"Plump Jack'' is about Falstaff, and Scene 1 -- one of the most vividly and effectively dramatic of its four parts -- sets to music that moment in the Boar's Head Tavern (''King Henry IV,'' Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4) when the fat old knight and Prince Hal rehearse for the prince's interview with his father. There are moments of humor, underscored by the orchestra (whose role is as important as those of the two singers), and ironic overtones of the sharp turn this friendship is to take when H al becomes King.

This is the fourth time I've heard the work in the two years it has been before the public, and it is more impressive than ever. I kept hearing things -- sharp touches of theatricality -- I hadn't noticed before. The piece worked beautifully, thanks also to a keenly considered, magnificently well sung and played performance. David Livingstone Tigner, a roundish bass-baritone with a tremendous voice, was an incisive, total Falstaff (except for the age) and tenor Keith Ikaia Purdy was a forceful, convincing Hal. Nice and the orchestra contributed dynamically to the conviction of the performance.