What is Falstaff (opera)?
'''''Falstaff''''' is an [[Italy|Italian]] [[opera]] in three acts by [[Giuseppe Verdi]], on a [[libretto]] by Arrigo Boito, based on [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''. It was first performed in [[Milan]], on February 9, 1893. Verdi's last opera and perhaps greatest masterpiece, composed when he was 80, and only his second comedy since his earlier attempt ''Un giorno di regno'' in 1840. ==The composition of the opera== When Verdi composed ''Falstaff'' he was not writing it for a commission. He was just writing it for his own pleasure, without a performance in mind. When he had finished it he felt that it would be his last work and that his life’s work had finished. It was almost true. It was indeed his last opera and his last big work. When composers turn [[Play (theatre)|plays]] into operas they usually have to make some changes in the drama to make it suitable to be sung. Verdi had already turned two other Shakespeare plays into opera: ''[[Otello]]'' and ''[[Macbeth]]''. When he composed these he worked with [[librettist]]s to create something as close to Shakespeare’s plays as possible, but when writing ''Falstaff'' he took more freedom. The character of Falstaff is very close to the way he is shown in Shakespeare’s ''Henry IV'' plays, rather than the Falstaff of ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''. ==Principal roles== * Falstaff - [[baritone]] * Ford - baritone * Alice - [[soprano]] * Nanetta - soprano * Fenton - [[tenor]] * Mistress Quickly - [[contralto]] * Meg Page - [[mezzo-soprano]] ==The story of the opera== ===Act I=== This takes place in the Garter Inn ({{lang-it|Giarrettiera}}). Dr Caius, who is a rich man with [[servant]]s, complains that Falstaff has beaten his servants and that Falstaff’s two friends Bardolfo and Pistola made him drunk and then stole his money. Falstaff laughs at him. He says he will never get drunk again unless he is in the company of good, religious people. Bardolfo and Pistola in the background sing “Amen” until Falstaff stops them, complaining