Opera in three acts (1893)
New Production! Verdi’s final opera returns to the Teatro Costanzi in a sparkling new production by award-winning director Tatjana Gürbaca (her first-ever engagement in Italy, after a career built in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and Zurich), conducted by Michele Mariotti and led by one of today’s foremost Verdi baritones, Luca Salsi, as the irrepressible Sir John Falstaff.
With a libretto by Arrigo Boito inspired by Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, the opera follows the ageing, cash-strapped knight as he plots to seduce two resourceful wives to restore his fortunes – only to become the target of their brilliantly orchestrated revenge.
As jealous husbands, quick-witted women and young lovers collide, Verdi’s late style fizzes with razor-sharp ensembles, flowing lyricism and a jubilant final fugue that wryly reminds us that “tutto nel mondo è burla” – all the world's a farce.
"Falstaff is not a comedy about an old man who fails, but about humanity itself: about our illusions, our desires, our weaknesses and our tireless attempt to transform the brief miracle of life into something meaningful." - Tatjana Gürbaca