Michael William Balfe – Falstaff
Mrs Rosa Ford · TOBS! Biel Solothurn · 11 September 2026
A rediscovered bel canto gem
Michael William Balfe’s Falstaff is a rare rediscovery from the 19th-century Italian bel canto tradition. Written in Italian to a libretto by Manfredo Maggioni, after Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, the opera was composed in 1838 and premiered at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London on 19 July 1838. The original cast included some of the era’s most celebrated bel canto singers, among them Luigi Lablache, Giovanni Battista Rubini, Antonio Tamburini and Giulia Grisi, who created the role of Mrs Rosa Ford.
Balfe’s score combines the virtuosity, melodic elegance and comic vitality associated with Italian opera of the period. After its early success, Falstaff gradually disappeared from the repertoire and has remained a rarely performed work. TOBS! brought the opera back to the stage in Biel/Bienne in September 2026 as a Swiss first performance, with the Sinfonieorchester Biel Solothurn TOBS!, conducted by Franco Trinca and directed by Dieter Kaegi.
Mrs Rosa Ford
Mrs Rosa Ford, originally created by the legendary Giulia Grisi, is an exceptionally demanding bel canto soprano role. It combines virtuosic coloratura, brilliant high notes and dramatic agility with lyrical passages requiring sustained, expressive melodic lines. In the TOBS! production, Bianca Tognocchi portrays Rosa Ford as a driving force behind the women’s scheme, bringing together vocal virtuosity, theatrical energy and lyrical expression.
