Falstaff

Verdi was nearly 80 years old when he composed Falstaff, which premiered in 1893 at La Scala in Milan. It was a stunning creative achievement for a composer who had largely been in retirement.

Verdi's librettist, Arrigo Boito, brilliantly wove together characters and plot points from Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" and the "Henry IV" plays. Verdi had previously adapted Shakespeare in his operas "Macbeth" and "Otello."

It is Verdi's only successful comedy and his final theatrical work, abandoning traditional separate arias in favor of a fast-paced, continuous flow of music. The opera is famous for its brilliant use of rhythm and rapid-fire vocal text.

The opera concludes with a massive, complex fugue sung by all the main characters on the theme "Tutto nel mondo è burla" (All the world is a joke). It is a massive, life-affirming musical statement that caps off Verdi's long career.