Introducing… Falstaff
Read more about Verdi's madcap comedy
In this short video, senior prop maker Mel Snelling shows us how the props for this production were created, and shares the inspirations behind them.
A brief introduction:
Larger-than-life Falstaff hatches a scheme to woo Alice and Meg, in order to get his hands on their husbands’ fortunes. When they uncover his plot, Alice and Meg join forces to teach him a lesson.
Adapted from Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (with passages from Henry IV Part One), this is a joyous, wise and endlessly inventive opera that is full of laughs. The music bursts with energy, growing ever more elaborate as the farcical events on stage unfold. The score is full of extraordinary, intricate group numbers, the perfect showcase for its ensemble cast.
Why not to miss it:
Director Richard Jones takes Verdi’s Elizabethan comedy, and turns it into a hilarious post-war romp – think Shakespeare-meets-Ealing-comedy. The mock Tudor designs playfully nod to the Merrie England of the Bard, with Falstaff set loose in the late 1940s Home Counties, amongst Brownies, Eton rowers and a lovesick GI.
Loved by audiences and critics alike, the Financial Times said ‘There is no more life-enhancing night at the opera than a Falstaff as good as this’ in their five star review of the production.
A great moment to look out for:
In ‘L’onore! Ladri!’ from Act I, Falstaff explains his contempt for the concept of ‘honour’ and men’s claims to possess it. It captures his world-weariness and bitterness but also, his capacity to utter uncomfortable truths.
Cast and creative team:
Sian Edwards makes a very welcome return to Glyndebourne to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Renato Girolami, last seen at Glyndebourne as Dr Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore (Festival 2023), plays Falstaff, with Anna Princeva making her Glyndebourne debut as Alice Ford. Rodion Pogossov will play Ford, fresh from his appearance as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte in Festival 2024.
Playing Nannetta is Glyndebourne favourite Mariam Battistelli, who has delighted audiences in our autumn productions of L’elisir d’amore (2023), La bohème (2022) and Don Pasquale (2021). Here she is performing Nannetta’s aria ‘Sul fil d’un soffio etesio’ in the Glyndebourne Organ Room.
To find out more about production support for Festival 2025 click here
or contact our Director of Development, Helen McCarthy for an informal chat:
call 01273 013308 or email helen.mccarthy@glyndebourne.com