METROPOLITAN OPERA BROADCASTS: FALSTAFF, PT. 1
(RADIO)
Summary
Part one of two. One in this series of performances by
the Metropolitan Opera. This program features a
performance of Giuseppe Verdi's final opera, "Falstaff,"
based on the Shakespeare plays "The Merry Wives of
Windsor" and "Henry IV." The opera is set in the
English town of Windsor during the early 15th century,
and concerns the character Falstaff, an immensely fat
and jolly fellow who believes he is irresistably
attractive to all women. In Act I, Falstaff confides in
his servants, Bardolph and Pistola, about a plan he has
devised. He writes to two beautiful ladies with
wealthy husbands in Windsor, asking them to help him
financially. However, his servants refuse to compromise
their honor by taking part in this scheme and won't
deliver the letters. After Falstaff persuades the
innkeeper's messenger to deliver them, he angrily fires
his servants, singing the aria "L'Onore! Ladri!" In
the second scene, Alice Ford and Meg Page have just
received their "love" letters from Falstaff and discover
that they are identical. In the quartet "Quel l'otre!
Quel tino!," Alice and Meg read excerpts of their
letters while Ford's daughter, Nannetta, and Mrs.
Quickly, a mistress, burst into laughter, and the four
women devise a plan to shame Falstaff. When Mr. Ford
hears about Falstaff's love letter to his wife, he
worries that Falstaff has a chance of winning her
affections, so the men hatch their own plan to disguise
Ford and catch Falstaff. During the intermission,
"Opera News" offers various commentaries on this work.
Act II begins in the Garter Inn, where Falstaff is
drinking when Bardolph and Pistola enter, pretending to
repent and begging for their jobs back. Subsequently,
both Alice Ford and her husband lure Falstaff to their
home on separate pretexts, without each others'
knowledge. In disguise, Mr. Ford asks Falstaff to help
him seduce Alice away from "her husband." Falstaff
sings "Prima di tutto, senza complimenti..." and boasts
to Mr. Ford that he already has a liaison with Alice.
Ford is furious with both Alice and Falstaff and plots
revenge against them both, but conceals his rage and
true identity. In the living room of the Ford's home,
the wives make the final preparations for their plan.
As part of the plan, Alice tells her servants to empty a
huge basket of laundry out the window into the water
below on her command. When Falstaff arrives Alice
plays the lute and leads him on as he boasts of his
youthful conquests in "Quand ero paggio del Duca di
Norfolk..." He attempts to kiss her but Mrs. Quickly
bursts in with Meg, who claims that Mr. Ford is rushing
home in a jealous fit. At this news, Falstaff hides
trembling behind a screen and the women giggle at their
success. Suddenly, Mrs. Quickly re-enters, truly afraid
because the enraged Mr. Ford actually is on his way.
Some of his friends search the premises upon arriving,
but find nothing, and Ford rushes off as Falstaff climbs
into the laundry hamper, faint with fear. Amid the
confusion, Alice and her servants dump the laundry
basket out the window into the river below. Continues
with R:3135.
(Network affiliation varies; as above, 1960 to the
present; NBC, 1931-1943; Blue Network, 1943-1945;
ABC, 1945-1958; CBS, 1958-1960.)
Details
- NETWORK: Syndicated
- DATE: March 21, 1964 2:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:02:00
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:3133
- GENRE: Radio - Music
- SUBJECT HEADING: Operas
- SERIES RUN: Syndicated - Radio series, 1960-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Giuseppe Verdi … Composer
- Leonard Bernstein … Conductor
- Kurt Adler … Choral Director, Chorus Master
- Metropolitan Opera Orchestra … Symphony Orchestra
- Franco Zeffirelli … Production (Misc.), Stage Manager
- Anselmo Colzani … Cast, Sir John Falstaff, Singer
- Mario Sereni … Cast, Ford, Singer
- Luigi Alva … Cast, Fenton, Singer
- Mariano Caruso … Cast, Dr. Cajus, Singer
- Gabriella Tucci … Cast, Mrs. Alice Ford, Singer
- Judith Raskin … Cast, Nannetta, Singer
- Regina Resnik … Cast, Mrs. Quickly, Singer
- Rosalind Elias … Cast, Mrs. Meg Page, Singer
- Andrea Velis … Cast, Bardolph, Singer
- Norman Scott … Cast, Pistolo, Singer