Falstaff

Conductor Zubin Mehta Director David McVicar Set design Charles Edwards Costumes Gabrielle Dalton Lighting Paul Keogan Movement director Leah Hausman Falstaff Ambrogio Maestri Ford Simon Keenlyside Fenton Yijie Shi Alice Ford Olga Bezsmertna Nannetta Chen Reiss Mrs. Quickly Marie-Nicole Lemieux 1 intermission

The first performance of Falstaff took place on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan to great success. The illustrious French baritone Victor Maurel, who had created the role of Iago in Verdi's previous opera, Otello, sang Falstaff at the premiere.

The first performance abroad was in the Vienna State Opera, on 21 May 1893.Hamburg first saw Falstaff on 2 January 1894, conducted by Gustav Mahler.In the UK, the opera was first presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 19 May 1894 with Arturo Pessina in the title role, while the US premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on 4 February 1895 with Victor Maurel as Falstaff.The opera is still frequently performed throughout the world.While it has not proved to be as immensely popular as the Verdi works that immediately preceded it, namely Aida and Otello, Falstaff has long been an admired favorite with critics and musicians because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodic invention. It is in the standard repertoire of many opera companies.