For a long time I'd kinda wanted to see a Salieri opera, but that feeling became more urgent after I read this New Yorker article. I suppose most people are aware by this point that his alleged rivalry with Mozart is overstated to say the least, mainly fueled by paranoia from the Mozart side. I've never seen Amadeus. Maybe it's super-good, and maybe I should see it (though all told, I'm definitely more likely to see Rimsky-Korsakov's Mozart and Salieri, if I get the chance), but it just feels unfair that this guy should be so relentlessly smeared. Jeez.
Anyway, Falstaff. As you would guess, it's based on The Merry Wives of Windsor, same as the more famous opera by this title, so if you know the plot of that one, you basically know the plot of this one: Falstaff tries to seduce married women for money; isntead gets humiliated. One big difference between this and Verdi is that this includes the scene of Falstaff dressing in women's clothing to escape putative danger; I read that Verdi lamented that he couldn't fit it in, but it might be for the best--not that it's notably bad or anything, but "find new ways to take Falstaff down a notch" does get a trifle repetitive.
The music. I mean, it's not Mozart, but it's nor horrifically anti-Mozartian or anything like that. It is indeed perfectly fun and pleasant and well worth anyone's time. This production stars the late great John Del Carlo, who is, naturally extremely game--he also played Verdi's version, and it seems like a role he was born for. This opera includes several scenes--not in Shakespeare--with Alice Ford in disguise as a German to bring messages to Falstaff (featuring amusing bits of mangled German and French), and Teresa Ringholz sells it well. Honestly, the non-Falstaff cast doesn't get that much to do, but they do it well.
Musically, there's not much point in comparing this to Verdi; they're by different composers in different times writing in different idioms. Apples to oranges. But there are several differences in the plot which, I feel, make the latter a definitively superior experience. First, Salieri's version gets rid of the young lovers Anne (Nanneta in Verdi) and Fenton, and they're pretty conspicuous by their absence. Until they were gone, I didn't realize how important they were to the emotional heart of the story. And second--maybe more fundamentally--there's this: in Verdi, at the end, Falstaff is humbled yet also triumphant. That's the point; in spite of his coniving, his comic vitality is important and to be celebrated. Here, he's...just chastened. I think Verdi is closer in spirit to Shakespeare, though I haven't read or seen the play; regardless, it works a lot better than Salieri's just sorta trailing-off.
Still, I liked it, and I'm going to watch more from Salieri.
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