Salzburg Festival: Falstaff

Falstaff is Giuseppe Verdi’s third opera based on a Shakespeare play and the last opera he composed. Designed as a comedy of errors, it illustrates the abysses of human inadequacies. 

Christoph Marthaler, “that wondrous theatre magician” (Tiroler Tageszeitung), stages the comedy as a tongue-in-cheek Orson Welles homage, who himself impersonated and filmed “Falstaff” in 1965, and moves the action from Windsor around 1400 to a chaotic film set of the 1960s: a confusion of identities and genres. “Avantgardiste conductor and Falstaff debutant Ingo Metzmacher gave his Falstaff orchestra the ride of its life. It was mighty and infectious.” (operatoday.com) The Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley in the title role is convincing with his “magnificent playing marked by precise laconism” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Russian soprano Elena Stikhinas in the role of Alice “enchants with heavenly heights” (Südwest Presse). “Creative and innovative” Kurier

ACT I
SCENE 1
The Garter Inn is home to Falstaff, a soldier returned from the war. He eats and drinks and barely moves a muscle. When he runs up his tab, he has no money to pay it. A man by the name of Dr Cajus accuses Falstaff and his wingmen Bardolfo and Pistola of various misdemeanours, but gets nowhere with his complaints and ends up leaving. In urgent need of new funds, Falstaff writes identical letters to Alice Ford and Meg Page. By feigning a romantic interest in these two wealthy ladies, he hopes to get at their money. When Bardolfo and Pistola refuse to deliver the letters (which Robinia does instead), Falstaff throws them out and raves about what he sees as their ridiculous notions of morality.

SCENE 2 In the Fords’ garden, Alice Ford and Meg Page meet their friend Mrs Quickly and Alice’s daughter Nannetta. The women pore over the letters sent by Falstaff. Appalled by his shamelessness, they devise a plan to teach him a lesson for his scheming. At the same time, in the immediate vicinity of the garden, Bardolfo and Pistola tell Ford, Alice’s husband, about Falstaff’s request to meet in secret with his wife. When Ford hears about this, he loses his temper and looks for a way to thwart Falstaff’s plan. Also present are Dr Cajus, to whom Ford has promised his daughter’s hand in marriage, and Fenton, who Nannetta is actually in love with (though their relationship is secret). While Ford, Dr Cajus, Bardolfo and Pistola press ahead with their scheme to humiliate Falstaff, Fenton and Nannetta meet unnoticed for a rendezvous.

ACT II
SCENE 1
Showing apparent remorse, Bardolfo and Pistola return to Falstaff and entreat him to take them in again. Mrs Quickly appears shortly after and informs the delighted Falstaff that both the ladies he wrote to were all aflutter after reading his letters. Alice Ford sent word that Falstaff would be welcome to visit her any day between two and three o’clock, as her husband is out of the house at that hour. And Meg Page proposed a clandestine meeting, which she will soon contact him to arrange. Falstaff is thrilled and presses Mrs Quickly for an assurance that neither of the ladies has any knowledge about the letter to the other. No sooner does Mrs Quickly leave the inn than a ‘Signor Fontana’ announces himself. This is Ford in disguise, who intends to lure Falstaff into a trap. He pretends to be madly in love with Alice Ford, but has been rejected by her. ‘Fontana’ offers Falstaff a considerable sum of money should he successfully per- suade Alice Ford to meet him in secret. Fontana’s fanciful theory is that if Falstaff can seduce Alice Ford, then he too might hope one day to do the same. Falstaff proudly reveals that he has already arranged to meet Alice Ford. With Ford’s money in hand, Falstaff retires to choose some suitable attire for his encounter with Alice. When Falstaff leaves the room, Ford flies into a fit of jealousy and vows to punish Falstaff.

SCENE 2
Alice Ford, Meg Page, Mrs Quickly and Nannetta are busy planning their revenge against Falstaff down to the last detail. During their conversation, Alice promises a sad Nannetta that she will try to prevent Nannetta’s planned marriage to Dr Cajus. Once all the preparations are complete, Falstaff draws near. Accom­ panied by a guitarist, he sings a love song to impress Alice. She feigns strong affection for him and mounts an absurd love scene. In accordance with the ladies’ plan, Mrs Quickly suddenly rushes in and announces the arrival of a ‘jealous’ Meg Page. Falstaff hides himself away. Meg Page appears, and everything seems to go as planned by the ladies. However, Mrs Quickly comes in again and announces that Ford has arrived. From now on, things go awry: Ford is hoping to catch Fal- staff in the act. The search party is rounded out by Dr Cajus, Pistola and Bardolfo, who rummage through the rooms for signs of Falstaff. Amid the commotion, Nannetta and Fenton bump into each other. The sound of a loud kiss between them makes Ford suspect he has finally found Falstaff. When he happens upon Fenton and Nannetta instead, Ford and Dr Cajus are speechless. Meanwhile, the ladies have stealthily bundled Falstaff into a laundry basket, which they tip out of the window into a stretch of water below, much to the amusement of all present.

ACT III
SCENE 1 
Falstaff sits alone in the Garter Inn, drinking mulled wine and feeling sorry for himself. Mrs Quickly appears unexpectedly. She tries to convince Falstaff that Alice Ford wishes to continue their thwarted love affair. At first Falstaff turns her down. But thanks to the effects of the mulled wine, vanity wins out over his mis- givings and Falstaff listens to how his next rendezvous should unfold. Mrs Quickly tells him to go to Windsor Park at midnight, disguised as the ‘Black Hunter’, and wait there for Alice. After Falstaff takes his leave, everyone in on the ruse — Ford, Alice, Meg Page, Nannetta, Fenton and Dr Cajus — springs up, amused that Falstaff has fallen for their ploy. In an aside, Ford talks to Dr Cajus about using the planned ambush in Windsor Park as an opportunity to marry the latter to Nannetta. Dr Cajus is advised to hide his face under the hood of a monk’s habit so that Nannetta will not recognize him immediately. Overhearing Ford and Dr Cajus, Mrs Quickly ponders how she might foil Ford’s plan and hits on a solution: Fenton must also come to the park disguised as a monk. 

SCENE 2 
Fenton sings of his love for Nannetta. Alice, Mrs Quickly and Nannetta come along and let Fenton in on their plans. Falstaff then appears and is joined shortly after by Alice Ford. But before they can get any closer, Nannetta arrives on the scene in a fairy costume, accompanied by other mythical creatures. Together, they put a frightened Falstaff through the wringer. But when he recognizes the dis- guised Bardolfo by the smell of alcohol on his breath, it dawns on Falstaff that he has been fooled again. Amid the general confusion, Ford proceeds with the planned surprised wedding of his daughter Nannetta to the robed Dr Cajus. But thanks to the well-prepared Mrs Quickly and Alice, Nannetta is married to Fenton, who has also shown up in a monk’s habit! Ford inadvertently marries Dr Cajus off to Bardolfo instead, to everyone’s great astonishment. After Falstaff boasts that a bit of fun in Windsor is only possible thanks to him, everyone joins in song: ‘Tutto nel mondo è burla, l’uom è nato burlone.’ (Everything in the world is a joke, man is born a jokester.)