Reviews

North Bay Opera's

"Falstaff" a must see

Kathleen Whalen

Fairfield Daily Republic

North Bay Opera company's new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s comic masterpiece Falstaff offers all the proof one needs that there is no need to drive to San Francisco for first-class operatic entertainment.

Since 1989 this regional opera company has staged one opera with orchestra a year, drawing from the many excellent musicians living in the Bay Area.

This year's production of Falstaff is a triumph by any standard. With a libretto drawn from William Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor, it tells the tale of the plot by Sir John Falstaff to seduce the wives of two prosperous merchants, and their counter-plot to best the lecherous knight.

This opera’s success or failure depends on the bass-baritone chosen to sing Falstaff. Paul Cheak's Falstaff is the boozy, womanizing braggart that Verdi intended. Blessed with a big voice and in this production at least, an equally big belly Cheak commands the stage with ease . . . In his Act 3 "Mondo ladro" ( "The world is false") Cheak shows us that, if only for a moment, even Falstaff can feel loneliness and despair.

Young soprano Elizabeth Gentner was a worthy foil as Mistress Alice Ford. She has a supple, full-bodied voice perhaps better suited for a larger venue, but displayed a confidence and command of comedy unusual in a performer at such an early stage in her career.

Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Krouner made the most of the under-written role of Mistress Meg Page, while soprano Madison Emery Smith and tenor Michael Jankosky were touching as a pair of young lovers.

[Baritone] Tristan Robben, in his debut with the North Bay Opera, used his supple but often rather dark voice to good effect as Alice's rather dim husband, who is all too ready to believe his wife will betray him.

Conductor Philip Kuttner and director Ross Halper (who also played the sidekick Bardolph) have worked together often and know where to devote North Bay Opera's resources. Kuttner energetically directed an agile and responsive 11-member orchestra, while Halper's direction made the most of a small, sparsely furnished stage. If the stage decoration was understated, the costumes were not. Sylvia Gregory clothed the cast in sumptuously detailed gowns, cloaks, jerkins and headdresses.

This production of Falstaff will delight opera aficionados and neophytes alike.