The Istanbul State Opera and Ballet is staging Giuseppe Verdi’s last masterpiece, a human comedy opera “Falstaff” which is adapted from William Shakespeare’s plays “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Henry IV”. The libretto of the work belongs to Arrigo Boito.
The work will be performed at the Atatürk Cultural Center – Türk Telekom Opera Hall and will meet art lovers on May 13-27-31, 2023.
One of the biggest reasons Verdi wanted to compose “Falstaff” was his admiration for Shakespeare. After many dramatic and tragic operas, Verdi stated that he greatly enjoyed composing this humorous, mischievous, and witty opera.
The director of the opera, which will be sung in Italian, is Renato Bonajuto. Tolga Atalay Ün conducts the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Orchestra. The set design is by Efter Tunç, the costume design is by Ayşegül Alev, and the lighting design is by Yakup Çartık. Paolo Villa is the chorus conductor of the work.
The plot of the opera, which takes place in 14th century England, revolves around the chain of events that begin with the fat womanizer Falstaff’s attempts to seduce Alice Ford and Meg Page, who are both married and good friends. In this human comedy, love, money, ambition, intrigue, and all human emotions are experienced in a chaotic world full of fools, and it is emphasized that everything is just a joke.
In the work, Işık Belen, Cengiz Sayın, Caner Akgün, Alper Göçeri, Murat Güney, Berk Dalkılıç, Ufuk Toker, Çağrı Köktekin, Anıl Önder, Hazal Ata, Can Reha Gün, Bahadır Özkoca, Göktuğ Alpaşar, Erdem Sakarya, Ali Haydar Taş, Şebnem A. Kışlalı, Sevim Ateş, Dilruba Bilgi, Özgecan Gençer, İpek Zehra Evre, Deniz Likos, Ayçin Sürücüer, Nesrin Gönüldağ, and Barbora F.Hitay take turns playing roles.
