Watch online on play.operadeparis.frOpéra national de ParisRecorded at Opéra national de Paris: Opéra Bastille, Paris, France
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On demand until Monday 31 August 2026 23:59Programme
| Verdi, Giuseppe (1813-1901) | Falstaff | Libretto by Arrigo Boito |
Performers
| Opéra national de Paris | ||
| Daniel Oren | Conductor | |
| Dominique Pitoiset | Director | |
| Alexandre Beliaev | Set Designer | |
| Elena Rivkina | Costume Designer | |
| Philippe Albaric | Lighting Designer | |
| Orchestre de l'Opéra national de Paris | ||
| Chœurs de l'Opéra national de Paris | ||
| Patrick Marie Aubert | Choirmaster / chorus director | |
| Ambrogio Maestri | Baritone | Sir John Falstaff |
| Svetla Vassileva | Soprano | Alice Ford |
| Artur Ruciński | Baritone | Ford |
| Paolo Fanale | Tenor | Fenton |
| Elena Tsallagova | Soprano | Nannetta |
| Marie-Nicole Lemieux | Contralto | Mistress Quickly |
| Gaëlle Arquez | Mezzo-soprano | Meg Page |
| Bruno Lazzaretti | Tenor | Bardolfo (Bardolph) |
| Mario Luperi | Bass | Pistola (Pistol) |
| Raúl Giménez | Tenor | Dr Caius |
There is no work to compare with Falstaff. In his last opera, Giuseppe Verdi, then aged eighty-four, delivered, from behind the mask of his buffoon-like rascal of a hero, the testimony of a life approaching its end and whose moral, like that of the opera, would be: life is but a joke.
This indefinable comedy, tinged with pessimism, defies all the conventions of 19th century Italian opera and testifies to Verdi’s passion for the theatre.
Dominique Pitoiset’s witty, humorous production brings these eccentric characters to life and their sparkling interplay maintains a perfect balance between fantasy and reality, the very essence of the work.
