FALSTAFF

Description

Teatru Manoel in collaboration with Malta National Opera (MNO) presents Giuseppe Verdi’s comical opera “Falstaff”. The Italian-language libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from the play The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, by William Shakespeare. The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan.

Falstaff was the last of Verdi’s 26 operas. It was his second comedy, and his third work based on a Shakespeare play, following Macbeth and Otello. The plot revolves around the thwarted, sometimes farcical, efforts of the fat knight Sir John Falstaff to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands’ wealth.

Conductor Federico Tibone

Director Barbara Diana

Designer Stewart J. Charlesworth

Choreographer Megan Frances

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra

Creative Team

Sir John Falstaff, short on money and long on ego, devises a plan to woo two married women Alice Ford and Meg Page in hopes of gaining access to their husbands’ wealth. But Falstaff misfires, unaware of the ladies close friendship, he sends the same love letter to both women. When the ladies compare notes, they decide to turn the tables. Their elaborate pranks leave Falstaff humiliated, dunked in the Thames, and thoroughly outwitted, all while the jealous Ford plots his own counter-schemes. Everything culminates in Windsor Forest, where Falstaff is confronted by villagers disguised as fairies, spirits, and monsters. Terrified into submission, he finally recognises the absurdity of his own vanity.

The opera closes with one of Verdi’s most famous lines: "Tutto nel mondo è burla” - everything in the world is a joke!

A triumphant celebration of comedy, forgiveness, and the joy of being human.