Rodney Milnes suggested that the “almost conventional slow concertato ensemble and fast stretta” ending this opera’s second act served as “a wise old conservative’s warning about the excesses of the verismo”. A character in this opera reflects on uncertain marriage in the aria “È sogno o realtà?”. Toscanini’s insistence on presenting it at every season at La Scala from 1921-29 provided impetus for the revival of this opera, which ends on a fugue on the words (*) “All the world’s (-5[1])a joke”, after a period of relative neglect. The title character of this opera, who boasts of his supposed romantic achievements in the aria "Va, vecchio John”, is thrown from a laundry basket into the River Thames by the (-5[1])servants of Alice Ford. For 10 (10[1])points, name this final opera by Verdi, a comic work based largely on The Merry Wives of Windsor. ■END■