Flastaff, dressed in all his finery, arrives to pay court to Alice Ford blissfully unaware of the horrible, watery fate that awaits him.

And what about the English Falstaffs? Elgar’s tone poem is based on Henry IV parts  1 & 2, but there is a moment (a tiny aria in Act 2, Scene 2) when the Italian opera and the English symphonic poem intersect.

Text
Libretto Act 2, Scene 2

Music
Verdi: Falstaff, Act 2, Scene 1
Adrianne Pieczonka – Verdi: Falstaff / Act 2 – “Presenteremo un bill” – “Giunta all’albergo”
[Spotify search terms:verdi falstaff berliner]
Elgar: Falstaff
Falstaff
[Spotify search terms: elgar falstaff davis]

Score
Act 2

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