Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV.

While it has not proved to be as immensely popular as the Verdi works that immediately preceded it, namely Aida and Otello, Falstaff has long been an admired favorite with critics and musicians because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodic invention.

Verdi directing the rehearsals of Falstaff

* 1893: Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi

* Fenton, Falstaff ( Verdi )

One of the best known Italian Verdi baritones of the 1920s and ' 30s, Mariano Stabile, sang Iago and Rigoletto and Falstaff ( at La Scala ) under the baton of Arturo Toscanini.

* Mrs Quickly, Falstaff ( Verdi )

He was renowned for his affinity with the works of Verdi, notably his breakthrough role of Ford in Falstaff, Simon Boccanegra in Simon Boccanegra and Iago in Otello.

In his will, he left his baton to his protégée Herva Nelli, who sang in the broadcasts of Otello, Aïda, Falstaff, the Verdi Requiem, and Un ballo in maschera.

* Verdi, Falstaff ( 1937, Salzburg Festival with restored sound on the Andante label ; 1950 NBC broadcast )

* Giuseppe Verdi — Falstaff

* Verdi: Falstaff ( Sweet, Lopardo, Panerai, Titus ; C. Davis, 1991 ) RCA

* Verdi: Falstaff ( Freni, Bonney, Lopardo, Plishka ; Levine, Zeffirelli, 1992 ) Deutsche Grammophon

** Sir Colin Davis ( conductor ); Carlos Alvarez, Bülent Bezdüz, Marina Domashenko, Jane Henschel, Ana Ibarra, Maria Josè Moreno & Michele Pertusi ; James Mallinson ( producer ) ( London Symphony Chorus ; London Symphony Orchestra ) for Verdi: Falstaff

* Verdi: Falstaff ( Schwarzkopf ; Karajan, 1956 ) EMI

* Verdi, Falstaff, with Leonard Bernstein

** Verdi: Falstaff, Carlo Maria Giulini conducting ( Deutsche Grammophon )

* Nannetta, Falstaff ( Verdi )

** Ford, Falstaff ( Giuseppe Verdi )

* Falstaff ( Giuseppe Verdi )-Mrs. Alice Ford

Although his international fame was almost entirely in the German repertoire, in Germany and Austria he was also known for performing Verdi in the vernacular and was, for example a popular Falstaff and a formidable Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, a role he performed in Italian in several theatres as well, including a breathtaking performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

As sources, Shakespeare's plays provided Verdi with lifelong inspiration: some, such as King Lear were never realized but he wrote his two final operas using Othello as the basis for Otello ( 1887 ) and The Merry Wives of Windsor as the basis for Falstaff ( 1893 ).

* Verdi: Falstaff ( under Carlo Maria Giulini, 1982 ) ( Deutsche Grammophon )

Verdi would not attempt another operatic comedy until the end of his career with Falstaff.

In the published version of Henry IV, Part 1, Falstaff's name is always unmetrical, suggesting a name change after the original composition ; Prince Hal refers to Falstaff as " my old lad of the castle " in the first act of the play ; the epilogue to Henry IV, Part II, moreover, explicitly disavows any connection between Falstaff and Oldcastle, a dancer declaring: "... where, for anything I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already ' a be killed with your hard opinions ; for Oldcastle died a martyr and this is not the man ".

The historical Oldcastle was unlike Falstaff ; in particular, he was a Lollard who was executed for his beliefs, and he was respected by many Protestants as a martyr.

If you be not too much cloyed with fat meat, our humble author will continue the story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France where, for any thing I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already a ' be killed with your hard opinions ; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man.

Additionally, " humour " was thought to include a combination of ridiculousness and wit in an individual ; the paradigmatic case being Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff.

Falstaff, the bawdy rotund comic knight ; Romeo and Juliet, the ill-fated (" star-crossed ") lovers ; Richard II, the hero who dies with honour ; and many others.

The " merry wives " are not interested in the ageing, overweight Falstaff as a suitor ; however, for the sake of their own amusement and to gain revenge for his indecent assumptions towards them both, they pretend to respond to his advances.

Among Haydon's other pictures were: Eucles and Punch ( 1829 ); Napoleon at St Helena, for Sir Robert Peel ; Xenophon, on his Retreat with the ' Ten Thousand ,' first seeing the Sea ; and Waiting for the Times, purchased by the Marquis of Stafford ( all 1831 ); and Falstaff and Achilles playing the Lyre ( 1832 ).

* Sir John Falstaff – a cowardly fat knight who befriends Prince Hal ; a fictional character, he was originally called " Oldcastle " and distantly based on Sir John Oldcastle.

At its first publication in 1597 or 1598 the play was titled The History of Henrie the Fourth and its title page advertised only the presence of Henry Percy and the comic Sir John Falstaff ; Prince Hal was not mentioned.

In Henry IV, Part 2 an epilogue emphasises that Falstaff is not Oldcastle: " Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already a ' be killed with your hard opinions ; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man.

* Falstaff ( 1893 ), Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito.

* Falstaff, 9 February 1893

The first performance of Falstaff took place on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan to great success.

In 1893, he created the part of Ford in Verdi's last opera, Falstaff.

With that, their mutual friendship and respect blossomed and, though Verdi's projection for an opera based on King Lear never came to anything, Boito provided subtle and resonant libretti for Verdi's last masterpieces, Otello ( 1887 ) and Falstaff ( 1893 ).

A scene from the original production of Verdi's Falstaff ( opera ) | Falstaff ( 1893 ) as depicted by artist Ettore Tito.

*“ Notizen zu Verdis Falstaff ,” Die Zukunft, Band 3 ( 1893 ), p. 474-76.

Verdi's last opera, Falstaff ( 1893 ), broke free of conventional form altogether and finds music which follows quick flowing simple words and because of its respect for the pattern of ordinary speech, it created a threshold for a new operatic era in which speech patterns are paramount.

In 1887, Maurel created the role of Iago in Otello at La Scala, Milan, and then, in 1893, he created the title role in Falstaff, again at La Scala.