Andrea Maffei, a poet and friend of Verdi, suggested to him that "Macbeth" would be a good story to make into an opera. Verdi did not read Shakespeare’s original work until after he had composed the opera. The words were written for him by Piave who based the libretto on an Italian translation. Verdi loved the story, he thought it was “one of the greatest creations of man”. The opera is very similar to the story told by Shakespeare, but Verdi uses a large chorus of witches instead of just three. The last act ends with the refugees coming together on the English border, and, in the revised version, ends with a chorus of bards celebrating their victory over the cruel tyrant.