Home > Falstaff Verdi, G. (1813-1901) Falstaff Composed 1889-1890; revised 1893 and 1894. First performed February 9, 1893. Libretto by Arrigo Boito (in Itarian), after Shakespeare. A Summary of “Falstaff” Act 1 During the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413), in the middle of England, Windsor, a fat elderly knight, Sir John Falstaff, drinks alcohol at the Garter Inn. But he does not have any money, so he wrote love letters to two rich married women, Alice and Meg. Alice and Meg know that both of them were given the same letter from Falstaff, and they both get very angry. In addition, Alice’s husband, Ford, also knows about Falstaff’s letter, and he gets angry, too. Act 2 When Ford is away from home, Alice invites Falstaff to her home. According to her plan, Meg suddenly appears to surprise him. But, Meg informs Alice that Ford is coming home soon. Falstaff is surprised! Alice advises him that he should hide himself in the large laundry basket. When Falstaff hides himself in it, Alice orders her servants to throw the laundry basket out the window into the river. The women and Ford are satisfied when they see Falstaff soaking wet. Act 3 There is another problem. Ford wants his daughter, Nannetta, to marry a doctor, Caius. But, Nannetta has a lover, Fenton. Alice and Meg invite Falstaff to Windsor Great Park at midnight. Falstaff is pleased and goes there. But, he is surrounded by villagers disguised as fairies. Falstaff believes that any person who sees fairies is dead. When he lies himself down on the ground, all the people poke him to punish him. And then, according to Ford’s plan, he attempts to announce to the villagers about the marriage of Nannetta to Dr. Caius. But, Alice, that is Nannetta’s mother, interrupts his plan, and Nannetta can announce to everyone that she will marry her lover, Fenton. Ford also reluctantly accepts this. Falstaff says, “Tutto nel mondo e burla (Everything in the world is a joke)” and everyone starts laughing. A Comment on “Falstaff” This opera, “Falstaff” is Giuseppe Verdi’s last opera. When he was 79 years old, the world premiere of this opera was held in Milano. When he was young, he continued to compose his operas for 10 hours a day. But, he composed “Falstaff” for 2 hours every day. Verdi said that he composed this opera for his enjoyment. This opera was completed as an outstanding comedy. Before that, Verdi composed a lot of tragedies. Due to the success of this opera, “Falstaff,” he could leave a totally different impression in people around the world. Verdi likes the character of Falstaff best. He hung a picture of Falstaff on the wall in his room. Arrigo Boito who is the scriptwriter of Verdi’s previous work, “Otello,” recommended Verdi to compose this opera based on Shakespeare’s drama, “Henry IV” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Both Verdi and Falstaff were old. I think that after Verdi finished composing his last opera said, “Everything in the world is a joke,” just like Falstaff. I heard Verdi began to compose this opera from the part of Fuga in the final act. One of the distinctive features of this opera is the precise ensemble. At that time, Wagner’s opera had great influence on opera composers all over the world. Though Verdi didn’t recognise Wagner’s opera, he changed his viewpoint of Wagner’s opera in his later years. But, Verdi was never influenced by Wagner. Verdi accumulated his original opera composition techniques. Verdi’s opera had significant influence on Italian operas. “Falstaff” is an Italian heritage. Gluck, C. W. (1714-1787) 　- Orpheus and Eurydice Mozart, W. A. (1756-1791) 　- The Marriage of Figaro 　- Don Giovanni 　- Cosi fan tutte 　- The Magic Flute Beethoven, L. v. (1770-1827) 　- Fidelio Weber, C. M. v. (1786-1826) 　- The Magic Bullets Rossini, G. (1792-1868) 　- The Barber of Seville Donizetti, G. (1797-1848) 　- The Elixir of Love Verdi, G. (1813-1901) 　- Macbeth 　- Rigoletto 　- Il trovatore 　- La Traviata 　- Un ballo in maschera 　- Don Carlo 　- Aida 　- Otello 　- Falstaff Wagner, R. (1813-1883) 　- The Flying Dutchman 　- Tannhauser 　- Lohengrin 　- Tristan und Isolde 　- Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg 　- The Rhinegold 　- Die Walkure 　- Siegfried 　- Twilight of the Gods 　- Parsifal Offenbach, J. (1819-1880) 　- The Tales of Hoffmann Strauss, J. (1825-1899) 　- Die Fledermaus (The Bat) Bizet, G. (1838-1875) 　- Carmen Tchaikovsky, P. J. (1840-1893) 　- Eugene Onegin Massenet, J. (1842-1912) 　- Werther Humperdinck, E. (1854-1921) 　- Hansel and Gretel Puccini, G. (1858-1924) 　- La Boheme 　- Tosca 　- Madama Butterfly 　- Turandot Leoncavallo, R. (1858-1919) 　- Pagliacci Mascagni, P. (1863-1945) 　- Cavalleria Rusticana Debussy, C. (1862-1918) 　- Pelleas et Melisande Strauss, R. (1864-1949) 　- Salome 　- The Cavalier of the Rose Copyright (C) 2005-2017 Yusuke Kamiki. All Rights Reserved.