FALSTAFF

Verdi e Shakespeare

Il Festival Verdi compie 25 anni e pone al centro di questa speciale edizione il tema del rapporto di Giuseppe Verdi con William Shakespeare. “Parlare di Verdi per noi italiani è come parlare del padre” scrive Massimo Mila. A sua volta Verdi, nelle sue lettere, chiama il sommo drammaturgo inglese “papà Shakespeare”, rivelando un legame che va molto oltre l’incontro tra due grandi uomini di teatro. Il programma del Festival vuole offrire l’occasione di approfondire questa relazione, declinandola al presente.

Macbeth (1847 e 1865), Otello (1887) e Falstaff (1893) sono le tre opere di Verdi che attraversando il XIX secolo ne hanno seguito l’evoluzione. Entrando nella profondità della psiche, hanno proiettato in avanti la drammaturgia verdiana, anticipando temi e forme che saranno propri del decadentismo e dell’espressionismo.

Tra le fonti letterarie che lo hanno ispirato, da Schiller a Hugo, è con Shakespeare che Verdi raggiunge gli esiti drammaturgici più compiuti. Così insieme al Gala Verdiano, imperniato su Luisa Miller e Rigoletto, e alla Messa da Requiem, che testimonia la profonda ammirazione per Manzoni, fulcro del Festival sono le nuove produzioni di Otello e Macbeth (1847), realizzate nei laboratori del Teatro Regio, il riallestimento di Falstaff e i percorsi tracciati da Ramificazioni. Stimolante e imprescindibile l’intreccio con il Verdi Off, festival nel festival che celebra la sua X edizione, portando il teatro fuori dal teatro incontro a pubblici sempre nuovi.

Vi aspettiamo per vivere ogni giorno l’emozione unica della musica di Verdi nelle terre del Maestro.

 

 

Giuseppe Verdi

Commedia lirica in tre atti su libretto di Arrigo Boito, da William Shakespeare.

Edizione critica a cura di Gabriele Dotto, The University of Chicago Press e Casa Ricordi.

Prima rappresentazione il 9 febbraio 1893 al Teatro alla Scala di Milano.

 

 

Dates

Teatro Regio di Parma

Friday 3 October 2025, 8.00 pm

Sunday 12 October 2025, 8.00 pm

Thursday 16 October 2025, 8.00 pm

Under30 Rehearsal Wednesday 1 October 2025, 8.00 pm

Running time 2h 30′, with one intermission.

 

 

Cast

Sir John Falstaff	MISHA KIRIA
Mrs. Alice Ford	ROBERTA MANTEGNA
Ford	ALESSANDRO LUONGO
Nannetta	GIULIANA GIANFALDONI
Mrs. Quickly	TERESA IERVOLINO
Fenton	DAVE MONACO
Mrs. Meg Page	CATERINA PIVA
Bardolfo	ROBERTO COVATTA
Pistola	EUGENIO DI LIETO
Dott. Cajus	GREGORY BONFATTI

 

Direttore Michele Spotti

Regia Jacopo Spirei

Scene Nikolaus Webern

Costumi Silvia Aymonino

Luci Giuseppe Di Iorio

FILARMONICA ARTURO TOSCANINI

CORO DEL TEATRO REGIO DI PARMA

Maestro del coro Martino Faggiani

 

Allestimento del Teatro Regio di Parma

Spettacolo con sopratitoli in italiano e in inglese

 

Synopsis

Act I

At the Garter Inn, Dr Caius is hurling abuseat Falstaff and his servants, Bardolfo and Pistola, accusing them of getting him drunk and robbing him. Rejecting the claims, Falstaff orders another bottle of Xeres and dismisses him, far more concerned with his letter writing. He’s writing two identical letters to two ladies of Windsor, Alice Ford and Meg Page; two women that are both charming but above all, rich. Falstaff is broke and his goal is to seduce themand get his hands on their money. He asks Bardolfo and Pistola to help but they refuse on their “honour”. This gives Falstaff the opportunity to explain the tenuous nature of “honour”. Afterwards he fires them and gives the task to his page, Robin. It doesn’t take Alice and Meg long to notice that Falstaff’s letters are identical and they immediately understand the ruse. Infront of the Ford residence, they meet with Alice’s daughter, Nannetta, and the elderly Mrs Quickly, where they consider how they can respond to what seems to be an attempt to swindle them. Nearby, Dr Caius continues to complain about being robbed but this time his outburst doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Bardolfo and Pistola believe him along with Ford and young Fenton, the true love of Nannetta (unbeknownst to Caius who is the Lady’s official suitor). To pile it on, Pistola and Bardolfo, vindicating their being fired, reveal Falstaff’s plans to Alice and Meg, which sends Ford into a fury. With the menout to teach Falstaff a lesson, and Fenton seeking a quiet moment to steal a kiss from Nannetta, Ford decides that he will introduce himself to Falstaff in disguise, asking his help to win favour with Alice which will lead to him being caught redhanded. Completely unawares, the women put their own plan together: Quickly will play the panderer and invite Falstaff to a romantic meeting, then the scheme will begin. Two traps await Falstaff.

Act II

The comedy is primed. Bardolfo and Pistola return to Falstaff pretending to be remorseful; Quickly arrives with the invitation to meet with Alice from 2 pm until 3 pm when the jealous Ford will not be home; and Ford introduces himself in disguise as Mr Fontana, paying Falstaff (who accepts without hesitation) in order to help him win over Alice. However, when Falstaff reveals tha the already has a date with Alice, Ford is taken aback. Fortunately, with Falstaff leaving in order to dress himself appropriately, Ford is able to gather his thoughts about being betrayed and recomposes himself to see the act all the way through. In Alice’s home, everything is in readiness but there’s tension whilst they wait for Falstaff. Seeing Nannetta very upset, Alice promises she’ll do something to prevent her having to marry Caius, but for now she must tend to other matters. Right on time, Falstaff arrives and begins his seductive game, recalling the good times when he was but a mere page, only to be interrupted when Ford and his friends burst through the door. They know Falstaff is there and Ford wants to vindicate his honour but the merry wives, who had seen them coming, have already hidden Falstaff behind a screen. As Ford continue shis search, they usher Falstaff into a laundry basket that’s already been checked and Fenton and Nannetta steal a kiss in secret. The basket ends up tipped out outside the window and Falstaff falls into the canal below to much laughter from the merry wives.

Act III

Sick and angry, Falstaff struggles to recompose himself after his unexpected bath when Quickly appears with another invitation. This time he is to present himself disguised as a Hunter, at midnight, in the park where Alice will be waiting. He doesn’t know that, this time, the plan has been put together by the merry wivesand men together with the habitants of Windsor. Nannetta will disguise herself as the Queen of the Fairies, the others as spirits and elves and they’ll give Falstaff a terrible fright, who will undoubtedly believe the legend according to which these creatures must not be looked at in the face. Ford, meanwhile, on his own whim, takes advantage of the situation to ensure the marriage of Nannetta and Caius. Falstaff arrives on time, and supernatural gathering begins. The fairies and spirits appear out of nowhere and Falstaff throws himself face down on the ground. Everyone piles on top of him but casually with a glance, he recognises Bardolfo who loses his hood in all the commotion. Falstaff knows he’s been had, but he’ll gethis own back soon: at the crowning point of the day, Ford in fact, arranges for two couples to marry under cloaks and veils, one of which is to be Caius and Nannetta, but Alice has swapped the colours of the cloaks so that Fenton has taken the place of Caius, and Caius has taken the place of Bardolfo’s bride. When everyone realises what’s happened, it’s Falstaff’s turn tolaugh, who invites everyone to take it well, because it’s life itself that’s one big joke.