Falstaff at the Festtage

By Hugo Shirley, 27 March 2018

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“a lovely Fenton from Franceso Demuro – irresistibly sunny of voice and disposition”

Reviewed at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin on 25 March 2018

Verdi, Falstaff

Staatsoper Berlin

Daniel Barenboim, Conductor

Mario Martone, Director

Margherita Palli, Set Designer

Ursula Patzak, Costume Designer

Michael Volle, Sir John Falstaff

Maria Agresta, Alice Ford

Alfredo Daza, Ford

Francesco Demuro, Fenton

Nadine Sierra, Nannetta

Daniela Barcellona, Mistress Quickly

Katharina Kammerloher, Meg Page

Stephan Rügamer, Bardolfo (Bardolph)

Jan Martiník, Pistola (Pistol)

Jürgen Sacher, Dr Caius

Raffaella Giordano, Choreography

Pasquale Mari, Lighting Designer

Martin Wright, Choirmaster / chorus director

Benjamin Wäntig, Dramaturgy

Staatsopernchor Berlin

Staatskapelle Berlin

Eyes wide shut for Berlin’s new Ballo

Mark Pullinger, 29th March

At the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Rafael R Villalobos addresses the problems he perceives with Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, although the musical performances – led by Anna Netrebko – compensate.

***11

Young stars shine in the Staatsoper Berlin’s Rosenkavalier

Mark Pullinger, 28th March

Patricia Nolz makes an outstanding role debut as Christian Thielemann conducts a thrusting Rosenkavalier to open the Staatsoper Unter den Linden's Festtage.

*****

Love is in the hare: a new Cunning Little Vixen opens in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 28th February

The Staatsoper's new production of Janáček's opera buzzes with life thanks to Sir Simon Rattle's conducting and an excellent cast led by Vera-Lotte Boecker and Magdalena Kožená.

****1

Pintscher’s Das kalte Herz premieres at Staatsoper Unter den Linden

Elena Luporini, 14th January

On a snowy January evening, the premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s new opera Das kalte Herz fails to warm up the Berlin public.

**111

Happy 100th birthday, Wozzeck! Thielemann leads Berlin revival

Elena Luporini, 14th December

The Staatsoper Unter den Linden celebrates the 100th birthday of Alban Berg's masterpiece with a stellar cast in Andrea Breth’s revived production.

***11

Low on laughs: Die schweigsame Frau in Berlin

Elena Luporini, 19th July

Newly General Music Director Christian Thielemann and Jan Philipp Gloger bring Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau to the Staatsoper Berlin for the first time, but la commedia is hardly stupenda.

**111

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Hugo Shirley

Hugo Shirley is a Berlin-based writer and musicologist. He has written widely as a critic in the UK, including for The Spectator, the Financial Times and Daily Telegraph, and has held editorial posts at both Opera and Gramophone. He was editor of 30-Second Opera (Ivy Press, 2015) and has a PhD in musicology from King's College London, where his thesis focused on Strauss and Hofmannsthal’s Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Falstaff at the Festtage: Verdi's masterpiece in a new production at the Berlin Staatsoper