Falstaff in Full Score

by Giuseppe Verdi

The plays of Shakespeare inspired Verdi's deepest resources. Macbeth (1847) was one of the composer's earliest operatic-dramatic triumphs and Otello (1887) was among his latest. At the end of his life Verdi astonished a public accustomed to his tragic fervor with Falstaff, a gem of pure comedy.
Verdi's last great work premiered in the composer’s 80th year. This reproduction of the complete and unabridged score brings the final proof of the maestro's universality to the many students, musicians, and opera lovers who would see for themselves the summation of Verdi's brilliant orchestral and compositional powers. Ricordi was Verdi's original publisher; this reprint of his edition contains the standard, definitive score and includes English translations of the original front matter. Falstaff benefits from Verdi's understanding of Wagner and other operatic innovators. Nevertheless, between its concise but forceful orchestration and its copious melodic invention, it remains singularly Verdian. Its wit astonishes as much today as it did in 1893.

Genres: Music

480 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1893

About the author

Fullest artistic form of operas of Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer, included La Traviata in 1853, Aïda in 1871, and Otello in 1887; people credit him with raising the genre.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, mainly a Romantic, most influenced the 19th century. Houses frequently perform his works throughout the world, and some themes transcended the boundaries of the genre and long took root in popular culture:
* "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto
* "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco , and
* "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song).

Masterworks of Giuseppe Verdi used a generally diatonic rather than a chromatic musical idiom, and people sometimes criticized tendency toward melodrama, which dominates the standard repertoire a century and a half.

Reviews

[Recensioni in tre parole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arguto. Vivace. Divertente.

[Yuval · Rating 4 out of 5]

The format of these books are particularly helpful: the libretto on one side, a page of running commentary on the libretto and score on the other. This author put out the best introduction to the RING I know in the same format; if this one is a little less overwhelming in its insight, I think it has more to do with the qualities of FALSTAFF itself. The opera does gain much, however, from a careful, specific reading, and a long essay on the genesis of the opera also offers illuminating context for appreciating what makes this a masterpiece of an opera. The concluding remarks, however, are not much more than useless trivia. ("Verdi began his career naming operas after his title male character, then lots of operas named after the female character, and ends his career with two operas named after male characters again." Wow, thanks.) Despite that, an excellent supplement to the opera.

[Raúl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basado en Las alegres comadres de Windsor, nuevamente se unen Arrigo Boito como libretista y Verdi para componer una gran obra, que será la última de la carrewra del compositor, en su más creativa senectud. Un libreto fascinante, bien gtrabado, una gran adaptación de la comedia de Shakespeare que sabe dar todo lo que tiene ésta de farsesco y le brinda a Verdi la oportunidad de crear una música brillante y desenfadada, con un juego tímbrico y melódico que la hacen especialmente brillante, una de las mejores de su carrera.