A Night at the Opera/ Falstaff
Last night I went to see Guisepe Verdi’s final opera Falstaff at the Nice Opera House.
He composed it aged 80 with the librettist Arrigo Borti.
It’s based upon The Merry Wives of Windsor and the story can be simplified to the efforts of the debauched soldier Sir John Falstaff to seduce two middle class Windsor (‘the merry wives’) – Alice Ford and Meg.
Before the curtain rose the Director of the Opera House apologised that the two leading baritones – playing Falstaff and Ford – were both indisposed and that replacements had been summoned.
This together with the auditorium being 2/3rds full – possibly because it was a day of strikes – lowered my expectations, which certainly were not improved by the set.
This appeared to be the hang-out of low-life on sink council estate.
There was graffiti everywhere and no resemblance to the taverns that the 15th century Falstaff frequented.
His costume in a grungy black made him look more like a biker slob than a wenching, hard drinking, soldier.
Opera might now be visually more exciting, with more emphasis on the sets, but for me this is not a reason to take such liberties with the text.
For the next scene you were transported by a video from the sink estate, down via freeways, to a wealthy estate of houses lawns and swimming pools to meet Alice and Meg who are not fooled by Falstaff’s attempt at seduction by two identical letters.
They decide to play along in order to trap Falstaff.
This set was more Floridian but my neighbour suggested overtones of Nice. Whatever it was, it was not Windsor. How do you reconcile this with the Verdi storyline that Falstaff – hiding in a laundry basket – is thrown into the Thames?
The opera is 2 hours and 40 minutes long with an interval of 30 minutes.
I went to the bar where they had run out of all food except chocolate bars.
The opera ended at 11-00 pm and as I left I heard one of the audience complain about the sets.
Actually the only time the opera came to life was during the final scene in Windsor forest, where Nannetta – the daughter of Alice and Ford – succeeds in a subterfuge in marrying her true love Fenton and not the more aged Dr Caius whom the parents want as her husband.
It’s rather a magical sylvan setting and for the first time I felt the fusion of Verdi melody and set worked.
Falstaff is not a great opera and it was only revived late in the 19th century by Arturo Toscanini.
Although the substitute for Falstaff was good, the opera will never be a feature of the calendar like Aida or Rigoletto but it deserves a better treatment than this.
I am no opera buff but working in the travel sector all my life I do know about expectation , amenities and the overall experience. Judging by last night, opera fall short in all 3. The experience is too expensive and expectation a let down if two leading singers drop out at short notice. Given its 8-11 pm better food should be offered and the interval time reduced. The opera buff may be prepared to pay these prices but assuredly would be offended by the tinkering with location and costume.
