The old Verdi bows out with the comedy Falstaff after decades of triumph over the tragic. The choice of the chef is therefore crucial in the first place.
At the Lille Opera, the old truck driver Antonello Allemandi is the man for the job. Verdi's brilliant score leaps and bounds, thanks also to a glorious Lille National Orchestra, of brilliant clarity without covering the singers. Once this irresistible pulsation is set up, the one that gives the comedy its timing, more than half of the work is done.