Even though it's been raining for eight days a week and I haven't had any bike time in forever, I am rejoicing at Autumn's return. I've been wearing blazers and boots, I haven't been sweating like pig, and the city is simply buzzing with opportunities for love, fun, and culture.

Last night was my first Met Opera night of the season--and if this performance of Verdi's Falstaff is any indication, the season's gonna be great! This is an opera I arrived at completely without knowing the first thing, other than it's based on Shakespeare, of course. The libretto takes it's plot from The Merry Wives of Windsor, with a dash of lyrics from King Henry IV thrown in for good measure. It was Verdi's final opera.

The Met's is a 1960s production by the great Zeffirelli, and it holds up beautifully to this day. I'm not sure if it was the production, the music, or last night's fantastic cast, but never have I felt the Met be so intimate. It was as if a dozen amiable friends decided to "put on a show!" and simply wheeled in a great orchestra and got down to business. It was old-fashioned fun--lively and entertaining, alive and spritely. The action mostly ensues downstage, with the direction and the blocking being animated with rather physical humor. The light touches of Verdi, his librettist Boito, conductor James Levine, and the marvelous cast kept the evening bouncing along with good humor, subtlety, and lots of art with a capital A.

The Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel starred, hilariously stuffed with padding for Falstaff's famous belly. I've never before heard Terfel perform, and he did not disappoint. His voice has great clarity and resonance. And he's got crisp annunciation. But the music comes from his ability to subtly shift emotions as Falstaff moves from toying with others to being the one toyed with. His Act III opener, as he climbs out of the Thames, was thrilling and ferocious.

But the whole cast was terrific--especially Patricia Racette as Alice, Stephanie Blythe as Mrs. Quickly, and Heidi Grant Murphy who sang Nannetta with all the vivaciousness and bounce of a young woman in love.

I took Rebecca with me, and being the total babe that she is, we met two nice young men at intermission who also loved this performance, and with whom we had a lovely after-opera cocktail while talking of New York, music, theater, art, and poetry. Follow this with a rainy night taxi ride home, and yes, I believe the season has begun beautifully, just beautifully.