The devil rides a violin bow in Falstaff at the Aix Festival ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Oh what a night! Made by the hands of masters in the courtyard of the Archevêché, this Falstaff didn't allow our feet to touch the ground for an instant. Unquestionably, Falstaff sees it right: "il diavolo cavalca sull’arco di un violino". It's an immaculate production worthy of the great evenings in the Aix Festival. …the music whirrs, soars and crumbles, rolls with glee and panache. It's rounded, it's generous, it's mouth-watering. The brass shines and sparkles, and there we are, on board for two and a half hours of madness. Like Verdi's work, Barrie Kosky's staging and Daniele Rustioni's conducting of the music are jewels of clockwork. Everything is aligned between the pit and the stage with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, down to the tapping of Mistress Quickly's nails on the table (the excellent Daniela Barcellona) in her meeting with the fat man, who finds his exact equivalent in the pit with deliciously pianissimo: it sets the rhythm and colour of the whole scene. Everything is meticulous, perfectly constructed… the singers and the Opéra de Lyon Orchestra gave us great moments of sensitivity.”
Romain Daroles, Bachtrack