Verdi: Falstaff (DVD)

Verdi
Falstaff (DVD)
Nicola Alaimo, Simone Piazzola, Matthew Swensen, Ailyn Pérez, Francesca Boncompagni; Chorus and Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino/John Eliot Gardiner; dir. Sven-Eric Bechtolf (Florence, 2021)
Dynamic DVD: 37951; Blu-ray: 57951   143 mins

Elizabethan costumes? A backdrop that credibly resembles the banks of the Thames? You realise how normalised updated opera stagings have become – for better or worse – when a traditional production of a standard opera actually comes as a bit of a shock. This is a straight-down-the-line account of Falstaff from director Sven-Eric Bechtolf, where the interest resides in lively characterisation and attractive singing rather than conceptual bells and whistles.

The Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo is a pleasingly lyrical Falstaff, amusing enough – particularly in the business with the laundry basket – without playing the role too hard for laughs. The ensemble cast provides strong musical and dramatic support, with particularly energetic performances from the Merry Wives, all of whom act their socks off. Musically, the stand-out performance is from Ailyn Pérez (as Alice Ford), who sings with a beautiful sense of line. The young lovers provide everything we might wish for from them. Matthew Swensen is an ardent, generous-voiced Fenton. Francesca Boncompagni has a small voice for Verdi – her bread-and-butter repertoire is Monteverdi – but sings the role of Nannetta with truly exquisite grace and sensitivity.

And down in the pit, John Eliot Gardiner, another performer better known for much earlier repertoire, is having a ball, coaxing sprightly and, yes, perhaps rather anti-Romantic playing from the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, paying particular attention to rhythmic detail. Overall, an enjoyable production that doesn’t do anything radical, yet invites us to hear Verdi’s score afresh.

Alexandra Wilson