Falstaff
Growing old disgracefully with Falstaff
- Director
- Damiano Michieletto
- Conductor
- Stuart Stratford
- Designer
- Joanna Parker
Verdi’s comic masterpiece brings Shakespeare’s well-loved Sir John Falstaff to life as no composer has managed before or since, with music full of wit and innovation. Overflowing with vivacious revelry, Falstaff is a life-enhancing picture of the human condition, which ends with a final comic coda by one of opera’s most prolific composers.
Showing At
- Hackney Empire
15th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal, Lincoln
17th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal, Lincoln
19th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Wycombe Swan
22nd Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
27th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
28th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Assembly Hall Theatre
31st Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Snape Maltings Concert Hall
3rd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Snape Maltings Concert Hall
5th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
10th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
11th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
15th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
17th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
18th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Cambridge Arts Theatre
22nd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Cambridge Arts Theatre
25th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal Bath
28th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal Bath
30th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Coronation Hall, Ulverston
2nd Dec 2005 - 7:30 pm
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Hackney Empire
— 15th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
291 Mare Street, Hackney, E8 1EJ
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Theatre Royal, Lincoln
— 17th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
Theatre Royal, Lincoln
— 19th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
Wycombe Swan
— 22nd Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
— 27th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
— 28th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
Assembly Hall Theatre
— 31st Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
-
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
— 3rd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Aldeburgh Music, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP
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Snape Maltings Concert Hall
— 5th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Aldeburgh Music, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, IP17 1SP
-
The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
— 10th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Regent Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1HQ
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The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
— 11th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Regent Street, Cheltenham, GL50 1HQ
-
Exeter Northcott
— 15th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Exeter Northcott, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB
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Exeter Northcott
— 17th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Exeter Northcott, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB
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Exeter Northcott
— 18th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Exeter Northcott, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB
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Cambridge Arts Theatre
— 22nd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
6 St Edward's Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ
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Cambridge Arts Theatre
— 25th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
6 St Edward's Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ
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Theatre Royal Bath
— 28th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET
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Theatre Royal Bath
— 30th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET
-
Coronation Hall, Ulverston
— 2nd Dec 2005 - 7:30 pm
County Square, Ulverston, LA12 7LZ
Featured Crew
Damiano Michieletto
Director
Director
Born Venice
Training Cà Foscari University, Venice, Paolo Grassi Theatre School, Milan
Awards 2003 Best Opera Production Irish Times Award for Svanda the Bagpiper (Wexford Festival Opera)
Opera Trionfo delle Belle (Rossini Opera Festival), The Little Sweep (Luglio Musicale Trapanese), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino), The Soldier’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Carnival of the Animals, Noye’s Fludde (Auditorium di Milano)
Theatre Una notte, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Amadeus (Teatro Franco Parenti, Milano), Quartetto Campanile (Teatro al Parco, Mestre), La Betìa (Festival Teatro in Campo, Venice)
Stuart Stratford
Conductor
Joanna Parker
Designer
Designs for theatre, opera and dance. Joanna’s opera engagements include The Rape of Lucretia (RCM); Eugene Onegin, Falstaff, Alcina, Le nozze di Figaro, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Cunning Little Vixen (ETO). She has also worked with the ROH, SO, OTC Dublin. Joanna’s designs for theatre include The Young Vic, Hampstead Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse and The Lyric Hammersmith. She designed The Noise of Time for Theatre de Complicité at the Lincoln Centre NY, Barbican Centre London and European Festivals. Dance designs include Cholmondeleys, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company and London Contemporary Dance Theatre. She is Senior Lecturer in Scenography at Central School of Speech and Drama.
Crew
Wendy Dawn Thompson
Meg
Wendy was born in Timaru, New Zealand and went on to train at Victoria University of Wellington, RNCM and RCM. In 2005 she was a Cardiff Singer of the World finalist and won the Kathleen Ferrier Award, Royal Overseas League Music Competition and Young Artist Trust in 2003. Opera roles include Isabella/ L’italiana in Algeri (New Zealand Opera); Fiduma/ The Secret Marriage (SO); Innocent/ The Minotaur (ROH); Messenger/ L’Orfeo (ENO); Der Komponist/ Ariadne auf Naxos (Garsington Opera); Varvara/ Katya Kabanova (ON). Concert appearances include Mahler Symphony No. 2 (Zagreb Philharmonic); Mozart Mass in C Minor (RLPO); Song Recital (Wigmore Hall).
Andrew Slater
Falstaff
Andrew studied at RNCM and St Petersburg Conservatoire. Opera roles include Patsy Love Counts (Almeida Festival); The House of the Gods (Music Theatre Wales); Leporello Don Giovanni (BOC); Falstaff Falstaff (ETO); Ben Selim Dom Sebastien (ROH). Recent concerts include Verdi Requiem (RLPO); Brahms Requiem (RTE Orchestra Dublin); Britten War Requiem (Orchestra de l’Ile de France). Recordings include Michael Berkeley Jane Eyre (Chandos); Stravinsky The Flood (Twentieth Century Classics); Mozart The Marriage of Figaro (BBC TV).
Tina Machugh
Lighting Designer
Julie Unwin
Born Warrington
Training GSMD, NOS, studies with Jacqueline Bremar
Awards John Christie Award and Esso Singer’s Prize (Glyndebourne), International Singer of the Year at the Llangollen International Eistedfodd, Harold Rosenthal Opera Award.
Opera – Alice Ford Falstaff (ETO),Tosca Tosca (ETO) Madame Butterfly Madame Butterfly (HPO), Countess The Marriage of Figaro (GTO, ETO and HPO), Donna Anna (GTO) Mimì La Bohème (Opera Zuid), Cleone Ermione (GFO), Micaela Carmen (RAH, WNO), Pamina The Magic Flute (ENO), Nancy Silas Marner (City of Birmingham Touring Opera), Tatyana Eugene Onegin (HPO)
Concert Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (Helsinki Philharmonic), Beethoven Symphony no. 9 (Helsinki Philharmonic), Mahler Symphony no. 2 (Kaplan and London Philharmonic) Four Last songs (Strauss) Mansfield Street Concert series. Italian Song recital (Verdi and Bellini) Mansfield Street Concert series. Opera Gala – Lakeland Symphonia with Wyn Davis.
TV / Recordings Cleone Ermione (Glyndeborne and Channel 4), Damigella and Virtu L’Incoronazione di Poppea (BBC Wales) Title role in Cornet Christoff Rilke’s songs of Love and death (Siegfried Matthus) BBC radio 4
Ronnie Samm
Born Port of Spain, Trinidad
Training GSMD, RNCM, NOS
Awards Peter Moores / Lord Pitt Foundation Scholarship to RNCM, Sybill Tutton Awards, Alexander Young Competition second prize
Opera Bardolph Falstaff (ETO), cover Otello Otello (GFO), cover Canio I Pagliacci (WNO), Canio I Pagliacci (English Pocket Opera), Florestan Fidelio, Drum-Major Wozzeck, Prodigal Son The Prodigal Son (all Birmingham Opera Company)
Concert Verdi Requiem, Verdi Otello (Royal Festival Hall)
Recordings / TV Don Jose Carmen and Otello Otello (Opera Works, BBC 2), Florestan Fidelio (South Bank Show)
Christopher Ovenden
Born Belfast
Training ENO Baylis
Opera Macduff Macbeth (Surrey Opera), Ferrando Così fan tutte (London Opera Players), Quint/Prologue The Turn of the Screw (Pigott’s Music Camp), Basilio/Curzio The Marriage of Figaro (Palace Opera), Alfred Die Fledermaus (Tête à Tête)
Concert Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle (Barnes Choral Society), Berlioz L’Enfance du Christ (Kensington Choral Society), Mendelssohn Elijah (Putney Choral Society)
Anthony Stuart Lloyd
Falstaff
Baritone
Born Cardiff
Training RWCMD, GSMD
Awards Sir Geraint Evans Memorial Prize, MOCSA Young Welsh Singer Competition, National Mozart Competition, Royal National Eisteddford Blue Riband
Opera Jacob Joseph (Bill Kenwright Ltd), Black Bob The Little Sweep (Alfresco Productions), Leoporello Don Giovanni and Mefistopheles Faust (Freiburg Opera), Basilio The Barber of Seville (WNO)
Concert Beethoven Symphony no 9 (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), Berlioz La Damnation de Faust (London Symphony Orchestra), Mendelsohn Elijah (National Chamber Orchestra of Wales)
Recordings Gran Sacerdote Nabucco (BBC, WNO), King of Clubs Love for Three Oranges (Freiburg Opera, Südwest FUMK TV)
Thomas Walker
Fenton
Craig Smith
Born Bolton
Training Manchester University, RNCM
Awards Ricordi Prize for Opera
Opera Ford Falstaff (ETO), Don Magnifico La Cenerentola (Garden Opera), Michele/Tonio Tabarro/Pagliacci (ON), Sharpless Madame Butterfly (Opera Project), Rigoletto Rigoletto (OHP) + one?
Concert Handel Messiah (Liverpool Philharmonic), Puccini Madame Butterfly (Liverpool Philharmonic), Tchaikovsky Maid of Orleans (BBC Philharmonic)
Recordings Martin In Terra Pax (Swiss Radio)
Harriet Williams
Mistress Quickly
Mezzo-Soprano
Born London
Training Arts Educational Schools, GSMD
Awards Sybil Tutton Trust, Ian Fleming Award, Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship, Countess of Munster
Opera Smeton Anna Bolena (HM Tower of London Festival), Marcellina The Marriage of Figaro (Cork Opera), Old Sister 1 Babette’s Feast (Linbury, ROH), Nenila The Enchantress (Grange Park Opera), Cherubino The Marriage of Figaro (WNO)
Concert Bach St Matthew Passion (Salisbury Cathedral), Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio (Academy of St Martin’s in the Field), Handel Jeptha (Darmstadt Hofkapelle)
Recordings Fortuna Coronation of Poppea (BBC, WNO)
Rebecca Bottone
Born Bedford
Training RAM
Awards Leverhulme Award (RAM), Sybil Tutton Award, Kathie Thomas Prize
Opera Tytania A Midsummer Night’s Dream (BYO), Flamina Il Mondo della Luna and Amore The Coronation of Poppea (RAM), Vixen The Cunning Little Vixen (Surrey Opera), Sabina Adriano in Siria (Classical Opera Company)
Concert Mozart Grabmusick (Wigmore Hall), Lunchtime Recital (ROH Linbury Studio), Handel Acis and Galatea (St Martin’s-in-the-Field)
Recordings Britten Albert Herring (BBC Radio 3 and Chandos, cond. Hickox)
Alan Fairs
Pistol
Born London
Opera Notar Die Rosenkavalier (ROH), Bartolo The Marriage of Figaro (WNO), Micha The Bartered Bride (GFO), Bonzo Madam Butterfly (Scottish Opera), Avocat Un Re in Asscolto (Geneva)
Concert Handel The Messiah (Düsseldorf), Haydn The Creation (Stoke on Trent), Elgar The Dream of Gerontius (Leeds)
Verdi’s comic masterpiece emerged triumphant.
This unpretentious, funny and touching Falstaff should win friends for Verdi’s underappreciated opera. I would gladly see it again.
— SUNDAY TIMES
This plucky little company has triumphed. The humour is gentle, the characterisations warm, the diction first-class, and the music, courtesy of Jonathan Dove’s exquisite arrangement for chamber orchestra and Stuart Stratford’s vividly detailed conducting, utterly absorbing.
This is a marvellous show.
— INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Stuart Stratford, who kept the piece’s energies bubbling while remaining considerate of the singers. The orchestra played with gusto.
Andrew Slater (an amiable Falstaff), Craig Smith (Ford) and Julie Unwin (Alice) led a well-balanced team, all members of which put Andrew Porter’s excellent translation across with effortless clarity. Refreshingly, in the medium-sized Hackney Empire, with its warm acoustic, there was no need for surtitles.
— THE TELEGRAPH
Andrew Slater is a characterful singer you would travel miles to see, and his oddly low-octane Falstaff is supported by a lovely turn by Rebecca Bottone as Nannetta and another collection of our best young singers.
— THE TIMES
Showing At
- Hackney Empire
15th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal, Lincoln
17th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal, Lincoln
19th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Wycombe Swan
22nd Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
27th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
28th Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Assembly Hall Theatre
31st Oct 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Snape Maltings Concert Hall
3rd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Snape Maltings Concert Hall
5th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
10th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
11th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
15th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
17th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Exeter Northcott
18th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Cambridge Arts Theatre
22nd Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Cambridge Arts Theatre
25th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal Bath
28th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Theatre Royal Bath
30th Nov 2005 - 7:30 pm
- Coronation Hall, Ulverston
2nd Dec 2005 - 7:30 pm


