This is the Overture from my opera buffa (Italian comic opera), Falstaff. Isn't it beautiful? I took inspiration from the great William Shakespeare and based this opera on his comedic play, The Merry Wives of Windsor. I wrote this for Her Majesty's Theatre, London, and premiered it there on July 19th. It was performed in Italian libretto and had a spectacular cast, the famous Puritani Quartet (Giulia Grisi, Giovanni Battista Rubini, Antonio Tamburini, and Luigi Lablache), that performed the bel canto (a style of singing characterized by beauty of tone rather than dramatic power) style perfectly. Their solos were a return to the standard aria-and-cabaletta (a songlike section is followed by a more animated section) form with repetitions. The audience and critics loved it but it only had a six show run. That's a bit of a bummer.
Here it is sponsored by the RTÉ (what PBS is to the USA, the RTÉ is to Ireland) and performed by Opera Ireland for my bicentennial celebration, 170 years after it was last heard performed in full, conducted by Marco Zambelli. Ah, to be honored by my homeland, when I spent so little time there after my youth (I was traveling and working throughout Europe), humbles me.
(Source: Parsons. (2009, May). Falstaff. American Record Guide, 72(3), 74.)
(Source: Tuttle, R., Scott, P., Weber, J. F., Chien, G., Ritter, S. E., Clarke, C., & ... Frank, M. H. (2009, September). Classical recordings. Fanfare: The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors, 33(1), 93-94.)
(Source: Vasta, S. (2009, June). Opera and oratorio. Opera News, 73(12), 56.)