Falstaff 6 Minute Highlights - San Francisco Opera (2013)

Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi Bryn Terfel, the "definitive" Falstaff of our day (Chicago Tribune), returns to San Francisco Opera in one of his truly legendary roles. Based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, Verdi's last opera is a wise, wistful comedy about a self-deluded old man who vainly attempts to seduce two women at once. "Terfel is so irascible, nimble on his feet and altogether charming that he almost makes you forget how splendidly he sings the music" (The New York Times). Music Director Nicola Luisotti leads a cast that also features Ainhoa Arteta, the "vocally alluring" Roxane of San Francisco Opera's Cyrano de Bergerac (2010) (San Francisco Chronicle); the "impressive" Meredith Arwady (The New York Times); Fabio Capitanucci, renowned for his "robust, warm voice and impressive Italianate lyricism" (The New York Times); the "wonderfully lyrical" Francesco Demuro (MusicalCriticism.com); and Heidi Stober, who brought "lustrous tone, technical precision and saucy humor" to her roles in San Francisco Opera's Xerxes (2011) and The Magic Flute (2012) (San Francisco Chronicle). Sung in Italian with English supertitles Approximate running time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including one intermission