Falstaff (opera) knight, Sir John Falstaff, to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands' wealth. Verdi was concerned about working on a new opera at his advanced age, but he yearned to write a comic work and was pleased with Boito's draft libretto. It took the collaborators three years from mid-1889 to complete. Although the prospect of a new opera from Verdi aroused immense interest in Italy and around the world, "Falstaff" did not prove to be as popular as earlier works in the composer's canon. After the initial performances in Italy, other European countries and the US, the
Gustavo III (Verdi) the opera. Basing it as he did on the skeleton score of "Una vendetta", Verdi transformed the setting and characters' names to fit the requirements. The score's text required modification to agree with "Ballo" and not "Una vendetta", orchestration was completed, and musical changes and adjustments were made. Significant changes in the music occurred after 11 September and are also detailed by Gossett. The first performance of the new opera was presented on 17 February 1859. By about 1870, after "Ballo" had become successful and when Italian unification removed much of regional censorship, Verdi could probably have returned the opera