Record companies may have gone into overdrive in celebration of Wagner’s bicentenary, but happily that of Giuseppe Verdi (Wagner’s junior by less than five months) has not been overlooked either. An important part of the celebrations is the release on DVD and Blu-ray by C Major Entertainment of all of Verdi’s completed operas plus the Requiem, filmed by Unitel at live performances by the Teatro Regio di Parma. This is a real feast for opera lovers, and the results, performed in historic theatres in and around Parma, have a wonderfully Italianate feel about them.

C Major have issued a ‘sampler’ video for anyone wanting to ‘dip in’ before buying, but perhaps an even better place to start is at the end of Verdi’s astonishing output, with the recently released Falstaff. For many opera connoisseurs, this is quite simply Verdi’s masterpiece. Only his second comedy, it presents substantial challenges in performance but, when done well (as it is here), it is one of those rare life-enhancing works that it would be impossible to live without.

Stephen Medcalf’s production locates the action in Shakespeare’s time rather than Falstaff’s, and Jamie Vartan’s stylised sets (slightly reminiscent of Hockney’s famous Rake’s Progress for Glyndebourne) are atmospheric but uncluttered, making the most of the splendid baroque Teatro Farnese in Parma. The costumes are similarly unfussy, and subtly symbolic: Falstaff himself in vivid reds, Ford, Cajus, Fenton and the ‘Merry Wives’ in sober black-and-white. Medcalf sensibly doesn’t overdo the comedy (it’s already written into the score, and doesn’t need heavy-handed help), allowing Verdi’s more serious subtext to come through: that there is foolishness and hypocrisy in all of us.

Dominating the cast is Ambrogio Maestri’s peerless portrayal of the fat knight. A larger-than-life singer, towering over his colleagues, his Falstaff is arguably the best we’ve had for years, and quite possibly the finest Italian taker of the role since Giuseppe Taddei in his prime. It’s certainly a part that seems made for him to sing, and he effortlessly inhabits Falstaff’s personality, with all its flaws and attractions. His monologues in the outer acts are superbly done, and there’s a delightfully seedy side to him, accentuated by his heavy five-o’clock shadow.

Luca Salsi’s Ford is strait-laced, every inch the middle-class family man and jealous husband, his Act 2 monologue shot through with emotional pain. Svetla Vassileva is a marvellous Alice, with both voice and looks perfect for the part; and Romina Tomasoni is an outstanding, even sensuous Mistress Quickly, and it’s little surprise that conductor Andrea Battistoni, who directs a splendidly vibrant account of the score, lingers with special relish in Quickly’s music. As the young lovers, Barbara Bargnesi’s Nannetta is girlish to just the right degree, and she’s well-matched with the Fenton of Antonio Gandia, though his voice tires slightly in the opera’s latter stages.

The comedic support from Luca Casalin (as a sharply-etched Dr Cajus), Patrizio Saudelli (Bardolph) and Mattia Denti (Pistol) is a perfect foil for some of the more serious emotions flying around, and the final scene, with its mixture of magical fantasy, hijinks, exposure and emotional resolution, caps an enormously memorable, satisfying and enjoyable production. Heartily recommended!