Life always has a way of surprising us with something new. For me, after more than 40 years of opera-going, the latest was my first live encounter with German composer Otto Nicolai’s 1849-premiered The Merry Wives of Windsor.
William Shakespeare’s comic play of the same name (or Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor), has inspired numerous operatic adaptations since it’s publication in 1602, with Verdi’s masterpiece Falstaff (1893) enduring as the most popularly performed. It was Verdi’s final opera, written when he was 80 years old.
Coincidentally, it was Nicolai’s final opera as well. Nicolai died of a stroke, at the age of 38, just two months after its Berlin premiere.
That tragedy aside, Nicolai left behind a work – a three-act comic singspiel with a German libretto by Hermann von Mosenthal – abloom with German romanticism, lyrical Italian melodies and a good serving of dramatic gusto.
Those hallmarks shine through in Lyster Opera’s shoestring-budget production, confidently lacing together voices, music and design to create a rewarding, entertaining experience of its source material.
Directed by Daniel Sinfield with a keen eye for comic opportunities, and a splash of jaunty choreography – who also performs as the ardent young Fenton – it is the type of close-up encounter with operatic theatre to cherish.
This is opera driven by young and emerging artists who are passionate about what they do. With a tight budget in mind, part of the deal includes duties extending to being stagehands who manage the various scene changes.
Creating the visual setting, several lightweight screens featuring projections by Blair Parkinson – first a large, sunlit scullery, then timber-panelled walls setting the tone for The Tipsy Stag Tavern, and silhouetted leafless trees referencing Windsor Forest – combine with beautifully detailed costumes by Maddy Connellan and a general attempt at chiaroscuro to convincingly place the action in Elizabeth England.
Invariably, there were mishaps and bumps with scenes changes at Saturday’s opening performance at South Yarra’s Irene Mitchell Studio, but they could be easily excused as part of the comic nature of the piece. Part of the challenge is the tight performance area. Nevertheless, Sinfield skilfully manages his 13-strong ensemble and creates some wonderfully vibrant moments.
Setting a fluently energised pace, répétiteur Kevin Tamanini conveyed as much of the richness of Nicolai’s score as could be expected from a lone piano. Sensibly, the overture was reduced, allowing the voices an earlier entrance. Thereafter, Tamanini provided ongoing buoyancy while giving the singers the necessary clearance to dictate the narrative flow.
Over the course of the plot’s several days, women appear to get the upper hand after the roguish and boastful Falstaff (Darcy Carroll) schemes to seduce two married women, Frau Fluth (Teresa Ingrilli) and Frau Reich (Maria Woolford) – Alice Ford and Meg Page in Shakespeare’s comedy. Retaliatory in their attempts to teach him a lesson, Falstaff is outsmarted as part of the work’s comedic comment of entitlement, lechery and gluttony.
Vocally, an immediate sense of assuredness takes hold as Ingrilli and Woolford’s “merry wives” plot their revenge after comparing identical love letters sent to them by Falstaff.
Ingrilli brings a most endearing, bubbly cheekiness to Fluth, and a smashing flexible soprano that polishes the top notes with radiant beauty. She is complemented excellently by Woolford’s plush and umbrous mezzo-soprano, a dynamically thrilling instrument that colours Reich’s personality generously.
Their chemistry is infectious, their duets are gorgeously balanced, and each sings solos that impress while showcasing Nicolai’s mellifluous music.
Both vocally and physically, Carroll is theatrical gold as Falstaff, his handsomely molten, effortless-sounding bass-baritone flexing its way through the music with animated aplomb, while his glittering, golden bulbous form is an ever eye-catching sight.
Going to great lengths to uncover his wife’s perceived infidelity, the suspicious Herr Fluth elicits a little sympathy as Nicholas Beecher employs his attractive, corruscating baritone with an unbridled emotional honesty.
In contrast, warm baritone Archie Rumsam exudes a calm authority as Herr Reich, instigator of the subplot involving his daughter Anna, who loves Fenton but is destined by her father for the wealthy Spärlich.
Soprano Rebecca Rashleigh completes a trio of fine female performances, conveying Anna’s headstrong character with a delightful sweetness that wins her way into the audience’s hearts — and ultimately her father’s too.
Mocked as a pansy by Fenton, Daniel Vigne’s Spärlich is a theatrical, pompous divertissement whose inevitable defeat is clear from the outset, while Troy Castle shares that misfortune entertainingly as Dr. Cajus.
Finally, Adelaide Soccio Greenaway (Pistol), Alicia Groves (Quickly), Hasan Dilber (Robin) and Michael Zuccala (Bardolf) add commendable support in minor roles, their vocal blend reaching a shimmering peak in the atmospheric tension of Act 3’s moonlit Windsor Forest as dancing “ghosts.” A jubilant finale leaves a satisfying feeling that a lesson may have been learned after all.
Looking ahead, the production unpacks in Geelong, Rye and Stratford – well worth the ticket for the chance to get up close to the depth of talent and the inner workings of opera’s grassroots world.
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Irene Mitchell Studio, 44 St Martins Lane, South Yarra
Performance: Saturday 18 July 2026
The Merry Wives of Windsor will also be presented at The Courthouse Theatre, Geelong (25 July), Rye Civic Hall (1 August), and The Stratford Courthouse Theatre (8 August). For more information, visit: www.lysteropera.com.au for details.
Images: Teresa Ingrilli as Frau Fluth and Nicholas Beecher as Herr Fluth – photo by Phil Thomson | Alicia Grove as Nurse Quickly – photo by Phil Thomson | Maria Woolford as Frau Reich and Belinda Dalton as Frau Fluth – photo by Phil Thomson | Nicholas Beecher as Herr Fluth and Darcy Carroll as Falstaff – photo by Phil Thomson | Daniel Vigne as Spärlich – photo by Phil Thomson
Review: Paul Selar