Falstaff is given an unusually heavy hand from Fernando Previtali, who gives the dramatic moments in this effervescent score all the weight of La Forza del Destino. It surprisingly works. It certainly lends Geraint Evans' Sir John an extra helping of deluded gravitas. The phenomenal Eberhard Wächter gives Ford's angst positively Wagnerian dimensions. The women in the cast lend a good deal of charm, especially Oralia Dominguez and Ilva Ligabue. Luigi Alva sings a rather colorless Fenton.