Verdi
Falstaff
Falstaff – Tito Gobbii (baritone)
Fenton – Luigi Alva (tenor)
Ford – Rolando Panerai (baritone)
Dr. Cajus – Tomaso Spataro (tenor)
Bardolfo – Renato Ercolani (tenor)
Pistola – Nicola Zaccaria (bass)
Alice Ford – Elizabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano)
Nannetta – Anna Moffo (soprano)
Meg Page – Nan Merriman (mezzo-soprano)
Mistress Quickly – Fedora Barbieri (mezzo-soprano)
Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus
Herbert von Karajan
Recorded at the Kingsway Hall, London, June 1956
Reviewed by: Rob Pennock
Reviewed: August 2026
CD No: High Definition Tape Transfers: CD and high-resolution downloads: HDTT24399
Duration: Running time: 119 minutes
As is well known, after Aida, Giuseppe Verdi contented himself with composing his glorious Requiem and revising Simon Boccanegra. Then along came the music publisher Guilio Ricordi, who was keen on Arrigo Boito working with Verdi on Otello and the rest is history.
Falstaff is not easy to perform. As Charles Osborne suggests, its most striking aspect is its melodic prodigality. Surprisingly few conductors have mastered this munificence, paced and encompassed the comedic and dramatic elements. Then you need ten soloists, none of whom are walk-on parts.
Given the fruity nature of the part, innumerable baritones have essayed the role. Anything to do with singing and singers is bound to cause controversy, but it could be argued that only Evans, Gobbi, Terfel and Valdengo have presented fully rounded portrayals and that Evans and Terfel are let down by their conductors, which leaves Karajan and Toscanini.
Karajan’s stereo recording is superior to his 1957 Salzburg one (Orfeo) and in far better sound. He was privileged to witness Toscanini in Falstaff at La Scala in 1929 and assisted the great man in his 1937 Salzburg performances (Pristine). Unfortunately, the sound on the latter, despite Andrew Rose’s best efforts, is very poor. But Toscanini made a live recording with the NBC SO in 1950 (Pristine again), which three quarter of a century later remains the greatest. The singers are superb and Toscanini’s wit, power, drive and rhythmic finesse, within perfectly chosen tempi, time and again bring a smile to the face, or you sit agog at the joyous power.
Six years later Karajan came very close to equalling him. Everything he does sounds completely right, natural and yes, unusually for Karajan, witty. Gobbi brings lieder like attention to detail and suggests true nobility as he sits on the banks of the Thames at the start of Act 3. Panerai makes a powerful Ford, Alva a mellifluous Fenton. All of the women encompass every facet of their roles and Schwarzkopf avoids sounding mannered. Underlying all of this you have the Philharmonia Orchestra at its peak, including Dennis Brain’s wonderful horn playing.
Regarding the sound, as far as I am aware no high-resolution remastering exists, so you have to put up with three differently packaged CD sets, which aren’t too bad. The HDTT DSD256 version though has far more definition and clarity. The Kingsway Hall acoustic is there in spades, the image is broader, there is far more space around the players and singers, who are very much there in front of you.
On the downside, you have to go to the company website to get the cast list and there are only six tracks, neither of which is acceptable at this price.