Summary
Verdi’s final opera is a comic masterpiece based on Shakespeare’s larger-than-life character Sir John Falstaff. The fat old Knight pursues two married women of Windsor, Alice Ford and Meg Page, for money and for sex. Meanwhile Alice’s husband Mr. Ford pursues Falstaff in a fit of furious jealousy, and young Master Fenton furtively courts Ford’s daughter Nannetta against her father’s wishes. Needless to say, the merry wives of Windsor finally outsmart the foolish men, teach both Ford and Falstaff a lesson, and Nannetta marries her beloved Fenton. The opera concludes with a famous Fugue – almost the last music Verdi ever wrote – in which all the characters remind us not to take ourselves too seriously, since the world we live in is filled with folly… 

Notes
For many years now Verdi’s Falstaff has been high on the Diva Opera wish list and this year we are delighted to bring you our first ever production of this comic masterpiece. Directed by David Edwards whose most recent production for Diva Opera was our acclaimed production of La Traviata in 2007, with set and costumes by talented young designer Cordelia Chisholm, this production should not be missed.  Alan Fairs heads the cast as Sir John Falstaff and is joined by an equally impressive line-up including Soprano Linda Richardson as Alice Ford, Mezzo Soprano Antonia Sotgiu as Mistress Quickly, Louise Mott as Meg Page and Tom McVeigh as Ford.  Diva Opera newcomers Adrian Dwyer and Sarah Power are sure to delight as the young lovers Fenton and Nannetta.