The Merry Wives of Windsor (opera).html
 
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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 Hermann Salomon Mosenthal, based on the play The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare.

The opera is a Singspiel, containing much spoken dialogue between distinct musical numbers. The opera remains popular in Germany, and the overture is sometimes heard in concert in other countries.

Contents

Performance history

The first performance was at the Hofoper in Berlin on 9 March 1849.

Roles

Role Voice type Premiere cast,
9 March 1849
(Conductor: Carl Otto Nicolai)
Frau Fluth (Alice Ford) soprano Leopoldine Tuczek
Frau Reich (Meg Page) mezzo soprano Pauline Marx
Sir John Falstaff bass August Zschiesche
Fenton tenor Julius Pfister
Herr Fluth (Ford) baritone Julius Krause
Anna Reich (Anne Page) soprano Louise Köster
Herr Reich (Page) bass August Mickler
Spärlich (Slender) tenor Eduard Mantius
Dr. Cajus bass A. Lieder
Men and women of Windsor, neighbors, elves, spooks, insects chorus

Synopsis

The story is close to that of Verdi's Falstaff. Pistol and Bardolph are absent from this version, but Slender is present. The women have German names. Alice is Frau Fluth and Meg is Frau Reich.

Noted arias

  • "Horche, die Lerche singt" (Fenton)
  • "Als Büblein klein an der Mutter Brust" (Falstaff)
  • "Nun eilt Herbei" (Frau Fluth)

Selected recordings

References

  1. ^ Lamb, Andrew, Review of recording of Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1977). The Musical Times, 118 (1615): p. 737.
  2. ^ Lamb, Andrew, Review of recording of Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (1978). The Musical Times, 119 (1628): p. 866.

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