Home > News > UCLA Department of Music Presents Verdi's Falstaff

UCLA Department of Music Presents Verdi's Falstaff

Carolyn Campbell (ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu) (310) 825-6540
For Immediate Use Wednesday, April 29, 1998.

The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture's Department of Music will present Verdi's masterpiece "Falstaff," performed in Italian with English supertitles on May 21 and 23, 1998, in Royce Hall at 8 p.m. John Del Carlo, who appears regularly with the Metropolitan Opera, will play Falstaff. All others roles will be performed by UCLA students.

Vincent Liotta, professor of opera at Indiana University, one of the world's largest and most distinguished centers for the study of opera, is the director. William Vendice, chorus master for the L.A. Opera is music director and will conduct the UCLA Philharmonia Orchestra. The production is made possible through the generous support of the Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation and the Gladys Turk Foundation.

"Falstaff" was Giuseppe Verdi's (1813-1901) last opera, written when he was 80. The piece centers on the robust and fun-loving anti-hero Falstaff from Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and "Henry IV, Part I" and "Henry IV, Part II." Verdi's young collaborator, Arrigo Boito, included Shakespeare's rollicking series of plots, misunderstandings, and secret assignations in his libretto as well as a finale in which the townspeople of Windsor turn the surrounding forest into a haunted fairy kingdom.

Classic Shakespearean characters include the "merry wives" Alice Ford and Meg Page who plot revenge after learning that Falstaff has tried to woo both of them simultaneously; Nannetta and Fenton, who are hopelessly in love in spite of her father's wishes; Bardolph and Pistol, Falstaff's comic cronies; and the denizens of the Garter Inn where Falstaff holds court.

American bass-baritone John Del Carlo has established himself as a leading artist with the finest opera companies and symphony orchestras throughout the world. New Yorker Magazine called him "…impressively strong, with the demeanor—which is in keeping with his singing—of an amiable bear." The San Diego Reader noted his "rich voluminous baritone voice with its lush resonance…the consummate dramatic naturalness…the special flair for comic opera that only the rarest of singers have in such abundance."

Del Carlo has appeared in numerous roles with the Metropolitan Opera, most recently Dr. Bartolo in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," Kothner in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" and De Brétigny in "Manon." In Spring of 1997, he performed Mustafa in "L'Italiana in Algeri" for San Diego Opera, a role he recorded for Teldec Classics which has received rave reviews in its European release. The French newspaper Le Figaro selected it as CD of the week.

After his San Diego engagement, Del Carlo traveled to Los Angeles for further performances as Dr. Bartolo with the L. A. Opera. His European tours have included work with the Cologne Opera, Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf where he made his debut in the title role of Falstaff.

"I consider Falstaff the greatest role in my repertoire, and I was honored to be invited to UCLA to perform it and to work with young singers, " Del Carlo said. "It is a brilliant work, the character is incredibly complex and fun, and I am looking forward to sharing my experience with the students."

For over 15 years, Liotta has been both professional stage director and a dedicated educator. He is head of the Opera Stage Directing program at Indiana University where he teaches stage directing, acting and operatic literature. His professional productions have covered the entire history of operatic repertory from Cavalli to John Corigliano. Local residents may have seen his production of Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West" with Placido Domingo several years ago for the L.A. Opera. Recent notable work includes his staging the American premiere of "The Dragon of Wantley" at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. and his direction of the world premiere of the Henry Mollicone/Sheldon Harnick opera , "Coyote Tales."

Liotta has also written works for musical theater including a new libretto for Victor Herbert's operetta "Naughty Marietta" and "Viva Verdi," an original biographical evening about the life and work of Giuseppe Verdi.

Vendice is head of the music staff and chorus master of the L. A. Opera and most recently conducted performances of "La Bohème" for that company. He is also a visiting professor of music at UCLA. Vendice made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1983 conducting "Il barbiere di Siviglia" and went on to conduct a variety of other operas, as well as the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. His European debut followed in 1988 at Berlin's Theater des Westens, where he conducted a new Goetz Friedrich production of "Porgy and Bess." From 1992-1995 Vendice served as director of opera programs at the University of Southern California. Other recent engagements include "L'elisir d'amore" at the Eugene Opera; a new production of "Faust" with the Chautauqua Festival and "Eugene Onegin" at the Banff Festival.

Undergraduates and doctoral-candidate students from the UCLA Department of Music who will perform in "Falstaff" include Hae-Kyung Hwang (Alice Ford), Myoung-Gyu Lee (Nannetta), Erin Wood (Dame Quickly), Jordan Gumucio (Meg Page), Duk Hee Cho (Ford), John Klacka (Fenton), Etsel Skelton (Dr. Cajus), Peter Atherton (Pistol) and Andrew Sweeney (Bardolpho.) The student cast members include Met competition finalists and recording artists; their combined credits include productions of "The Magic Flute," "The Sound of Music," "Kismet," "La Traviata," "The Marriage of Figaro," and "The Rake's Progress."

The sets and costumes for "Falstaff" have been designed by UCLA Department of Theater graduate students Dipu Gupta and Holly Durbin, respectively. Gupta, a recent graduate of UCLA's Department of Theater and a student of famed set designer and UCLA faculty member Robert Israel, is a set and lighting designer who now lives in New York. His recent works include "Gretty Good Time" for the Mark Taper Forum New Works Festival.

Durbin has designed costumes for "The Wood Demon" by Chekhov at the London West End Theater - The Playhouse and "Cabaret Verboten," a new musical for the Huntington Theater in Boston. She will be designing a production of "Miss Evers' Boys," which will open at the American Arts Festival in the fall at London's Barbican Center and then tour the United Kingdom. While working as a costume designer for the Center Theater Group in L.A. Durbin decided to further her education and return to UCLA for her master's of fine arts degree.

Tickets to the performances of Falstaff are $35, $20 for general admission, and $9 for UCLA students with ID and senior citizens. The public may contact the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310 825-2101. On campus parking is $5.


Contact: Carolyn Campbell
Phone: (310) 825-6540
Email: ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu