Giuseppe Verdi's unforgettable masterpiece: Falstaff to meet the audience at AKM

The Istanbul State Opera and Ballet is staging Giuseppe Verdi's final masterpiece, 'Falstaff', which can be described as a human comedy, at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) Türk Telekom Opera Hall.

On May 11, the world-renowned Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic will be on stage in the role of “Sir John Falstaff”.

Known for his performances at the world's leading opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, l'Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Oper Frankfurt, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and holding numerous international awards, the Financial Times has described baritone Lucic as “one of the leading Verdi baritones of our time.”

BÜLENT BEZDÜZ WILL BE ON STAGE

On May 8 and 18, soloist Bülent Bezdüz, who was awarded in the “Best Opera Recording” category at the 48th Grammy Awards in 2006 for the Falstaff Opera, will be on stage in the role of “Fenton”.

Verdi mentioned that he took great pleasure in composing this humorous, mischievous, and witty opera after composing many dramatic and tragic operas. The work, adapted from William Shakespeare's plays “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “Henry IV”, has a libretto by Arrigo Boito. The work, which will be performed in Italian, is directed by Renato Bonajuto.

The Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Orchestra is conducted by Tolga Atalay Ün.

The set design belongs to Efter Tunç, costume design to Ayşegül Alev, and lighting design to Yakup Çartık. The chorus master of the work is Paolo Villa.

ABOUT FALSTAFF

Set in 14th-century England, the work tells the story of a chain of events that begins when the fat, womanizing Falstaff, one of the most entertaining characters created by Shakespeare, tries to seduce Alice Ford and Meg Page, who are both married and good friends.

In this human comedy, it is emphasized that at the end of a chaos where love, money, ambition, and intrigue—in short, all human emotions—are experienced, everything in this world full of fools is nothing more than a joke.

In the performances, the following will be on stage in rotation: N. Işık Belen and Zeljko Lucic as “Sir John Falstaff”; Caner Akgün and Alper Göçeri as “Ford”; Bülent Bezdüz and Ufuk Toker as “Fenton”; Çağrı Köktekin and Anıl Önder as “Dr. Cajus”; Hazal Ata and Bahadır Özkoca as “Bardolfo”; Erdem Sakarya and Ali Haydar Taş as “Pistola”; Esra Abacıoğlu Akcan and Şebnem A. Kışlalı as “Alice Ford”; Sevim Ateş and Özgecan Gençer as “Nannetta”; İpek Zehra Evre and Deniz Likos as “Mrs. Quickly”; and Barbora F. Hitay and E. Tuğba Tekışık as “Mrs. Meg Page.”

News Source: 12punto