Director Lotte de Beer, recently appointed the first female leader of Volksoper Wien, made a notable staging of The Flying Dutchman at Malmö Opera in 2019. Now she is back with a staging of Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, the comedy Falstaff. The creation has been dramatic. The first concept, a kind of "Shakespeare's Falstaff meets George Orwell's The Animal Farm", could not be implemented in a way that was safe for the singers. In a short time, de Beer and set designer Christof Hetzer have worked out a new one. Sir John Falstaff is a fat, vain, cowardly and permanently broke nobleman. He sends identical love letters to two rich women, Alice Ford and Meg Page. The two reveal the fraud and decide to deceive the conceited suitor with the help of Alice's daughter Nanetta and neighbor Quickly. Falstaff is an amoral confusion comedy, where wise women give stupid and unsympathetic men a well-deserved blow to the nose. De Beer and Hetzer have located the events in a digitalized and fragmented contemporary world, where a large part of interpersonal communication takes place through digital channels. The story ends in a Dionysian chaos, a declaration of love for life, love, music and art. Misha Kiria, known from scenes like La Scala and Deutsche Oper, sings the role of Falstaff. Malmö favorite Rebecca Nelsen, who did an acclaimed Traviata with us in 2018, alternates as Alice Ford. Malmö Opera Orchestra and Malmö Opera Choir are led by the popular conductor Steven Sloane, who, among other things, performed The Flying Dutchman and Tosca at Malmö Opera. Participating Conductor: Steven Sloane / David Niemann Playwright: Peter te Nuyl Choreography: Gail Skrela Hetzer Set and Costume Design: Christof Hetzer Lighting: Alex Brok Director: Lotte de Beer Roller Sir John Falstaff: Misha Kiria Alice Ford: Jacquelyn Wagner / Rebecca Nelsen Ford: Orhan Yildiz Nannetta: Alexandra Flood / Sabina Bisholt Fenton: Sehoon Moon Mrs Quickly : Maria Streijffert Meg Page: Matilda Paulsson Bardolfo: Jonas Duran Pistola: Nils Gustén Dr. Cajus: Niklas Björling Rygert Film: Tomas Nord / Sexton: nine,
