The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera)
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The Merry Wives of Windsor (in German: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is an opera in three acts by Carl Otto Nicolai to a German libretto by Salomon Hermann von Mosenthal, based on the play The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare. The first performance was at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, in 1849.
The opera is a Singspiel, containing much spoken dialogue between distinct musical numbers. The opera is occasionally performed, and the overture is more frequently heard in concert.
Contents |
- Principal roles
- Alice Ford or Mrs. Fluth - Soprano
- Meg Page or Mrs. Reich - Mezzo-soprano
- Sir John Falstaff - Bass
- Fenton - Tenor
- Mr. Ford or Fluth - Baritone
- Anne Page - Soprano
- Minor roles
- Mr. Page or Reich - Bass
- Slender - Tenor
- Dr. Caius - Bass (with high ossias)
- Other
- First neighbor - Tenor
- Neighbors, elves, spooks, insects - Chorus
- "Horche, die Lerche singt" (Fenton)
- Drinking Song (Falstaff)
- Deutsche Grammophon 2740 159: Edith Mathis, Hanna Schwarz, Kurt Moll, Bernd Weikl, Siegfried Vogel, Peter Schreier, Claude Dornoy; Chorus of the Staatsoper; Berlin Staatskapelle; Bernhard Klee, conductor[1]
- Decca D86D 3: Helen Donath, Karl Ridderbusch, Wolfgang Brendel, Lilian Sukis; Bavarian Radio Chorus; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Rafael Kubelík, conductor[2]