennett and lighting by Mark McCullough.

About Falstaff

With a story by one of Western culture's finest playwrights and music by one of Italian opera's finest composers, Falstaff stands apart as Verdi's comedic masterpiece. Known for his rich lyrical tragedies, Verdi had not attempted a comedy in more than 50 years when, at the age of 79, he began work on Falstaff, his final opera. Having previously set Shakespeare's Otello and Macbeth, Verdi crafted a new musical language for Falstaff, who the composer wrote was an "amusing sort of scoundrel...eternally true, under different masks, in every time, in every place." For this lovable rascal, Verdi chose to adapt his lavish melodies to a more light-hearted, speech-like setting. The result, as French music critic Camille Bellaigue wrote, was "a work of life, health, light, and joy . . . it is the joy of youth."

Falstaff opens with its namesake attempting to avoid financial disaster by gaining the affections, and the money, of two married women. After sending each an identical love letter, Falstaff celebrates with mulled wine. When the women realize the deception, they join together to teach Falstaff a lesson. With the help of make-believe witches, fairies and elves, the ladies dupe the drunken Falstaff, who ends the whimsical tale by cheerfully proclaiming that all the world's a joke.

WNO's production of Falstaff, hailed by Opera Today as "all sparkle, wit, buffoonery, roaring slapstick and belly-laugh-inducing comedy," matches Verdi's musical wit with physical comedy, period Elizabethan-era costumes and meticulously detailed sets. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience dramatic operatic Shakespeare in May and June of 2010, when WNO stages Ambroise Thomas' hauntingly beautiful Hamlet.

Tickets range from $50 to $300, and are available through WNO Audience Services, 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA, or online at www.dc-opera.org.

 

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