As the saying goes, “Shakespeare invented him, Verdi made him immortal” – and, surely, it was Bryn Terfel who defined him. Terfel first sung Falstaff in 1999, and in 2021, the bass-baritone superstar returns once more to the role at Grange Park Opera. In a production by Stephen Medcalf first shown in the 17th century Farnese theatre in Parma in 2011 with designs that are truly Falstaffian including sensational backcloths by Italian supremo Rinaldo Rinaldi.

A young count is in love with a shrewd woman who returns his feelings. But her guardian harbours his own plans for her. When jack-of-all-trades Figaro rushes to the young couple's aid, bribery, deceit and comic entanglements ensue. Will he succeed in saving the day - and love? Bursting with exuberant music, captivating comedy and ingenious disguises, Rossini’s masterpiece is the ultimate feel-good opera. In Den Norske Opera and Ballett’s new production, director Jetske Mijnssen takes the story seriously - didn’t Count Almaviva and Rosina’s union turn out unhappy in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro? - and shows how comedy is always close to tragedy.

Set in Venice during the Renaissance, the drama centres on Bassanio, a young nobleman who would like to court the beautiful Portia but doesn‘t have the money to travel to her country estate, so he asks the merchant Antonio for help. Antonio‘s wealth is tied up in maritime trade but he offers to procure the sum Bassanio needs from the Jewish money lender Shylock. Shylock hates Antonio for being so contemptuous in his treatment of Jews, and therefore stipulates that if the debt is not repaid within three months, the penalty will be a pound of Antonio‘s own flesh...