"Chimes" in Sarasota

Margaret writes to tell us that the new Criterion version of Chimes at Midnight, Orson Welles's unique rendering of Falstaff, will soon be available at our libraries:

Five copies of Chimes At Midnight were ordered by the Sarasota Library system on 7-22-16 - one for each branch. I'm #2 on the reserved list. The reviews and cast Are excellent!

I saw the film many years ago - despite the wear of time and tape, it was unforgettable.

The New Yorker's Richard Brody offers some remarks that might apply to Verdi and Boito's Falstaff as well:

Falstaff is great—at “nothing,” in Shakespeare’s phrase—but a nothing which, as Falstaff himself knows and says, is “all the world.” He flaunts the open maw of desire, the sumptuous thrill of pleasure. He embodies the brazenly lighthearted and insolent, proud and arrogant hero, the very soul of illicit dreams—the principle of life itself, of a vitality that knows no shadow, that itself casts a dazzling artificial light that overwhelms reason even as it sharpens wit.

 Looking forward to the Criterion edition. Once again the trailer:

A few bits of Shakespeare's Falstaff

As we prepare for Verdi's Falstaff, here are the texts of Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2.

A few selections from the opera and from Shakespeare here.

And three scenes with Roger Allam's incredible Falstaff:

Hen IV. Part 1 Act 1 Sc. 2

Falstaff’s Honor speech Hen. IV. Part 1

A short trailer for one of the greatest films most people have never seen: The confabulation of Falstaff known as Chimes at Midnight, Orson Welles:

 

A bit of Falstaff

Maestri as Falstaff

Verdi's last opera didn't come easily. With Arrigo Boito, the composer worked on Falstsaff in fits and starts for three years. Verdi turned 80 before it was complete.

At one point in a letter he described the opera as a madman that he had to subdue:

The Big Belly ["pancione" -- the name given to the opera before the composition of Falstaff became public knowledge] is on the road to madness. There are some days when he does not move, he sleeps, and is in a bad humour. At other times he shouts, runs, jumps, and tears the place apart; I let him act up a bit, but if he goes on like this, I will put him in a muzzle and straitjacket.[28]

The first performance, at La Scala, was a hit: 

at the end the applause for Verdi and the cast lasted an hour

A brief snip with Ambrogio Maestri as Falstaff at Covent Garden:

Too bad the whole production isn't yet available online. Here's a complete production of Falstaff at La Scala, conducted by Ricardo Muti, again with Maestri.

A few resources:

• Italian Libretto. 

• English translation here.

• Some background.

Verdi directing Falstaff

"I believe it will take years and years before the general public understand this masterpiece, but when they really know it they will run to hear it like they do now for Rigoletto and La traviata." - Arturo Toscanini