Falstaff is Verdi’s last opera and the culmination of a lifetime of operatic achievement; it was his third Shakespeare opera and a project he kept shrouded in great mystery until the work was almost finished. Despite being written when the composer was in his late 70s it is a work of kaleidoscopic variety that sparkles with its rapidity of utterance and lightness of touch and displays a mastery of ensemble writing.

Recorded in 1991

Artists

Rolando Panerai (Falstaff), Alan Titus (Ford), Frank Lopardo (Fenton), Marilyn Horne (Mistress Quickly), Sharon Sweet (Alice Ford), Julie Kaufmann (Nannetta), Susan Quittmeyer (Meg Page), Ulrich Reß (Bardolfo), Francesco Ellero d'Artegna (Pistola), Piero De Palma (Dr. Cajus)

Symphonieorchester Und Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Colin Davis