
Overview
Synopsis
Otto Nicolai’s comic singspiel Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor is a German retelling of Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor. Many of our characters are transformed into their German counterparts (Alice Ford becomes Frau Fluth, Meg Page becomes Frau Reich), and the plot is distilled to its main elements, but the comic comeuppance of the notorious drunkard and womanizer, Sir John Falstaff, remains just as rewarding.
When Frau Fluth and Frau Reich each receive the same letter from Sir John Falstaff, professing his love for them, and trying to entice them to have an extra-marital affair with him, they plan to teach him a lesson. After hiding Falstaff in a basket of laundry and throwing him in a ditch, and then disguising him as an elderly maid, Frau Fluth and Frau Reich finally let their husbands in on the secret. One last plot is devised to embarrass the man, and it will all happen at the grand masquerade in the forest
While this has been going on, Spärlich (Slender), Dr. Cajus, and Fenton have been competing for the hand of young Anna Reich (Anne Page). Her parents have each chosen their favorite suitor, but neither of them have picked Fenton, despite Anna’s love for him. Herr and Frau Reich both plan to marry Anna to their preferred suitor during the masquerade, but she outwits them and marries her beloved Fenton instead.
At the masquerade, the guests disguise themselves as elves, insects, and ghosts, and perform grotesque dances, terrifying Falstaff in the dark, before revealing their identities and having a good laugh at his expense.
Show Information
- Music
- Otto Nicolai
- Libretto
- Salomon Hermann Mosenthal
- Based on the Play/Book/Film
- The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
- Category
- Opera
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1849
- Genres
- Comedy, Farce
- Settings
- Period, Fantasy/Imaginary, Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- Windsor, England, Beginning of the reign of King Henry V, 15th Century
- Cast Size
- large
- Orchestra Size
- Medium
- Dancing
- Some Dance
- Licensor
- None/royalty-free
- Ideal For
- College/University, Professional Opera, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Mature Adult, Young Adult, Adult, Child, Early Teen, Late Teen, Elderly Characters, Large Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
---|---|---|---|
Lead |
Male |
Bass |
|
Lead |
Male |
Baritone |
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
Supporting |
Male |
Bass |
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
Supporting |
Male |
Bass, Bass-Baritone |
|
Supporting |
Female |
Soprano |
|
Featured |
Male |
Tenor |
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Contralto |
Songs
Overture
Act One
Scene 1-2
- No. 1 Duet ‘Nein! Das ist wirklich doch zu keck’ - Frau Fluth, Frau Reich
Scene 3
- Dialogue ‘Nun, liebe Herren’ - Herr Fluth. Herr Reich, Spärlich, Dr. Cajus
Scene 4
- Dialogue ‘Vergönnt mir ein Wort, Herr Reich!’ - Fenton, Herr Reich
- No. 2 Recitative and Duet ‘So geht indes hinein’ and ‘Eurer Tochter’ - Herr Reich, Dr. Cajus, Spärlich, Fenton
Scene 5
- No. 3 Recitative and Aria ‘Nun eilt herbei, Witz, heitere Laune’ and ‘Verführer! Warum’ - Frau Fluth
Scene 6
- Dialogue ‘Nun, Frau Gevatterin, ist alles fertig?’ - Frau Reich, Frau Fluth
Scene 7 - 11
- No. 4 Finale ‘So hab ich Dich errungen’ - Falstaff, Frau Fluth, Frau Reich, Herr Fluth, Herr Reich, Dr. Cajus, Chorus
Act Two
Scene 1
- Dialogue ’Kellner! Hol die Pest’ - Falstaff, Kellner
Scene 2
- Dialogue ‘Habt Ihr gerufen, Sir John?’ - Kellner, Falstaff
Scene 3
- Dialogue ‘Ha, da kommen schon die Herren Burgen zum Morgentrunk’ - Kellner, Erster Bürger, Zweiter Bürger, Bürgers
- No. 5 Song with Chorus ‘Als Büblien klien’ - Falstaff, Ein Bürger
- Dialogue ‘Ich - halte - ich’ - Erster Bürger, Falstaff, Dritter Bürger, Vierter Bürger
Scene 4
- Dialogue ‘Verzeiht, Sir John!’ - Kellner, Falstaff
Scene 5
- No. 6 Recitative and Buffo Duet ‘Gott grüss Euch, Sir!’ and ‘In einen Wäschkorb?’ - Herr Fluth. Falstaff
Scene 6-7
- No. 7a Scene ‘Dies ist die Stunde’ - Spärlich, Dr. Cajus, Fenton
Scene 8
- No. 7b Romance ‘Horch, die Lerche singt’ - Fenton
Scene 9
- No. 7c Duet ‘Fenton! Mein Mädchen!’ - Fenton, Anna
- No. 7d Quartet ‘Bestürmen denn die läst’gen Freier’ - Fenton, Anna, Spärlich, Dr. Cajus
Scene 10
- Dialogue ‘Liebe Frau Fluth!’ - Falstaff, Frau Fluth
Scene 11
- Dialogue ‘Um Gottes willen, Frau Gevatterin’ - Frau Reich, Frau Fluth, Falstaff
Scene 12
- No. 8 Duet ‘So! Jetzt hätt ich ihn gefangen’ - Herr Fluth, Frau Fluth, Two Servants
Scene 13-15
- No. 9 Finale ‘Macht aug, Herr Fluth’ - Spärlich, Herr Fluth, Herr Reich, Frau Fluth, Dr. Cajus, Falstaff, Frau Reich
Act Three
Scene 1
- Dialogue ‘Liebster Engel, wirst du mir jemals vergeben können?’ - Herr Fluth, Frau Fluth, Herr Reich, Frau Reich
- No. 10 Ballad ‘Vom Jäger Herne’ - Frau Reich
- Dialogue ‘Gut, liebe Frau, und was gedenkst du zu tun?’ - Herr Reich, Frau Reich, Herr Fluth, Frau Fluth
Scene 2
- Dialogue ‘Und nun, liebes Kind’ - Frau Reich, Anna
Scene 3
- Dialogue ‘Nein, liebe Mutter’ - Anna, Herr Reich
Scene 4
- Dialogue ‘Einen glücklichen Zufall konnte es nicht geben!’ - Anna
- No. 11 Recitative and Aria ‘Wohl denn! Gefasst ist der Entschluss’ and ‘So schweb ich Dir, Geliebter, zu’ - Anna
Scene 5
- Dialogue ‘Im Pavillon werden wohl schon’ - Herr Fluth, Herr Reich, Spärlich
Scene 6
- Dialogue ‘Es ist bald Mitternacht’ - Frau Fluth, Frau Reich, Dr. Cajus
- No. 12 ‘O süsser Mond’ - Chorus
Scene 7-8
- No. 13 Trio ‘Die Glocke schlug schon’ - Falstaff, Frau Fluth, Frau Reich
Scene 9-12
- No. 14 Chorus and Elf-Dance ‘Ihr Elfen weiss und rot und grau’ - Chorus, Anna, Fenton, Herr Reich
Scene 13
- No. 15 Mosquito Dance and Chorus - Chorus, Falstaff, Herr Reich, Spärlich, Dr. Cajus
- No. 16 Dance and Chorus ‘Fasst ihn, Geister’ - Herr Reich, Chorus
Scene 14
- Dialogue ‘Halt, Verrater!’ - Herr Fluth, Frau Fluth, Frau Reich, Falstaff
Scene 15
- Dialogue ‘He, holla!, Vater Reich!’ - Spärlich, Dr. Cajus, Herr Reich
Scene 16
- Dialogue ‘Verzeihung, lieber Vater, liebe Mutter!’ - Anna, Herr Reich, Frau Reich, Fenton, Anna, Spärlich, Dr. Cajus
- No. 17 Trio and Finale ‘So hat denn der Schwank’ - Frau Fluth, Anna, Frau Reich, Falstaff
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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