Shakespeare has been a rich source of inspiration for opera composers and Falstaff is one of his most enduring comic creations. Verdi’s “Falstaff” is the most popular depiction of the ...

Los Angeles finally has its first new “Falstaff” in decades. We’re not alone. Verdi’s last opera, for some of us the finest comic opera and finest Shakespearean opera of all, a marvel of transcendent ...

Reginald Smith, Jr. as the immortal Falstaff. Credit: Photo by Lynn Lane When Baritone Reginald Smith, Jr. sings the title role in Falstaff, the last opera ever composed by Giuseppe Verdi, and only ...

A sound rule of operatic thumb: A director may take all sorts of liberties with the time and place of a time-honored opera, provided he knows what he’s doing and can get away with it. Director Stephen ...

There are opera productions that are faithful to the spirit of the work, yet tell us nothing about it that we didn’t already know. Then there are those that rank the directorial quest for “originality ...

After the darkness and death permeating Verdi’s “Il Trovatore,” which Seattle Opera presented a few weeks ago, there could hardly be a stronger or more salubrious contrast than the brilliance and ...

Sir John Falstaff, the enormous, immense Falstaff, as he enthusiastically calls himself, is in dire straits. His belly, his greatest pride, synonymous with his stateliness, requires constant ...

Il Falstaff della Fenice è una commedia in musica che invita a prendersi poco sul serio. Ma anche un esempio di come la cultura può rispondere, con ironia e profondità, a un presente complicato sotto ...