Falstaff in Turin: elegant, but with little mass

By Renato Verga, 17 November 2017

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“Álvarez emphasized Falstaff's nobility of character rather than highlighting the farcical aspects”

Reviewed at Teatro Regio di Torino, Turin on 15 November 2017

Verdi, Falstaff

Teatro Regio di Torino

Donato Renzetti, Conductor

Daniele Abbado, Director

Graziano Gregori, Set Designer

Carla Teti, Costume Designer

Carlos Álvarez, Sir John Falstaff

Tommi Hakala, Ford

Erika Grimaldi, Alice Ford

Valentina Farcaş, Nannetta

Francesco Marsiglia, Fenton

Sonia Prina, Mistress Quickly

Monica Bacelli, Meg Page

Patrizio Saudelli, Bardolfo (Bardolph)

Deyan Vatchkov, Pistola (Pistol)

Andrea Giovannini, Dr Caius

Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino

Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino

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The Teatro Regio di Torino presents Andrea de Rosa's new production of Verdi’s operal, with a solid cast under the baton of Riccardo Muti.

***11

The Pearl Fishers: Turin opens its operatic season

Renato Verga, 3rd October

The staging sways between tackiness and naivety, like those old Christmas cards with sequins glued to the edges of the figures.

**111

The first modern staged performance of Paër’s Agnese in Turin

Laura Servidei, 17th March

The Teatro Regio presents a Classical rarity with echoes of Mozart and anticipations of Rossini. Diego Fasolis conducts with imagination and spunk.

***11

In Turin's Trovatore, the women carry the day

Renato Verga, 10th October

Female voices dominate in the vocal cast: Rachel Willis-Sørensen debuts as Leonora and charms the audience; Anna Maria Chiuri has the temperament and rich vocality requested by the role of the gypsy.

***11

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Diego Fasolis gives an enlightened, 18th-century account of the Mozart/da Ponte masterpiece, with great precision and elegance.

****1

On the female condition: two 20th-century operas in Turin

Renato Verga, 16th May

Two different variations of the female conditions: one of 1909 and now utterly out-of-date, the second of 1959 much more ut-to-date.

****1

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Renato Verga

Renato graduated from Turin University in Physics. He has always had a particular passion for music and the stage. A former member of a choir, he was raised in the musical milieu influenced by the eminent Italian musicologist Massimo Mila. In 2014, Renato started his own blog, which now has 1000 posts.