Marzo 07, 2025
FALSTAFF | ERIKA GRIMALDI | GENOVA
Erika Grimaldi makes her Opera Carlo Felice Genova debut as Alice Ford in a Damiano Michieletto production of “Falstaff”, under the musical direction of Jordi Bernàcer, and sharing the stage with Ambrogio Maestri in the title role, Ernesto Petti as Ford, Gaetano Salas as Fenton, Caterina Sala as Nannetta, Sara Mingardo as Mrs Quickly, Paola Gardina as Meg Page, Blagoj Nacoski as Dr Cajus, Cristiano Oliveri as Bardolfo, and Luciano Leoni as Pistola. The Asti-born soprano debuted the role of Alice at the 2016 Verbier Festival, reprising it five years later at the Teatro Petruzzelli Bari.
More information about Erika Grimaldi:
https://www.operabase.com/erika-grimaldi-a5155/de
https://www.erikagrimaldi.com/
About the Production from Teatro Carlo Felice Genova:
Falstaff is Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera, composed between 1890 and 1893 to a libretto by Arrigo Boito from William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. The opera comedy, in three acts, has only one precedent in the composer’s repertoire, Un giorno di regno, dating back to his younger years. With Falstaff Verdi, now in his eighties, secured one last great success in the opera buffa genre. The first performance was held at La Scala on 9 February 1893, the audience included the most famous composers and artists of the time, an exceptional cast performed on stage, and Falstaff immediately received widespread acclaim. The choice of Shakespeare’s subject was due to Boito, who first proposed the play to the composer. The collaboration between the two worked very well, so that Verdi had no objections to the first drafts of the libretto and began the composition with great enthusiasm. Compared to the original play, only the cuts necessary for the transposition were made. The plot revolves around the elderly protagonist, Sir John Falstaff, who attempts to seduce two wealthy ladies by correspondence, but they soon hatch a deception to expose the shameless man, involving the other characters as well. In the cheerful finale, everyone makes peace, and amidst the celebrations, the protagonist sings his famous hymn to comedy: «Tutto nel mondo è burla!». Despite its location within Verdi’s catalogue, the opera is an incredible example of stylistic innovation. With Falstaff, Verdi introduces a new liric language that seems to want to say goodbye definitively to 19th-century melodrama and pave the way for a new way of understanding opera. Have a look at our news: https://o-pr.net/news/
