GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813 – 1901)
Opera in three acts Libretto by Arrigo Boito after William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor”
First performed in Milan in 1893

“There is only one way to find an even more beautiful conclusion than with ‘Otello’: with a victorious ‘Falstaff’,” wrote librettist Arrigo Boito to Verdi in 1889. “After all the lamentations and cries of pain of the human heart, to bid farewell with a tremendous outburst of cheerfulness – that would be something marvellous!” “Amen. That’s how it should be,” replied the composer. And Verdi did indeed achieve something amazing with his last work: he surpassed Shakespeare, whose occasional work “The Merry Wives of Windsor” only became a truly great, deeply human comedy in “Falstaff”. The wonderfully philosophical point of the play is that the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, who slips badly several times on his free feet, does not allow his mood to be spoilt and exclaims even in adversity: “Tutto nel mondo è burla – Everything is fun on earth.” Bravo, Sir John!

PREMIERE: 1 May 2024