Verdi’s work of old age and at the same time the last opera from his pen belongs to the genre of commedia lirica. The premiere of “Falstaff” took place to great acclaim at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1893 and ushered in a renaissance of comic opera at the turn of the century. Falstaff influenced, among others, the cheerful stage works of Richard Strauss and also the brilliant “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini.The character of Falstaff describes an old man, very obese and fond of drinking, poltrous, who sets out with shrewdness and quick-wittedness to replenish his dwindling financial reserves. This burlesque and entertaining story tells how he succeeds, what intrigues are forged and who ends up happy with whom.Arrigo Boito wrote a witty libretto based on William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” (including scenes from “Henry IV”), which sparkles with wit and wordplay. Verdi composed the opera at the age of almost 80, and perhaps the fact that as a celebrated composer of the century he no longer had anything to prove to anyone may have contributed to the musical realization being so pointed, lively and authentic.

“Le nozze di figaro” marked the beginning of the happy and fruitful collaboration between W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, which was to bring both success and artistic satisfaction. Although Da Ponte, as a precautionary measure and in view of the sharp censorship, dispensed with the biting sarcasm of Beaumarchais’ original, which served as the model for the new opera buffa, there was still enough fuel in it to deal with a major theme of the time: The examination of the complex relationships between the social classes, or rather the discrimination of the lower classes by the upper ones.While Count Almaviva embodies a reactionary representative of the nobility, the shrewd Figaro is presented as a representative of the rising third class. Two forces face each other here, each claiming power in pre-revolutionary Europe. Mozart found in this passionate and ironic piece so much of the shame and disappointments he had experienced during his artistic life that he let all his bitter experiences and mental anguish flow into the composition.Despite the explosive theme, the premiere performance in Vienna in 1786 under the reign of Emperor Joseph II was a great success. Today "Le nozze di figaro" is one of the most popular and most performed operas worldwide.