The edition
Several versions of the opera Falstaff survive from Verdi’s lifetime. These have been analysed and evaluated for this edition, using new scholarly methods developed on the basis of comprehensive original research.
The content of all the relevant sources – from the completion of the first fair copy in October 1892 to the publication of the final version in September 1897 – has been brought together to produce four main versions A, B, C, D and the subsidiary versions A-1, D-1 and D+1.
In order to respond to the demands for the grea- test possible transparency and scholarly precision, adjustments and additions have been made solely on the basis of the autograph musical text. The phrasing in the strings – often unperformable in this form – has also been reproduced unaltered in order to show clearly Verdi’s intentions and thereby to give interpreters the opportunity to approach this ideal presentation individually.

Materials
Selected arias, duets and ensembles from the opera are now available separately as individual numbers – the full score and vocal score are available to buy and the performance material is available on hire. The Critical Commentary of the complete opera in the form of a printed Score of Variant Readings and the Commentary Score is available under the publisher’s numbers LVGH 1654-91 and LVGH 1654-92 from Schott / Mainz as hire material; the di- gital version as an APP at www.hermann.eu.
The music pages for the individual numbers have been taken from the full score, vocal score and orchestral parts of the critical new edition. As a result, the page numbers, bar numbers and layout are unaltered and concordant with the material of the complete stage work.
A special feature of the material is excellent legibility and the placement of the page-turns in the orchestral parts. For information on the versions and their sequence a corresponding article precedes the music text or a sequence table illustrates the sequence.

The publication of the stage work / Versions A/B/C/D
The Critical Scores of the individual titles each con- tain the complete music text of Versions C, D and D+1 and the respective surviving portions of Versions A and B.
A-1: Rejected early version – 1891-92
A: Definitive first version – August-Oct. 1892
B: Corrected first version – Sept.-October 1892
C: Version of the first performance – February 1893
D-1: Rejected early version – March 1893
D: Last version in the autograph full score – April 1893
D+1: Last authorised version – April 1894

The sequence
Version letters and cut marks indicate the sequence of each version and guide users through the music text. They are reproduced in the full score, the vocal score and the orchestral parts and match across all the materials, as do the bar numbers.