A very merry Falstaff
By Galina Stolyarova
Staff Writer
Director Kirill Serebrennikov’s opera debut at the Mariinsky Theater takes on Verdi’s ribald comedy and sides with its eponymous hero. Showing sympathy for the eponymous rascal of “Falstaff,” first-time opera director Kirill Serebrennikov, the enfant terrible of Moscow’s theater scene, has turned Shakepeare’s merry wives into a gang of stylish and heartless battle-axes. Serebrennikov’s engaging production of Guiseppe Verdi’s last opera, based on “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Henry IV,” premiered at the Mariinsky Theater last Wednesday. “Falstaff” was first staged at Milan’s La Scala 1893. It’s central character is the aging lothario Sir John Falstaff, who features in several Shakespeare plays. In the opera, Falstaff (Viktor Chernomortsev) sends identical love letters to Alice Ford (Oksana Shilova) and Meg Page (Yelena Sommer). The two ladies, who happen to know each other, discover this cheeky trick and plan revenge. Mistress Quickly (Mzia Nioradze) urges Falstaff to court Alice, while Alice’s husband (Alexander Gergalov) disguises himself as her unhappy admirer “Fontana” and comes to Falstaff to convince the ladies’ man to seduce Alice. Ford’s daughter Nannetta (Lyudmila Dudinova) is in love with Fenton (Andrei Ilyushnikov) but engaged to Dr. Cajus (Nikolai Gassiyev) as her parents prefer the wealthy doctor to the humble Fenton. Alice receives Falstaff in her house, and when Meg arrives, Sir John finds refuge in a laundry basket — only to be thrown out with the arrival of “Fontana.” Mistress Quickly persuades Falstaff to meet Alice in Windsor Forest, where the long-suffering man gets pinched, punched, tickled and pricked by Alice, Meg and the rest of the crowd pretending to be “evil spirits.” Nannetta and Fenton use this masquerade to get married. And after all masks are removed, Falstaff is relieved to see that many other people were similarly fooled. Serebrennikov’s production balances on the verge of misogyny: Alice, Meg and Mistress Quickly, like empty-headed dolls, pull their lips and meticulously plan vicious revenge as they get their nails and hair done in a beauty salon. The director contrasts Falstaff’s emotional spontaneity with the womens’ mean, cold-blooded callousness. Their vendetta appears shallow, and the audiences are likely to sympathize with Falstaff. Chernomortsev’s Falstaff is an aging charmer. A big man with a big heart who just can’t help falling for too many women and who throws himself into romances without giving thought to the consequences. Vocally and dramatically, Chernomortsev was overwhelmingly convincing. The main challenge of this opera is its ensemble pieces. The cast navigated safely through the pitfalls, and the orchestra, under the baton of Mariinsky Theater artistic director Valery Gergiev, barnstormed confidently through the score. The opera’s crowd scenes appear to have been most difficult for the director. The finale, choreographed by ballet master Alla Sigalova, was disappointing. Fashioned to resemble an S&M fetish party, complete with whips, lashes, leather corsets and masks, it lacked a consistent concept. Falstaff, who should react violently to the tortures of the “evil spirits,” instead receives passively an attack of quite merciful and not-very-energetic little pinches. The pizzicato of the score was felt only in the orchestra pit without much support on stage. Devils, ghosts and witches indulged in well-synchronized dances and expressed little interest in their rotund captive instead of attacking Sir John like piranhas. Having Falstaff fall unconscious in the last scene (the libretto has him smiling) amid the orchestra barreling along in major, is therefore perplexing. Serebrennikov’s theater background served to the production’s advantage. The director plays with physicality and teases the audience in a deliciously provocative way. At the beginning of Act II, the corpulent and imposing Chernomortsev pampers himself in a bath tub overflowing with foam, exposing his chest and belly. At the end of Act II, the audience watches, hearts ticking with anticipation, as the laundry basket containing the mighty Sir John — lifted in the air by a crane — approaches a large window. In a theatrical fashion, Serebrennikov introduces pantomime characters. Pot-bellied devils, restless and frivolous, fidget around Falstaff every now and then. To Serebrennikov’s credit, he has succeeded in creating a lively visual spectacular, without overplaying the comic note. The director is sophisticated in his allusions to the opera’s subtext about the nouveau riche. Avoiding direct parallels with inhabitants of Moscow’s millionaire district Rublyovka, Serebrennikov opts for a retro link instead. In Act III, a glamorous black vintage Ford carrying Nannetta and her beloved Fenton stands still, and its movement is shown by dozens of body guards, Cosa Nostra style, waving Nannetta’s scarf in the air. “Falstaff” will next be performed at the Mariinsky Theater on March 28. www. mariinsky.ru
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