Verdi nearly 80 (!) composes his first comedy in 50 years. This production was brilliant. Shakespeare, come on, how many good operas are there of his plays? Verdi had three (Othello and Macbeth). The performance I attended was electrifying. Every single component meshed majestically. And we, the audience ,knew it and the singers knew it and the musicians knew it. It was one of those days I can look back on and savor that I was there. I miss the Met, miss being in the house, way up in the Family Circle, when a performance like this happened. Bravo! Brava!
You're not quite right about "the first comedy in 50 years". "Falstaff" is Verdi's second comedy opera. His first comedy was "The King for an Hour, or the Pretentious Stanislaus" (Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao). Unfortunately, he wrote it during, in my opinion, the darkest period of his life. Here are Verdi's own words: "But now there began the most terrible series of misfortunes for me. At the beginning of April my little boy fell ill. He wasted away in the arms of his mother. A few days later my little daughter sickened in her turn, and this child too was taken from us. During the first days of June 1840, the third coffin [the coffin of his first wife, Margarite, who died of encephalitis] was carried out of my house." It is therefore not surprising that the premiere of the COMIC opera, which was written during those terrible days, turned out to be a failure. It was because of these three disasters that fell on Verdi in succession that Giuseppe at first even decided not to write any more music. And then came the famous miracle of the libretto of the "Nabucco"... and so it went...
Perhaps James Levine's last great triumph at the Metropolitan Opera House. With no performances ahead of him for more than two years, I wonder how a driven workaholic who thrived on hard work, manages to spend his days.
maybe the best version I found of this fugue, every singer is just so right, and the obvious pleasure they have while singing is contagious!
Jetez une oreille alors à Muti à la Scala (production des années 2000).
check Levine version from the past with Lishka, Freni Horne,, etc. 1000 times better
So great! I went to the same opera ten days ago! Thank you so much for shairing!
Verdi nearly 80 (!) composes his first comedy in 50 years. This production was brilliant. Shakespeare, come on, how many good operas are there of his plays? Verdi had three (Othello and Macbeth). The performance I attended was electrifying. Every single component meshed majestically. And we, the audience ,knew it and the singers knew it and the musicians knew it. It was one of those days I can look back on and savor that I was there. I miss the Met, miss being in the house, way up in the Family Circle, when a performance like this happened. Bravo! Brava!
Not the first, but the second one.
You're not quite right about "the first comedy in 50 years". "Falstaff" is Verdi's second comedy opera. His first comedy was "The King for an Hour, or the Pretentious Stanislaus" (Un giorno di regno, ossia il finto Stanislao). Unfortunately, he wrote it during, in my opinion, the darkest period of his life. Here are Verdi's own words: "But now there began the most terrible series of misfortunes for me. At the beginning of April my little boy fell ill. He wasted away in the arms of his mother. A few days later my little daughter sickened in her turn, and this child too was taken from us. During the first days of June 1840, the third coffin [the coffin of his first wife, Margarite, who died of encephalitis] was carried out of my house."
It is therefore not surprising that the premiere of the COMIC opera, which was written during those terrible days, turned out to be a failure. It was because of these three disasters that fell on Verdi in succession that Giuseppe at first even decided not to write any more music. And then came the famous miracle of the libretto of the "Nabucco"... and so it went...
it's incredible
that Verdi composed this opera when he was eighty!!
Perhaps James Levine's last great triumph at the Metropolitan Opera House. With no performances ahead of him for more than two years, I wonder how a driven workaholic who thrived on hard work, manages to spend his days.
incredible! bravo!
Viva Verdi!
Amazing!
bravi~~
This is the Fugue? I suppose the most complex Fugue every written and presented?
you should listen to the act 1 final of Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi; the lento is very complex, and the tempo di mezzo and the stretta are beautiful!
👏👏👏🇮🇹🇬🇧🍻
Who's Ford? Fenton?
Ford is Franco Vassallo and Fenton is Paolo Fanale.