In the presentation of operas there is often a rivalry between the musical values and the theatrical values, and Opera Ireland's Falstaff was no exception. The director, Dieter Kaegi, chose to turn Boito's witty period libretto into a slice of contemporary life, rather as if Brecht had updated The Threepenny Opera and got Verdi, not Weill, to write the music.

This might have been more persuasive if the character of Falstaff had retained, on stage, the nobility that is present in the score; but instead of the self-deluding heroism of fat old age we were given the petulant posturing of a comparatively thin rogue who drank to become drunk, rather than for the pleasure of it.

Kaegi's effects were gained by a superfluity of comic business, frequently carried on three parts of the stage; the many visual stimuli could not distract from the music. When he chose to focus more closely on the actions, as in the ghost story of Herne the Huntsman, narrated in turn by Anne Margarethe Dahl as Alice Ford and Hanna Schaer as Mistress Quickly, singing and acting came together most impressively, and the RTE Concert Orchestra, conducted by Antonello Allemandi, powerfully reinforced the atmosphere. In this scene Falstaff, sung by Roy Stevens, was more serious and credible than when roistering with his boon companions; he was overawed by the women, whose singing was in general the most memorable of the evening.

Anne Margarethe Dahl was exemplary in the unforced naturalness of her voice and in her subtle deployment of her feminine wiles, but above all in her ability to make her acting reinforce the music, thus in no way distorting Verdi's inspiration.

The two young lovers, archetypal romantics, sung by JeanLuc Viala and Daniella Lojarro, had the voices for the part, but it is hard to believe that the composer would have wished them to be quite so sexually forward. As a whole, the production aimed at broad, even crude effects, and there is an aspect of the music which supports this; but the delicate balance, between the comedy of the plot and what could be called the tragedy of the fat knight's deception and fall, was only realised in fits and starts. This Falstaff, wholly acceptable as a musical comedy, was not quite an opera.

Performances on April 21st, 23rd and 25th. To book phone 01 677 1717.