André Flédérick

Paris Opera, October 1996. New production Jérôme Savary

Mr. Bennett is a model citizen, a tender father and an irreproachable husband, he yearns for a quiet life. On a weekend he receives a visit from a strange man called Pédro Juarez. Mr. Bennett’s past suddenly resurfaces and his peaceful existence is turned upside down ...

Based, in part, on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi's last work for the stage - and only his second comic opera. And yet the humour in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito.

Abbado wholly vindicates Verdi’s intentions through his feeling for the shape of a whole scene, for the inherent subtleties of Verdi’s scoring and for certain rhythmic effects.

1957年11月。フランスの港町シェルブールにある傘店のひとり娘、ジュヌビエーブは、近所で働く青年ギーと強く愛し合う仲だ。しかし、非情にも軍からの召集令状がギーに届き、ギーが2年間の兵役に旅立つ前日、2人は初めて関係を結ぶ。やがてジュヌビエーブの母親は店の経営難を乗り切るため、娘を宝石商に紹介。そこで結婚話がまとまってしまうが、実はジュヌビエーブのお腹の中にはギーの子どもがいた。