NOSPR / Lawrence Foster / Verdi - Falstaff

Subscription S2

Friday

23.06.202319:30

Concert Hall

Seats

Conductor

Lawrence Foster

Performers

NOSPR

The Katowice City Singers' Ensemble Camerata Silesia

Polish Radio Choir - Lusławice

Sir John Falstaff (baritone)

Jean-Sébastien Bou – Ford (baritone)

Mrs Alice Ford (soprano)

Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk – Nanetta (soprano)

Karol Kozłowski – Fenton (tenor)

Mrs Quickly (mezzosopran)

Mirouslava Yordanova – Mrs. Meg Page (mezzosopran)

Johannes Strauss – Dr Caius (tenor)

Pistola (bass)

Piotr Kalina – Bardolfo (tenor)

Anna Szostak – Camerata Silesia preparation

Andrzej Zawisza – Polish Radio Choir preparation

Program

Giuseppe Verdi

‘Falstaff’ (stage version)

The last opera by Giuseppe Verdi is a sumptuous musical comedy. The libretto, based on motifs from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, presents the story of a gruff old sybaritic nobleman embroiled in intricate plots of love and jealousy. Sir John Falstaff gets as much out of life as he can. Verdi brought all his theatrical experience to this tale, adhering to the tradition of Italian opera buffa. Every now and then the music brings to mind the sparkling humour of operas by Mozart and Rossini. Opera connoisseurs will also find here Verdi’s dialogue with his own oeuvre. The composer of Falstaff identified with the titular hero. In the finale of his phenomenal score, we hear the message that the whole world is but a joke. Will we believe the old Italian master?

[Adam Suprynowicz, translated by John Comber]

Duration of the concert: approx. 110 minutes