Sir John in Love

Synopsis: Radio broadcast of Ian Judge’s 2006 revival of Vaughan Williams’ rarely performed opera, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. With Andrew Shore (baritone, Falstaff), Jean Rigby (mezzo, Mrs Ford), Alastair Miles (bass-baritone, Mr Ford), Marie McLaughlin (soprano, Mrs Page). Oleg Caetani conducts the English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
Series: Opera on 3
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Radio
Recording date: 23 Mar 2006
Transmission details: 20 May 2006 at 18:30 (Channel: BBC Radio 3)
Duration: 165 mins
Availability: No archive copy known (1/2008).

Director

Ian Judge

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Conductor

Oleg Caetani

Cast

Notes: Originally in four acts, this production was performed in 2 acts, both approximately 65 minutes long. The intermission comes between what would originally have been acts two and three.
General: In his opera Vaughan Williams retains all the subplots and minor characters from The Merry Wives of Windsor that most librettists have edited out. In order to provide more opportunities for song, he also imported lyrics from elsewhere in Shakespeare, from Ben Jonson, Marlowe and others, adding them to the plot and the characters.
History: The production originally ran from 2 March to 1 April 2006. The BBC’s recording was first broadcast on 20 May 2006 and then again on 14 May 2022.

British Universities Film & Video Council