Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff – Christopher Purves & Tassis Christoyannis

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, East Sussex, June 2009.

The inspirational Vladimir Jurowski conducts Verdi’s last opera, his only true comic opera. An international cast is led by Christopher Purves in the larger-than-life role of the corpulent Falstaff, whose profligacy both outrages and inspires the citizens of Windsor. Richard Jones’s production brings out the humour, bitterness and anger – mixed with tenderness and wisdom – embodied in the Shakespeare plays on which the libretto is based. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

‘In the pit, Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic hone their reflexes so that the instrumental guffaw, exclamation, explosive flourish leaps out at you. It’s exciting and detailed and rhythmically so alive.’ The Independent

“Purves’s Falstaff is] a masterpiece of comic timing. But this performance is also beautifully sung, capturing the Italianate ardour within the bosom of Windsor’s beached whale…Francois Roussillon’s direction, giving a due flavour of the theatrical ambience, results in a model of filmed opera. — BBC Music Magazine, May 2010, 5 out of 5 stars