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

The requiem was compiled and completed, but it was cancelled at the last minute ( and was not performed in Verdi's lifetime ).

It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy.

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 ).

* Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, is based on the play, although, as with most operas adapted from the theatre, there are significant differences as to characters and plot.

A fictitious visit by Carlos, Prince of Asturias and other characters provides the moonlit setting for the last act of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlos.

* Arrigo Boito, composing a libretto for Verdi's opera Falstaff by improvising upon materials in Merry Wives and Henry IV, built the moonlit last act set in Windsor Great Park around a prank revenge played upon the amorous Falstaff by masqueraders disguised as spirits and the spectral " Black Huntsman ", in whom Herne the Hunter is recognizable.

Nechipalio was forced to drop out at the last minute ( to cover at the Bolshoi Theatre for a singer who had been ordered to " get sick " in a performance of Verdi's Don Carlo, according to Vishnevskaya's autobiography " Galina: A Russian Story ", page 278 ).

In 1928, the tenor performed Verdi's Otello entirely for the last time in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Chookasian had spent the last year studying under Ponselle and had created her second opera role on stage with the company, Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore in 1960.

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.

One of the last opera performances of her career was as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello with the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company opposite Mario Del Monaco in the title role in 1964.

Indeed, in 1891, his keenly awaited interpretation of the title role in Verdi's last tragic masterpiece, Otello, had disappointed the critics somewhat ; while expertly sung, it lacked the clarion ring and elemental force that his main tenor rival, Francesco Tamagno ( 1850-1905 ), had brought to the part.

Fing, a lean, chiseled, impeccable gentleman of the old school who was once mistaken on the street for Sir Cedric Hardwicke, is responsible for the rediscovery of Verdi's earliest, most raucous opera, Nabisco, a sumptuous bout-de-souffle with a haunting leitmotiv that struck me as being highly reminiscent of the Mudugno version of `` Volare ''.

On 12 April 2008, a version of Verdi's opera Un ballo in maschera directed by Johann Kresnik opened at the Erfurt Theater.

* 1843 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi receives its first performance in Milan.

It was while he was working on his second opera, Un giorno di regno, that Verdi's wife died.

Due to a number of Parisian conventions that had to be honored ( including extensive ballets ), it became Verdi's first work in the French Grand opera style.

Verdi's grand opera, Aida, is sometimes thought to have been commissioned for the celebration of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, but, according to one major critic, Verdi turned down the Khedive's invitation to write an " ode " for the new opera house he was planning to inaugurate as part of the canal opening festivities.

Some feel that although masterfully orchestrated, it lacks the melodic lustre so characteristic of Verdi's earlier, great, operas, while many critics consider it Verdi's greatest tragic opera, containing some of his most beautiful, expressive music and some of his richest characterizations.

With the possible exception of Giacomo Puccini, no composer of Italian opera has managed to match Verdi's popularity.

* 1853 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.

* 1842 – Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan ; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera writers.

* 1839 – Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, opens at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan,

Verdi's opera choruses of an oppressed people inspired two generations of patriots in Italy, especially with " Va pensiero " ( Nabucco, 1842 ).

* March 26 – The first half of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, conducted by legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini, and performed in concert ( i. e. no scenery or costumes ), is telecast by NBC, live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center.

** Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello makes its first appearance on Live from the Met, in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers.

* November 17 – Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, opens in Milan.

* March 9 – Giuseppe Verdi's third opera Nabucco premieres in Milan ; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera writers.

* February 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi premieres in Milan.

* March 11 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed at La Fenice in Venice.

Since 1944 he has also conducted regularly at the San Francisco Opera, where he made his debut with a memorable performance of Verdi's Falstaff.

The illustrious French baritone Victor Maurel, who had created the role of Iago in Verdi's previous opera, Otello, sang Falstaff at the premiere.

" He points to the example of Verdi's Falstaff, whose musical text contains substantial contributions from the leader of the orchestra of La Scala which were apparently welcomed by the composer.

The prolific operas of these composers, plus the works of Verdi's maturity, such as Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlos / Don Carlo, the revised Simon Boccanegra, Aida, Otello and Falstaff, blazed many new and rewarding performance pathways for baritones.

Notable among their contemporaries were the cultured and technically adroit French baritones Jean Lassalle ( hailed as the most accomplished baritone of his generation ), Victor Maurel ( the creator of Verdi's Iago, Falstaff and Tonio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci ), Paul Lhérie ( the first Posa in the revised, Italian-language version of Don Carlos ), and Maurice Renaud ( a singing actor of the first magnitude ).

Arrigo Boito (; 24 February 184210 June 1918 ), aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele.

He first achieved national recognition playing Ford in Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff.

While in Amsterdam Monteux conducted operas, including Pelléas et Mélisande, its Dutch premiere, Carmen, The Tales of Hoffmann, a Lully and Ravel double bill of Acis et Galatée and L ' heure espagnole, Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride ( also brought to the Paris Opéra ) and Verdi's Falstaff.

* February 9-Première of Giuseppe Verdi's final opera Falstaff in La Scala in Milan

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

In 1935, under Edgar Bainton ( Director 1934 – 48 ), the Conservatorium Opera School was founded, later performing works such as Giuseppe Verdi's Falstaff and Othello, Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Die Walküre, and Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, among others.

The department has also worked with HMP Lewes since 1988 in projects such as inmate-designed puppet shows influenced by works such as Verdi's Falstaff.

In 1982 he returned once more to opera, conducting a widely acclaimed production of Verdi's Falstaff with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

With exhilarating performances of Verdi's Rigoletto, Don Carlos, Otello and Falstaff, and Richard Strauss's Salome, Arabella, and Der Rosenkavalier, Kertész also proved himself a master of the finest of Italian romantic operas.

As this summer festival gained fame and stature as the premier venue for opera, drama, and classical concert presentation, its musical repertoire concentrated on Mozart and Strauss, but other works, such as Verdi's Falstaff and Beethoven's Fidelio, were also performed.

She also was well received as Alice Ford in Verdi's Falstaff.