Falstaff (opera) to think of "Falstaff" as a work that has a certain Englishness. In fact the opera is no more English than "Aida" is Egyptian. Boito and Verdi between them transformed the fat knight into one of the archetypes of "opera buffa"." Verdi himself, however, felt that the Falstaff of the opera is not a conventional Italian "buffo" character, but portrays Shakespeare's fuller, more ambiguous Falstaff of the "Henry IV" plays: "My Falstaff is not merely the hero of "The Merry Wives of Windsor", who is simply a buffoon, and allows himself to be tricked by the women, but also the
Alzira (opera) sextet and chorus, drawing the reader's attention to the fact that, after all, the libretto was written by Cammarano for a Neapolitan audience, the same one which would have experienced his famous "Lucia" sextet. However, as written by Verdi "the structure is altogether more varied and elaborate. The opening dialogue between Alvaro and Gusmano is remarkably original with its persistent upward motion from key to key a fifth apart." Notes Sources Alzira (opera) Alzira is an opera in a prologue and two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, based on the 1736 play "Alzire, ou