Muti conducts a rewarding Falstaff in Chicago

By Edward Sava-Segal, 29 April 2016

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Reviewed at Chicago Symphony Center, Chicago on 26 April 2016

Verdi, Falstaff

Riccardo Muti, Conductor

Ambrogio Maestri, Sir John Falstaff

Eleonora Buratto, Alice Ford

Luca Salsi, Ford

Rosa Feola, Nannetta

Daniela Barcellona, Mistress Quickly

Saimir Pirgu, Fenton

Laura Polverelli, Meg Page

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani, Tenor

Luca Dall'Amico, Baritone

Saverio Fiore, Tenor

Chicago Symphony Chorus

Duain Wolfe, Choirmaster / chorus director

The triumph of virtue: Rossini’s Cenerentola in Brisbane

Sandra Bowdler, 29th April

Margarita Gritskova leads a fine ensemble performance of Rossini’s most under-appreciated opera by Opera Queensland.

****1

Grigolo shines in a mixed new Roméo et Juliette at the Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 28th April

With its 1940s setting, Luca Del Fusco’s direction alienates in a new production of Gounod's Shakespeare-inspired opera.

***11

Romeo Castellucci directs a new Pelléas et Mélisande at La Scala

Laura Servidei, 26th April

The Italian director makes his long-awaited Italian operatic debut at the Teatro alla Scala in a production which perfectly mirrors Debussy’s most enigmatic creation.

****1

Chiaroscuro extinguished: a self-indulgent Poppea in Copenhagen

Mengguang Huang, 26th April

Christoph Marthaler’s staging of Monteverdi’s Poppea for the Royal Danish Opera is a study in boredom.

**111

Wretches like us: the LPO’s concert Wozzeck cuts to the quick

Peter Quantrill, 25th April

Beautifully prepared singing and playing brings out the tender side to Berg's modernist classic as part of the Southbank Centre’s Multitudes festival.

****1

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

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Edward Sava-Segal

Edward has been living in New York for the last 25 years, one of the reasons being the extraordinarily rich cultural life in this city. He has studied piano and classical music in his early years. He switched later on to computer science and data architecture but he kept an unwavering interest in following the classical music phenomenon here in New York and in his travels. Edward occasionally reviews fine arts events for the most prestigious literary magazine in Romania, his home country.

Riccardo Muti conducts a rewarding Falstaff in Chicago