Falstaff is a comic opera by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. Arrigo Boito, an Italian composer and author, wrote the libretto (text) of the opera. Verdi based Falstaff on the character created by the English playwright William Shakespeare. The opera was first performed at La Scala in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 9, 1893.
Falstaff was Verdi’s final opera and ranks among the greatest of all comic operas. The story centers on the humorous mishaps of Sir John Falstaff, a fat, vain knight. Falstaff appears in three of Shakespeare’s plays—the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor (about 1600) and two history plays, Henry IV, parts I and II (about 1597-1598). Verdi used the plot of the comedy but borrowed some material from Henry IV, part I.
The opera’s action takes place in the English town of Windsor. Verdi portrays Falstaff’s attempts to woo two married women of the town, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. The attempts end in Falstaff’s humiliation. A subplot involves a romance between Nannetta, who is Mistress Ford’s daughter, and a young man named Fenton. Other characters include Bardolph and Pistol, two rascal followers of Falstaff; Dr. Caius, a local physician; and Mistress Quickly, a neighbor of the two wives.
Falstaff has won praise for Verdi’s charming and witty music. Notable songs include Falstaff’s comic aria “Mondo ladro. Mondo rubaldo!” (World of robbers. World of deception!”) and his skeptical view of honor, “L’onore! Ladri!” (“Your honor! Scoundrels!”) The opera ends with Falstaff leading the other characters in the light-hearted “Tutto nel mondo è burla“ (“Everything in the world is a jest”).
See also Verdi, Giuseppe .
