TAYLORSVILLE — With its current presentation of Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff, Lyrical Opera Theater continues its tradition of featuring local artists in productions of the world’s greatest operas. The presentation on September 13th, opening night, included many stand-out performances and much to applaud.
In 1871, after creating 30 grand operas, Verdi seemed to have retired from composing. But he was lured back by librettist Arigo Boito, who created excellent opera libretti based on works by Shakespeare. Together, they created Otello in 1887 and Falstaff in 1893. After producing successful tragic operas like Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Aida, Verdi surprised everyone when he created a comedy as his final work. Falstaff takes its plot from Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor but also includes elements from the Henry IV history plays. Shakespeare’s Falstaff is is a liar and thief, and he eats and drinks to excess, but he is also witty and charming, always a source of intrigue and fun.
When the opera starts, Falstaff needs money to fund his gluttony, and he decides to employ the ways of love to acquire some cash. He recognizes that married women have access to money, so he writes identical love letters to two married women, Alice Ford and Meg Page, without realizing they are best friends. The two women, cleverer by far than our schemer, then concoct two plans (in the opera version) to put Falstaff in his place.
Subplots involve the husband of Alice Ford, who is jealous, and their daughter Nanetta, who loves a young man not of her father’s choice. By the end of the story, the female duo of Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page have outwitted everyone and restored all to order and good humor.
Lyrical Opera Theater did good work pulling together a production that allows local classically-trained singers the opportunity to learn major roles and perform in a fully-staged production of a major work. The company is so dedicated to this mission that it also double cast the production, so that many more local artists get the opportunity to learn and perform opera roles in original language. English translations of the Italian libretto are projected in supertitles above the stage action, so the story is easy to follow, and the audience catches all the jokes. I loved listening to the man seated behind me guffaw as he took in the comedy.
Wigs and makeup by Daniel Perez were excellent; they conveyed the period and were suited to each actor. Costumes by Deborah Siddoway effectively communicated a Shakespearean time period, though some seemed to still need alteration to fit the performers well. Falstaff’s facial hair helped make his fat suit work, and all of his costumes were a highlight; a big Santa-like belt emphasizes his impressive girth in the early scenes, and the audience tittered with delight when he entered in his dress-up courting outfit. The forest masks on the principal artists in the final scene were rustic and well-crafted.
Executive Director Lynnette Owens personally digitizes the entire opera scores so that available funding can go toward production costs and singer fees. Many musical theatre companies present their works with pre-recorded tracks, but the world of opera resists this trend. Using a pre-recorded score requires singers to adjust to pre-determined tempi and expressive elements, but it also has the benefit of allowing greater connection between audience and performers, with no orchestra or conductor between them.
That said, I hope that in the future Lyrical Opera Theatre can consider expanding its artistic staff to include a stage director and a conductor. Several times during the performance I saw of Falstaff, a little more stage activity – particularly in the scenes with the female quartet – could have helped in the story telling. I am certain the singers would also appreciate the support of a conductor, even when performing to recorded tracks. I wished for conducting support for them especially during some of the complicated musical moments in Falstaff, when various ensembles sing quick, distinctly different musical ideas at the same time.
Lyrical Opera Products, Inc., is credited with planning the scenic elements, which were simple and effective. Drops, lovely scenic projections, and period furniture were employed to fill the stage and help tell the story. In a few scenes the lighting slightly washed out the backdrop projections, but the supertitles were well-run and always clear. Scenic changes seemed to take a long time; there were several 5- and 10-minute pauses, as well as two longer intermissions. Clear communication to the audience about these breaks was helpful: the length of each one was announced, and house lights brought up each time.
Christopher Clayton as Falstaff was superb. His face and movements were expressive, and his Falstaff confidently bumbled around, grappling with challenges of age and rotundity, to the delight of the audience. I especially enjoyed his toes-first walking style, a Falstaffian prancing. Clayton put dramatic expression forefront in his performance, but he still delivered a lot of beautiful singing. He portrayed Falstaff’s humorous and misplaced self-confidence in his “Go, old John, go thy ways” aria, and also did excellent work spitting out speedy Italian in his arietta “When I was a page.”
The principal women were vocally well-matched. Soprano Jacquelyn Abbott, playing Mistress Ford, sang with beautiful lyricism, and she sparkled as the clever one of the quartet of women (which also includes Mistress Quickly and Nanetta). Paula Sofia Nesticó’s Meg Page sang with warmth and humor as Alice Ford’s comrade in scheming. Baritone Christopher Stockslager as Master Ford was thrilling to hear. His voice has an appealing timbre, clear focus, and strength throughout his range. His high notes were gorgeous, sung fully and connected. He also demonstrated great facility with Italian. Rebekah Helm’s Nanetta offered beautiful ring in the upper register, though it was occasionally difficult to hear her in her lower range. Dancers added lovely movement on stage during her Act III aria. Her lover Fenton, sung by tenor Alex Harrelson, was well suited to her vocally and dramatically.
Falstaff’s closing musical number is the absolute highlight of this opera, and this cast delivered it with gusto. By this time, the women have succeeded in dumping Falstaff into a huge dirty laundry basket that is then emptied into the Thames – and they have tricked him again to crown himself with horns and enter the forest, where they scare and make fun of him with the entire town in attendance. We could all learn from Falstaff to recognize failure and then just brush it off: he wittily takes credit for having inspired all this cleverness in others. What follows this resolution is a choral work of cascading laughter that ebbs and flows to the conclusion that “tutti gabbati”: “everyone is fooled.” The music starts at low volume, develops into a fugue, and ends with a thrilling volume of full singing and outright joy.
Three performances of the opera remain: Wednesday September 17 at 7pm, Friday September 19 at 7pm, and Sunday September 21 at 3pm. Free performances in the lobby and pre-concert lectures begin 45 minutes before curtain.
These reviews are made possible by a grant from the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts, and Parks program.
