Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Falstaff (1893)
Sir John Falstaff – Michael Volle
Ford – Alfredo Daza
Fenton – Francesco Demuro
Dr Cajus – Jürgen Sacher
Bardolfo – Stephan Rügamer
Pistola – Jan Martiník
Mrs Alice Ford – Barbara Frittoli
Nannetta – Nadine Sierra
Mistress Quickly – Daniela Barcellona
Mrs Meg Page – Katharina Kammerloher
Staatsopernchor, Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim (conductor)
Stage Director: Mario Martone
Rec. live, 2018, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
Sung in Italian with subtitles in Italian, German, French, Korean and Japanese
HD 16:9, PCM Stereo & DTS-MA 5.1; All Regions
C MAJOR Blu-ray 757704 [142 mins]
I saw this production of Falstaff, with a few changes of performers, in Berlin in February 2020. It was the last thing I saw in a theatre before Covid hit, and so has a very special place in my memory, not least because all through lockdown it became a kind of totem for all we had lost. I was in Berlin for work at the time and, as I've mentioned before, while I was there I read about the death of Dr Li Wenliang in Wuhan, at a time when Covid still seemed like someone else’s problem, very far away.
Because that evening in Berlin became such a talisman for me throughout the dark, shut down days of 2020, it’s difficult for me to review this Blu-ray dispassionately, and I declare this at the start in the interest of full disclosure. However, even with that, I don’t think I’m being too biased in saying that it contains a musically superb performance in the frame of a really interesting production, even if it’s one that won’t appeal to everyone.
Director Mario Martone is never completely explicit about where he sets the opera, and the specifics are a little muddled in places, but every piece of evidence points to modern day Berlin. Martone sees Falstaff as one of the too-cool-for-his-own-good generation of the rebels of 1968, now washed up and past it, still trying to evade his responsibilities even though the realities of the modern world have come crashing in. The grungy bar in which Falstaff hangs out is full of tattooed cronies and hipster down-and-outs, forming a jarring contrast to the sharp-dressing, sophisticated world of those he is vainly attempting to dupe, exemplified by Ford’s minimalist house complete with swimming pool.
The production feels very much like Martone’s gift to Berlin: Falstaff’s graffitied pad bears more than a passing resemblance to an East Berlin squat (Ford’s house is presumably in one of the western suburbs), while the final scene takes place not by Herne’s oak but in a sexy Berlin club, perhaps the Berghain on an off night! This is, therefore, a very unique take on Falstaff; even, I suspect, a site-specific one that probably wouldn't work outside Berlin. That’s particularly true of that final scene, which is dark in every sense of the word, giving the opera a serious closing chapter that will alienate many.
Berlin is a city very dear to my heart, however, and so I loved it. It’s also not controversial to say that the musical performances are terrific. Michael Volle, making his debut in the role, is vigorous and energetic, particularly when brandishing his baseball bat at his hangers-on at the end of the first scene. The Falstaff definitely doesn't seem like an old man, but he is on the right side of middle age so as to appear washed up and a bit embarrassing when his amorous activities are thwarted. You sense him tire in the final scene with the fairies, but this was his debut in the role, so we can forgive him that.
Alfredo Daza is terrific as Ford, a suave businessman with a killer voice that's all honeyed lyricism. He's funny in the bribery scene, and really exciting in his rage aria, which becomes one of the musical highlights. Decades after she sang the role of Alice with Bryan Terfel at Covent Garden, Barbara Frittoli shows that she has still got it. The voice is perhaps not as effortless as it was in this part, but it's still very beautiful, and she sings Alice with a touch of aristocratic nobility that's entirely appropriate for this conception of the role. Nadine Sierra is absolutely smashing as Nannetta. She flirts charmingly in her scenes with Fenton, but has the perfect silvery brilliance required for the Fairy Queen of the final scene. As her lover, Francesco Demuro has the perfect voice for Fenton, singing with burnished tone and warm lyricism, providing noticeable colour in the ensembles and sounding ardent and exciting in the sonnet. Daniella Barcellona sends herself up very nicely as Mistress Quickly, and the smaller roles are all very well taken.
The orchestra play the score with quicksilver brilliance, never losing sight of the fact that, every bit as much as for the singers, Falstaff is quintessentially an ensemble opera. Barenboim's conducting is laced with energy and, unusually for him, some palpable humour, though occasionally he chooses excessively slow tempi to underline a dramatic effect. The vocal and instrumental ensembles are impressively well-controlled throughout, and the energy level never flags.
For circumstances unique to the time in which I saw it, this will always be a dear production to me, though I suspect that, for all its virtues, others might look elsewhere for a library choice of Falstaff on film. For ultra-traditionalists, there's Zeffirelli’s Met production with Paul Plishka and Mirella Freni, complete with an absurdly over-populated animal menagerie at Herne’s Oak. More satisfyingly, if you're willing to take some mild abstraction, then Graham Vick’s Covent Garden production, with Terfel and Frittoli, is really terrific, with first rate singing and a beautifully sparky set. If you want an updated version, then Robert Carsen’ production, which replaced Zeffirelli’s at the Met, is enormously satisfying, with a top notch cast and a tremendously fun production that sets the action in a British gentleman’s club in the 1950s.
However, this Berlin production, and Blu-ray, is definitely worth checking out for the quality of the performances, and especially if you know and love Berlin. Because of my personal history with it, it will always have a special place in my heart, not least because it reminds me of the time before Covid, a time that I yearned for through every day of lockdown, and which now feels like an altogether simpler, more innocent time. However, let’s not dwell on such melancholy thoughts: like Falstaff, let’s look at life with optimism and enjoy what we have while we have it.
Simon Thompson
