Also, Verdi is core repertoire for both Capobianco and conductor Christofer Macatsoris, whose strong personalities inspired fretting in the AVA corridors - how would they mesh? Like King Kong vs. God–zilla? Nah!

Whether or not Falstaff meets steep expectations, seasoned operagoers are likely to be perfectly ingratiated if only by the capable young cast operating at peak ability. The usual compromises in orchestral size at AVA's small Spruce Street theater were minimal. The playing was mostly wonderful. On certain basic levels, this was a quite successful Falstaff.

Yet with such potent forces at hand, it wasn't what I hoped for - a more subdued, less physical ensemble that would allow a more sympathetic showcase for the glorious intricacies of the score.

The truth is, Falstaff isn't innately funny. And the less-than-sympathetic characters are full of motivational holes: Why do the wives of Windsor concoct such an elaborate charade to humiliate the drunken, lecherous, but relatively harmless Falstaff? Such problems vanish when the opera is perceived as a late-Beethoven string quartet that happens to have voices, costumes, and a plot.

As it was, Capobianco had ongoing sight gags successfully establishing a lighthearted atmosphere. All the opera's events happened convincingly - not to be taken for granted in a piece that hurtles between tricky stage events such as stuffing the fat knight into a laundry basket.

But most singers were in the first-try stage of their characterizations, including Zach Nelson, who played his every Falstaff moment sensibly and sang well but didn't really live the character's self-delusion or show why he needs it. Michelle Johnson's charismatic exuberance is a plus in most operas, but her Alice Ford relished Falstaff's downfall to the point of nastiness.

Both Christopher Bolduc as Ford and Cynthia Cook as Meg Page displayed greater theatrical solidity, but as the young romantic couple Nanetta and Fenton, Corinne Schaefer and Taylor Stayton sounded fine yet seemed constricted by their brief spotlight opportunities.

Speaking of constriction, can something be done about the awful little room known as the Helen Corning Warden Theater? Sight lines are terrible. Seats are tiny. Singers get nothing back from the ultra-dry acoustic.

The world's opera companies should subsidize a new AVA theater as an investment: This is the place from which they get their young singers.

Falstaff

Music by Giuseppe Verdi; libretto by Arrigo Boito. Set design: Peter Harrison. Costumes: Val Starr.

Cast:

Zach Nelson . . . Falstaff

Christopher Bolduc . . . Ford

Taylor Stayton . . . Fenton

Michelle Johnson . . . Alice Ford

Corinne Schaefer . . . Nannetta

Margaret Mezzacappa . . . Quickly

Cynthia Cook . . . Meg Page

Performances: Tonight and Thursday at AVA, 1920 Spruce St.; Saturday at Central Bucks South High School; Monday at the Haverford School. Information: 215-735-1685 or www.avaopera.org.