Customer Reviews

Verdi - Falstaff / G. Evans · Freni · Simionato · R. Merrill · Kraus · RCA IOO · Solti

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I have read the other review of this work and I take great exception. This is the recording by which others should be judged. Solti captures the raucousness of Falstaff, using and emphasizing the horns like great comedic guffaws. Geraint Evans oozes unctiousness and Freni sweetly takes on the only aria in the whole opera. When you digest this version of Falstaff everything else is so lady-like and almost effeminate. Falstaff is a drunk, he smells and he is dishonest. Strings cannot bring home this earthy opera the way Solti and the horns do and Solti keeps the opera moving in a wild, continuous manner--like a ball well dented rolling downhill and he finesses the fugue at the end. This opera, in my opinion Verdi's masterpiece, is in continous motion the way Gianni Schicci is. It is not a stop, stand and sing opera like Don Carlos and others make that mistake--not Solti.

Although this appears to be a very fine recording, I prefer both Karajan-EMI and Toscanini-RCA. First, in spite of the fact that Solti conducts with his customary energy and dynamism, he lacks, I feel, just a little bit of Karajan's deftly pointed touch, and his Rome ensemble, though it plays with discipline and commitment, is not quite in the same league of virtuosity and refinement of sound as Karajan's vintage 1950s Philharmonia. Moreover, neither he nor Karajan project the explosive eruption of earthy, rollicking spirits as Toscanini uniquely does (and who also boasts a fine cast, though many people think that Karajan's is even finer). Secondly, Evans as Falstaff, though strongly characterized, may lack a bit of Gobbi's subtlety. However, the singing overall seems to be quite good, and Freni's Nanetta in particular has a very sweet, lovely tone.
In short, this is certainly worth the under eight dollar price that it can currently be had for from this site (and therefore, for those not familiar with this work, a good introduction), but there are, in my opinion, at least two superior overall recordings.