Falstaff

Falstaff — Plot

It is to composer and librettist Arrigo Boito and his constant pestering of the octogenarian Verdi that there remained within him one last great comedy fighting to get out that we owe this absolute miracle of an opera. Produced in 1893 as Verdi turned 80 there is much in this masterpiece that can be identified as a modernist neoclassical work. The use of short motifs instead of long arioso melodic lines, the spry and reduced orchestral textures and the lack of a single 'stand and deliver' dramatic declamatory aria all serve to make this more of a 20th century work than an example of 19th century late-Romanticism.

• Release date
• January 1, 1993
• Runtime
• 126 min
• Genres
• Music
• Director
• Franco Zeffirelli

Falstaff — Cast

Mirella Freni Alice Ford Barbara Bonney Nannetta Paul Plishka Sir John Falstaff

B

Bruno Pola Ford Marilyn Horne Mistress Quickly Frank Lopardo Fenton

P

Piero De Palma Dr. Cajus Anthony Laciura Bardolfo