Search - Antonio Salieri, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Pierre-Yves Pruvot :: Salieri: Falstaff

Salieri's Falstaff is nothing like Verdi's. The whole feel is lighter and more operetta-like; there are many arias and ensembles, most of them brief. The period instrument ensemble under Jean-Claude Malgoire plays the pure classical score with verve (this was recorded on stage), highlighting the tangy wind writing. The characterizations are to the point, with an aria of rage for Mr. Ford (here, a tenor, the on-the-money Simon Edwards); a cute, telling duet for Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Slender (Salomé Heller and Hjördis Thébault, respectively [Slender is the Meg Page character in Verdi]) when they receive the identical love letters from Falstaff; and flavorful music for Bardolf, Falstaff's servant, which is a bigger role than in Verdi--nicely sung by Raimonds Spogis. Baritone Pierre-Yves Pruvot as Falstaff manages to avoid mugging while at the same time finding all the absurdity in the character. It's a charming evening's entertainment, occasionally quite funny; the action moves quickly and pointedly, the dry recitatives are frequent but never too long, and when they do go on, the cast here is clever and involved enough to make them dramatically viable. A charmer, in short. --Robert Levine