10/25/14 – Falstaff – 1pm

San Francisco Opera

OPERA: Falstaff (in Italian)
MUSIC BY GIUSEPPE VERDI
Libretto by Arrigo Boito

PRODUCTION NEW TO SAN FRANCISCO OPERA

Bryn Terfel, the “definitive” Falstaff of our day (Chicago Tribune), returns to San Francisco Opera in one of his truly legendary roles. Based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Verdi’s last opera is a wise, wistful comedy about a self-deluded old man who vainly attempts to seduce two women at once. “Terfel is so irascible, nimble on his feet and altogether charming that he almost makes you forget how splendidly he sings the music” (The New York Times). Music Director Nicola Luisotti leads a cast that also features Ainhoa Arteta, the “vocally alluring” Roxane of San Francisco Opera’s Cyrano de Bergerac (2010) (San Francisco Chronicle); the “impressive” Meredith Arwady (The New York Times); Fabio Capitanucci, renowned for his “robust, warm voice and impressive Italianate lyricism” (The New York Times); the “wonderfully lyrical” Francesco Demuro (MusicalCriticism.com); and Heidi Stober, who brought “lustrous tone, technical precision and saucy humor” to her roles in San Francisco Opera’s Xerxes (2011) and The Magic Flute (2012) (San Francisco Chronicle).

Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Approximate running time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including one intermission

CAST
FALSTAFF BRYN TERFEL
ALICE FORD AINHOA ARTETA
NANNETTA HEIDI STOBER
DAME QUICKLY MEREDITH ARWADY
FENTON FRANCESCO DEMURO
FORD FABIO CAPITANUCCI *
MEG PAGE RENÉE RAPIER
BARDOLFO GREG FEDDERLY
DR. CAIUS JOEL SORENSEN
PISTOLA ANDREA SILVESTRELLI

PRODUCTION CREDITS

CONDUCTOR NICOLA LUISOTTI
DIRECTOR OLIVIER TAMBOSI
PRODUCTION DESIGNER FRANK PHILIPP SCHLÖSSMANN
LIGHTING DESIGNER CHRISTINE BINDER
CHORUS DIRECTOR IAN ROBERTSON
FIGHT DIRECTOR DAVE MAIER

* SAN FRANCISCO OPERA DEBUT

Production photos: Cory Weaver.