Delightful Verdi “Falstaff” at Opera São Carlos, Lisbon

For some reason, Portugal’s only opera house doesn’t get much attention among classical music discussions here. That’s a shame, since the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos is an architectural gem from the 18^th century and, based on the Verdi Falstaff that I heard on May 13, the musical quality there can be very high. The opera house opened in 1793, replacing a structure destroyed in the devastating Lisbon earthquake of 1755. It’s had a checkered history, ranging from an uber-famous performance of Verdi's La Traviata in 1958 starting Maria Callas (the “Lisbon Traviata” of recording fame) to its being shuttered for much of the Salazar dictatorship in the mid-20^th century. Now the company performs about 7-8 productions each season. There is international leadership--the principal conductor is Italian Antonio Pirolli, and the artistic director is the Dutch Ivo von Kalmthout.

The house’s baroque façade was recently restored..the opera house is hidden away on an enclosed square in downtown Lisbon:

The theater is now closing for 2 years for an interior restoration. From my recent experience this is much-needed. The interior is gorgeous, and gilt everywhere, with about 1500 seats, many in multitiered boxes. 

Unfortunately the seats are terrible and the hallways/restrooms/amenities dated. My seat featured a centrally-located spring that was difficult for me to anatomically shift around. The opera experience is otherwise fine, with good ushers and projected supra-titles that show the opera text in Portuguese and English. Acoustics are remarkably live…sometimes a bit too live: when an onstage singer shifted to one position downstage, it sounded like he was singing into my left ear (I was seated halfway towards the back of the orchestra). Seats are very affordable for opera, ranging from ε20-80 for most performances.

The Falstaff that I saw was a delight. This was Verdi’s last opera (1893), written when the composer was 86 years old, and preceded by the grand tragedies Don Carlo and Otello. By this time in their careers, most composers are either inactive, writing pieces that rehash past triumphs, or composing pieces with slow tempos. Not Verdi! He ended his career with a rare comedy, a brilliant comic opera based largely on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. It is light as a feather, witty, and evocative of the best of Rossini. It also has some amazing compositional moments, including a tricky passage of extended ensemble in which the male soloists and strings play in 6/8, while the women and winds play in cut time, creating an extended 4 against 3 sequence.  Additionally, the opera ends with a jolly, intricate fugue (with seven entrances!) set to the text “Tutto il mondo e burla” (All the world’s a joke). There is even a couple of short references to the older grand, tragic Verdi, eg Ford’s aria decrying his wife’s (supposed) infidelity accompanied by tortured, impassioned orchestration straight out of Otello. If you are an opera fan and do not know this opera listen to it ASAP…I’d suggest the classic recording from Karajan and baritone Titto Gobbi from 1956.

In this performance I did not recognize any of the performers from prior hearings. The conductor Antonio Pirolli exhibited outstanding technical control and buoyancy with the big, yet refined orchestra. Only the aforementioned 3 vs. 4 tricky ensemble became a bit imprecise, but I’d imagine that is common in live performance. The Falstaff, Italian baritone Pietro Spagnoli, was very fine. The role is often sung by aging baritones who bark the role rather than singing it, but Spagnoli did not fall into this trap. He sounded great, acting with humor that did not camp things up too much (another common trap). The rest of the mostly-Portuguese ensemble was terrific, very well balanced and singing with clear diction, easily heard in the crisp acoustics of the theater. Italian Stage Director Jacopo Spirai kept things moving, and moved the big ensemble around with purpose and humor, including a sequence in which singers called out to the stage from some of the upper theater boxes in the audience. The Portuguese Symphony Orchestra played with wonderful precision, and seemed well-rehearsed.

 Overall this was a delightful night at the opera, the equal or better of anything I have heard at the New York Metropolitan, and more enjoyable overall given the intimate and ornate theater. I look forward to the house’s reopening in 2026.