Sir John Falstaff.
Mr. Ford, }
Mr. Page, } gentlemen dwelling at Windsor.
Fenton.
Slender.
Dr. Caius, the French physician.
Mistress Ford.
Mistress Page.
Anne Page, her daughter, in love with Fenton.
Host of the Garter Inn.
[Citizens, wives of Windsor, servants, fairies, elves, etc.]
The scene is laid at Windsor; time, the sixteenth century.
The story of the opera follows closely that of the Shakespearian comedy,
though the action is principally concerned with Falstaff's adventures
with the merry wives, with the attachment between Fenton and Anne
furnishing the romantic incident. Though the work of a German, the music
is largely in the Italian style, and the dramatic finish is French. It is
unnecessary to indicate the plot in further detail than to say it
includes the receipt of Sir John's amatory epistles by Mrs. Ford and Mrs.
Page, his concealment among the foul linen in the hamper and subsequent
sousing in the Thames, his sad experiences with Ford's cudgels, and his
painful encounter with the mock fairies, elves, and other sprites in
Windsor Park.
The leading numbers in the opera are a duet for the two merry wives,
opening the opera, in which they read Falstaff's letters, "No, no, this
really is too bad," closing with an exquisitely humorous phrase as they
pronounce the name of the writer in unison; a beautiful little aria,
"Joking and Laughter," in the Italian style, sung by Mrs. Ford; and the
finale to the first act beginning with a mock serious aria in which Mrs.
Ford bewails her husband's jealousy, followed by a sextette and chorus,
and closing with a highly dramatic aria in which Mrs. Ford changes from
grief to rage and violently denounces Ford.
The second act opens with a drinking-song for Falstaff, "Whilst yet a
Child on my Mother's Breast," which is full of rollicking, bacchanalian
humor, as well as are the accessories of the song. Falstaff sings one
verse, and his followers drain their huge mugs to the bottom. One of them
falls senselessly drunk, and is immediately borne out upon the shoulders
of his comrades with funereal honors, led off by Falstaff, all chanting a
sort of mock dirge. A descriptive and spirited buffo duet between
Falstaff and Ford follows, in which the former relates his adventures in
the hamper. The only remaining number of consequence in this act is the
romanza, "Hark, the Lark in yonder Grove," sung by Fenton. The last act
is very short, and made up of a beautiful trio for Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Page,
and Falstaff, "The Bell has pealed the Midnight Chime"; the romantic
ballad, "Of Herne, the Hunter, a Legend old," and the fairy dance and
chorus, "About, about, ye Elves, about," which close the opera.