Mercury Opera Rochester - The Cast of Verdi's "Falstaff"

Mercury Opera Rochester - Professional Opera in Rochester

Mercury Opera Rochester presented Verdi's Falstaff in January 2011 at Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre

Verdi's Falstaff will be presented on January 14th and 16th, 2011 at Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York, The production will be conducted by Mercury Opera Rochester’s Artistic Director, Benton Hess, with dramatic direction by David Bartholomew.

The composer’s final work and the one he considered his best, Falstaff is based on two of Shakespeare’s plays: The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV. Filled with love, lust, comedy and pathos, the opera is a favorite of musicians and audiences alike and well-known for its incredible ensembles, brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodic invention.

Verdi amazed the musical world when he crowned a lifetime of operatic tragedies with this richly comic portrait of Sir John Falstaff, featuring a flood of melodies, inexhaustible rhythms, and a quicksilver orchestral palette. Verdi’s librettist, Arrigo Boito, put it best when he said, “We got all the juice from that Shakespearean orange, without any of the seeds.”

In a complicated and fast-paced plot, Falstaff, a jovial scoundrel who likes his wine perhaps too much, attempts to woo two married women with identical letters. They and several other characters decide to teach Falstaff a lesson. The resulting charade involves disguises, ghosts, fairies, and witches, but the young lovers successfully wed as all ends well.

Recent Irene Dalis Vocal Competition winner Scott Bearden returns to Rochester to sing the title role after his overwhelming reception as Germont in last season’s La Traviata. Mr. Bearden impresses audiences and critics alike with his vivid portrayals of many of the heavier baritone roles from the Italian repertoire. He has sung leading roles in Otello, I Pagliacci, Il Trovatore, Falstaff, Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and La Bohème with Opera San Jose, Knoxville Opera, Toledo Opera and Mississippi Opera.

Young American baritone Andrew Oakden (Marcello in La Bohème) returns to Rochester to sing the role of Ford, after making his Metropolitan Opera debut in the fall of 2010. Rochester favorite Kathryn Lewek (Lizzie in Bach's Coffee Cantata) returns to sing the role of Nannetta. Additional cast members include Gwenneth Bean as Dame Quickly, Marc Webster as Pistol, Jessica Dold as Alice Ford, Kathryn Cowdrick as Meg Page, and frequent Rochester performer Robert Strauss as Dr. Caius. The young upcoming American tenor Jonathan Blalock will sing the role of Fenton. Character tenor Jamin Flabiano sings the role of Bardolfo.

Tickets for Falstaff are $70, $55, $40 and $25 with box seats at Kodak Hall priced at $85. Student tickets (with ID) are $10.