Chamber Stage

Libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi after William Shakespare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor

Conductor to be announced
Stage Director: Alexander Khukhlin
Set and Costume Designer: Anastasia Bugaeva-Ryabushinskaya
Chorus Master: Pavel Suchkov

One of the earliest operatic versions of Shakespeare's play, Salieri's Falstaff is notable for a general compression and streamlining of the original plot, note the absence of the two young lovers, Fenton and Anne, and the addition of a scene in which Mistress Ford pretends to be German to charm Falstaff (actually two such scenes exist, one in a separate score by Salieri was probably omitted from the original Viennese productions). Defranceschi moves the plot and structure away from Elizabethan drama and closer to the standard conventions of late 18th century opera buffa.