Otto Nicolai

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor

Opera in concert


Conductor: Felix Korobov

Choirmaster: Yulia Senyukova

Stage Director: Anna Levicheva



Chief conductor Epiphany Festival at Novaya Opera
17 Januar — 2 February 2020

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Winsor) is the last opera by Otto Nicolai (1810–1849),the high point of his creative work and at the same time a full-fledged debut (!) in the genre of the German opera. Previously the composer wrote operas to Italian librettos. However, in two cases Italian versions were followed by German ones. Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor is a brilliant example of the early romantic German opera. According to the composer, his piece combined Italian elegancy and Teutonism.

The first performance of Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor in Berlin on March 9, 1849 was a great success. Two months later Nicolai became the director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin and on the May 11 he was elected a member to the Königlich Preußische Akademie der Künste (Royal Prussian Academy of Arts). By fatal circumstances he died that day…

Nicolai’s last opera remained very popular during half a century. Even after the appearance of Verdi’s Falstaff to the same plot, Nicolai’s music did not lose its attraction. It also brought glory to the dramatist Salomon Hermann Mosenthal who tried himself for the first time as a librettist. The plot is based on William Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Winsor (1597). The action takes place in the English town of Windsor in the early 17th century. Sir John Falstaff tries to allure two wives of honoured citizens of Windsor – Frau Fluth and Frau Reich – at the same time. The women disclose his intention, get mortally offended and decide to give it hot and strong to the old womanizer. Along with their wily tricks there is a love story of two young people, Anna and Fenton. The love and comic beginnings are expressed in Nicolai’s wonderful music.

The opera will be performed in concert under the baton of Honoured Artist of Russia and of the Republic of Abkhazia Felix Korobov, a winner of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award and of the Moscow City Literature and Arts Prize.

 

subscribe

Contact

Gosudarstvennoe byudzhetnoe uchrezhdenie kul`tury` goroda Moskvy` «Moskovskij teatr «Novaya Opera» imeni E.V.Kolobova»