« All Events

The Met Live in HD: Falstaff (Verdi) with Pre-Opera Talk

*Falstaff has an early start time of 12:30 PM
The Pre-Opera talk for Falstaff will begin at 11:30 AM

Baritone Michael Volle stars as the caddish knight Falstaff, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance, in Verdi’s glorious Shakespearean comedy. Maestro Daniele Rustioni takes the podium to oversee a brilliant ensemble cast that features sopranos Hera Hyesang Park Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux, tenor Bogdan Volkov, and baritone Christopher Maltman.

Approx. Running Time: 3 hours (with 1 Intermission)

Pre-opera talk, presented by Morton Achter, will begin at 11:30 a.m., and the opera begina at 12:30 p.m. 
Following each broadcast, there will be a brief “post-opera” discussion about what we have just seen, for those who wish to stay on.

We first meet the foolish knight in Shakespeare’s Henry IV: Part I and Part II and again, supposedly at the urging of Elizabeth I, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, the source from which Verdi (1813-1901) drew for his final opera.  Falstaff (1893) is one of only two comedies by Verdi, and ranks along with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Rossini’s The Barber of Seville (1816), Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (1843) and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (1918) as a masterpiece of the Italian opera buffa genre.  Did the eighty-year-old Verdi perhaps consider Sir John Falstaff (the character) his alter ego?

Morton Achter, presenter:
This is the thirteenth season of The Met: Live in HD for which Morton Achter, a resident of Topsham and formerly of New Harbor, will present a series of pre-opera talks prior to selected broadcasts at the Lincoln Theater.  A retired college professor, Dr. Achter has taught about, produced, and directed opera and related stage genres for over sixty years.  Educated at the Eastman School of Music and M.I.T., and holding a Ph.D. in music and theater history from the University of Michigan, locally he has directed productions for the Lincoln County Community Theater, River Company, Round Top Center for the Arts, and Bath’s Chocolate Church Arts Center.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Midcoast Senior College in Brunswick, and has offered music-related courses for the organization since 2010.

All ticket sales are final – nonrefundable and nontransferable.

Tickets are available at the door beginning 30 minutes before showtime, or in advance* through our online box office.

*Advance tickets or confirmation emails may be printed for admission OR you may check in with your email address at the theater box office when you arrive.