Falstaff
Live from the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Piers Burton-Page introduces an international cast in a semi-staged performance of Verdi's final masterpiece. Verdi and his librettist Boito drew on the comic tale of the fat knight as portrayed in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, where Falstaff is teased for imagining himself as an irresistible lover.
Halle Choir and Orchestra, conductor Mark Elder Acts land 2
8.30 Twenty Minutes: Fat Is a Shakespearean Issue
Body fat and the social, health and lifestyle issues it raises are fashionable subject matters today but they are hardly new concepts: Falstaff's monumental stature is celebrated in the Shakespearean canon and in several operas. Diane Purkiss explores some of the Bard's references to fat.
8.50 Act 3