Daniele Rustioni impresses critics with a vibrant Falstaff at Met Opera

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/arts/music/review-verdi-falstaff-met-opera.html CRITIC’S PICK Review: Verdi’s Falstaff Is Back at the Met, Enlarging His Kingdom “…The conductor Daniele Rustioni matched Volle’s conception, leading the orchestra in a rousing, confidently shaped performance. Verdi goes for deep sarcasm in his masterfully comic score — when the men make fools of themselves in bombastic monologues, the orchestration only intensifies — and there was nothing cutesy in Rustioni’s account of it. When the brasses trilled, they belly laughed. The bassoons galumphed; the strings ennobled passages of sincerity; and the horns had it both ways, sometimes jocular, sometimes expressive.” The New York Times, Oussama Zahr

https://bachtrack.com/review-falstaff-rustioni-volle-lemieux-perez-carsen-metropolitan-opera-new-york-march-2023 5* review Belly laughs: Falstaff at the Met “…But the real revelation of the afternoon was Daniele Rustioni’s conducting. The Met Orchestra was on superb form, Rustioni bringing out the intricacies of Verdi’s score while maintaining a wonderful lyrical sweep. The orchestra functions as its own character in Verdi's comedy, acting as guide and commentator, and Rustioni brought this fully to the fore without ever covering the onstage action. A sparkling performance, and a revival to savour.” Bachtrack, Kevin W Ng

https://newcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/a-fat-knight-at-the-opera Falstaff review: A fat knight at the opera “Falstaff was revived at the Metropolitan Opera on Sunday afternoon in the 2013 production of Robert Carsen. For this opera, you need a Falstaff, of course—but most of all, you need a conductor. A conductor who knows what he’s doing. The Met had one in Daniele Rustioni, a Milanese who will turn forty next month. He had the suppleness and alertness required for this opera. The orchestra is a key “cast member,” if you will. Every twist and turn of the story is reflected in the orchestra. The orchestra doesn’t accompany, but rather plays. And the Met orchestra on Sunday afternoon was outstanding. The texture was right: on the light side. The score, with its endless characterful lines, was transparent. The “chamber” quality of the opera was exhibited.” The New Criterion, Jay Nordlinger

https://operawire.com/metropolitan-opera-2022-23-review-falstaff/ Metropolitan Opera 2022-23 Review: Falstaff “…On the podium was Daniele Rustioni, a conductor known for his musicality and ability to bring out the best in orchestral and vocal performances. His style was dynamic, precise, and vibrant, with a strong focus on exactitude. The maestro led the incomparable Met Orchestra through a very difficult score with unrestrained exuberance while maintaining sharp accuracy. Verdi’s score both converses and leads the singers, reflecting the hijinks and often chaotic scenes. The music is part of the humor and was, in many ways, part of the cast, as the interplay between the vocalists and the pit was undeniably present. While precision is key for any orchestra, Verdi’s score is full of musical moments that back up the parlando sections, allowing the orchestral line to take over the melody or comment. This is a barnstormer of an opera with moment after moment of musical ideas. Blink, and you’ve missed one. Likewise for the arias. Verdi hasn’t left these behind for this ensemble work, but they’re here in a flash and gone in an instant, some not longer than 30 seconds before moving on. Rustioni interpreted the score, which, in terms of forward movement, is unstoppable, like Rossini’s “Barber.” The maestro played it that way, swelling the orchestra with big crescendos (as big as Flagstaff’s belly!) that could have thrown a weighted blanket over the vocal line. Yet, Rustioni did an excellent job of not going too loud, and the soloists’ voices remained audible. The chorus was in brilliant form, and the Met actors were superb in executing their craft.” Operawire, Chris Ruel

https://parterre.com/2023/03/14/radically-giddy/

REVIEWS | Parterre Box Radically giddy …More irresistible still was Daniele Rustioni, whose conducting was surely the secret ingredient that lent this already accomplished ensemble cast that certain extra something. As dynamic on the podium as the sound he got from the performers (at times he seemed from my vantage point to be jumping up and down with excitement), Rustioni had the singers and orchestra in fine form, and the audience eating out of his hand. Taking the stage for their curtain calls, Rustioni and the cast of Falstaff seemed aware of the magic they had created; they grinned, danced, teased each other and the audience, inviting us to share in the radically giddy message of the opera’s finale: “The whole world is a joke… but he who laughs last has the best laugh of all!” Parterre Box, Sylvia Korman

https://operacanada.ca/metropolitan-opera-falstaff-everything-about-rustionis-deft-graceful-shipshape-account-of-this-infinitely-rewarding-score-seemed-unobtrusively-right/ Falstaff: everything about Rustioni’s deft graceful shipshape account of this infinitely rewarding score seemed unobtrusively right “Finally, there was Daniele Rustioni in the pit. The not-quite-forty-year-old Milanese has been making ever-increasing waves in the world’s opera houses and concert halls, and at the Met this season he took the virtuosic house band out of the pit and onto the stage of Carnegie Hall for Bartók and Stravinsky before helming the current string of Falstaffs. Everything about his deft, graceful, shipshape account of this infinitely rewarding score seemed unobtrusively right: it’s an opera that, on record at least, has commonly been referenced as “Toscanini’s Falstaff,” or “Karajan’s” or “Bernstein’s” or “Giulini’s,” but I’ve a strong hunch that Rustioni would assert that the proper possessive should be “Verdi’s.”” OperaCanada, Patrick Dillon

https://seenandheard-international.com/2023/03/michael-volle-triumphs-as-falstaff-at-the-metropolitan-opera/ Michael Volle triumphs as Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera “A lone voice proclaiming ‘Wow!’ and an outburst of applause were heard after the final notes of the finale to Act I’s first scene had sounded in the hall. Rustioni had whipped the cast and orchestra into a frenzy that left one breathless. The Italian conductor is a master of pacing the action and steering the music. Musically, this was a wonderful performance, and the wave of applause that greeted Rustioni when he took his bow acknowledged his efforts in making it so.” Seen and Heard International, Rick Perdian