Verdi's last laughs and Josep Pons at the Liceu

Josep Pons bids an operatic farewell to the Gran Teatre del Liceu (the highlight of Mahler's Eighth Symphony on Friday, July 24, still awaits) with the same title with which Verdi said goodbye to the world of theatre: Falstaff, a lyrical comedy with text by Arrigo Boito based on William Shakespeare's The Merry Wivesof Windsor by William Shakespeare. A real declaration of principles in the hands of the almost octogenarian Italian composer, who in 1893 lowered the curtain on his brilliant career at Milan's La Scala with a comedy full of sarcasm and two basic principles: 1) life is a joke and we must know how to play it and accept its punchlines; 2) we must look back to progress (“Torniamo all’antico e sarà progresso”, Verdi had written in 1871 in a letter to Francesco Florimo). Hence the final fugue with which the third and last act of Falstaff concludes, a true ethical and aesthetic manifesto against the “modernity” of the composers of the Giovane Scuola, advocating for the masters of the past, just as Wagner had done in Meistersinger.Over fourteen years, Josep Pons has worked diligently with an orchestra that has been renewed in substance and form. And which has yielded excellent results, especially in Mozart and in German, Slavic, and 20th-century titles. However, is Falstaff the most suitable work for the director from Puig-Reig? These performances have once again revealed the work on the detailism of the sections and the generous sonority. But the theatrical verve has been missed, apart from occasional imprecisions in the coordination with the singers. Nevertheless, and setting aside entirely subjective stylistic issues, it must be acknowledged that Pons does not forget the precious background (Mozartian?) of episodes like the one in Windsor Park, where the baton shone brightly given the excellent performance of the musicians in the pit, in addition to the good work of the choir.In the second cast of the two scheduled for the end of the Liceu season, Ambrogio Maestri's indisputable authority has once again provided a lesson with a textbook Falstaff from the Italian singer-actor: he knows it all and knows how to bring water to his mill when his vocal conditions are no longer what they were ten or fifteen years ago (Maestri sang this title at the Liceu in 2010). Maestro Maestri masters the character, whom he humanizes with great theatrical intuition and musical wisdom. A lesson in style, in short.

Roberta Mantegna was an Alice Ford of immaculate technique and good comic resources, alongside three other great ladies: always good on stage, Marianna Pizzolato's Quickly lacked gravitas in the “Reverenza” addressed to Falstaff, while Laura Vilà's Meg shone in register, expressiveness, and projection. Another Catalan, soprano Maria Miró, sculpted an uninhibited and luminous Nannetta, with a prodigious third act as queen of the fairies. She had in Colombian tenor César Cortés's Fenton a more than adequate partner, thanks to the phrasing and lyricism brought to Dal labbro il canto estasiato vola by the singer.In this opera, Ford's part is the most Verdian of all. Baritone Lucas Meachem revealed the authority and mastery of character and style in his great scene (È sogno? O realtà?), as well as in the rest of his interventions. The other gentlemen of the evening also showed involvement, theatricality, and musical rigor, starting with the great Cajus of Josep Fadó. Fantastic and with just comedic timing Alessio Cacciamani (Pistola) and Pablo García-López (Bardolfo).But Falstaff is also theatre. And it requires a heavyweight director to get the most out of it. And who better than Laurent Pelly to do it? The French director premiered this production in Madrid in 2019 and, after touring other theatres, it has arrived at the Liceu thanks to the reviser Benoît De Leersnyder. Pelly's concept has the scenographic complicity of Barbara de Limburg, definitely contributing to the imbroglio, especially thanks to the stairs that distribute the characters and the different comic actions in the midwives' house, with solutions that can be reminiscent of slapstick or the cinema of Wes Anderson. Practically everything worked, even the always complex Windsor Park scene, in a stimulating show that satisfies everyone who wants to have a good time laughing not at, but with others. That's what it's all about.