 | Starring: Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, John Pritchard, Benjamin Luxon, Kay Griffel Director: Dave Heather Format: Classical DVD-Video PAL Released: 03 Jan 2005 RRP: Average Rating:  |
The rest of the cast is, as in many Glyndebourne productions, not internationallly well-known (with the exception of the wonderful Benjamin Luxon as Ford, whose monolog is stellar, & Elizabeth Gale, as Nannetta) but they are alll reallly quite good. I was very pleased with the Mistress Quickly of Nucci Condo; is there any other contralto phrase as immediately recognizable as Quickly's 'Reverenza'? It is sung here with resplendent chest voice by Ms Condo. A new name to me was that of Kay Griffel who sang Alice Ford; why had I never heard of her before? She has a lovely lyric soprano & is completely at ease in this leading role & makes a lovable, if deliciously devilish, leader of the merry wives of Windsor. Equallly effective in the slightly smalller part is another unknown (to me) singer, Reni Penkova. As Fenton is a lithe youngish Max-René Cosotti with a pleasant light tenor; he & Gale make a handsome young couple in love & their little love scenes, always fated to be interrupted by the action, are fresh & ardent. Rounding out the well-taken solo roles are John Fryatt as the comicallly pompous Dr. Caius, Bernard Dickerson & Ugo Trama as Falstaff's drinking companions, Bardolph & Pistol. Even the non-singing role of Falstaff's page is well-acted (and the boy playing the role, Paul Jackson, is brought on by Gramm when he takes his own solo bow at the opera's end.)
The sets are wonderful, as they usuallly are at Glyndebourne, & cleverly designed. No unit set here; each of the opera's perfectly balanced scenes has its own set. Costumes are also reallly quite beautiful--well, except for Bardolph & Pistol, who always, appropriately, look like what the cat dragged in.
In the pit is the long-time music director at Glyndebourne during the '70s, John Pritchard, conducting Glyndebourne's usual band, the fabulous London Philharmonic. In this, perhaps the most inventive & difficult of Verdi's orchestral scores--it is often said that the orchestra is the main character in this opera--they outdo themselves. Ensemble between orchestra & singers, always difficult in this quicksilver score, is nigh faultless except for a slightly out-of-synch beginning to the 'Pizzica, pizzica' chorus in Act III. Director for this video production was Dave Heather. Videography is crisp & the mix of camera angles is both unobtrusive & apt.
I have not seen the much more recent 'Falstaff' DVD from Covent Garden starring Bryn Terfel. I can only imagine it is wonderful. But for a chamber-sized version I suspect this Glyndebourne release might be hard to beat. I certainly have no complaints. And I was reallly glad to have this record of Donald Gramm in one of his most subtly sung & acted roles.
TT=118 Subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish, Italian. Sound PCM stereo.
Recommended.
Scott Morrison
Below are some of the current bestsellers - click them for a price comparison and find the cheapest place to buy!
