Based, in part, on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi’s last work for the stage – and only his second comic opera. And yet the humour in this multilayered masterpiece is distinctly wry, for all the main characters exhibit an array of human weaknesses that are implacably exposed by Verdi and his librettist Arrigo Boito. In this legendary performance from the Salzburg Festival 1982, Herbert von Karajan is not only leading a stunning cast of singers featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, he too directed the opera, in the amazing set design of Günther Schneider-Siemssen.

Cast:
- Sir John Falstaff: Giuseppe Taddei
- Ford: Rolando Panerai
- Fenton: Francisco Araiza
- Dr Cajus: Piero de Palma
- Bardolfo: Heinz Zednik
- Pistola: Federico Davià
- Mistress Alice Ford: Raina Kabaivanska
- Nannetta: Janet Perry
- Mistress Meg Page: Trudeliese Schmidt
- Mistress Quickly: Christa Ludwig

Sound format: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1
Picture: NTSC, 4:3 / 1080i
Subtitles: Italian (original language), German, English, French, Korean
Booklet: English, German, French
Total running time: 135 mins