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A quick overview of Verdi’s 1851 operatic masterpiece.

Premiered

1851

Music by

Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by

Francesco Maria Piave

Language

Italian

As one of the most popular operas in the repertoire, one might not expect that Verdi’s Rigoletto had such a beleaguered beginning.

A host of hummable tunes and a tremendously dramatic plot notwithstanding, Verdi’s 19th century opera barely survived the suffocating grip of censorship that seized Western Europe.

Victor Hugo’s 1832 play, Le Roi s’Amuse—a scathing response to the seemingly perpetual link between power and corruption—captivated the attention of Verdi and his loyal librettist, Francesco Maria Piave.

With the French monarchy newly restored at the time of its premiere, Le Roi s’Amuse failed to win the approval of the aristocracy; the play was banned in France and remained unperformed for the next 50 years.

Verdi was undeterred by France’s resistance to the play and set Piave to work on a libretto. While Verdi expected that some changes would have to be made—the original play being a thinly veiled criticism of the French king, Louis-Phillipe, he did not anticipate how strongly the opera would be opposed even by Venetian censors.

After a series of amendments and different titles, Rigoletto finally had its premiere at Teatro La Fenice in 1851, maintaining the majority of the issues explored in Hugo’s original play.

The opera was an immediate success and, to the initial chagrin and ultimate delight of Victor Hugo, was performed in Paris over 100 times while Hugo’s play remained banned from the stage.

Act I

The Duke of Mantua, fond of parties and women, is enjoying himself at a festive ball. The libertine Duke is engaged in the pursuit of a desired affair with the married Countess Ceprano. Count Ceprano furiously watches the Duke and the Countess together. The court jester, Rigoletto, cruelly mocks Count Ceprano’s ill-concealed anger. Marullo, a courtier, excitedly reports the unlikely news that the deformed jester is apparently keeping a mistress. Ceprano and the other members of the court, all of whom have been the butt of Rigoletto’s derisive humor at one time or another, decide to take revenge against the jester.

Count Monterone, a nobleman, enters in a fury; he has discovered that the Duke has seduced his daughter. Rigoletto viciously insults Monterone, who curses the jester for mocking a father’s grief. Although Rigoletto’s insults have made him the object of many curses before, this is the first time he has been cursed by a father, and Rigoletto is filled with horror.

Rigoletto keeps his 16-year-old daughter, Gilda, under the constant supervision of her nurse, Giovanna, far away from the debauchery of the Duke’s court. She is forbidden to leave the house except for her Sunday visits to the church. As Rigoletto walks home from the palace, he is greatly disturbed by Monterone’s curse. He encounters Sparafucile, a hired assassin, who offers his services. Rigoletto sends him away after telling Sparafucile that he will keep him in mind if he ever should require him.

Gilda has noticed a handsome young man at church—it is the Duke, disguised as a student named Gaultier Maldé. One night, the Duke manages to gain entry to Gilda’s house, with the help of Giovanna. He and the innocent girl soon exchange words of love. When he has gone, Gilda sings of her new love. A group of courtiers (who assume that Gilda is Rigoletto’s mistress) trick Rigoletto into assisting with his own daughter’s abduction.

Act II

Alone, the Duke reveals that he had returned to Rigoletto’s house to see Gilda but had found the place deserted. Back in the palace, he mourns the loss of a woman whose love, he now feels, might have inspired true love and devotion unlike any other he has experienced before. The courtiers return and report the abduction of Rigoletto’s “mistress” whom they have brought to the palace. Ecstatic and relieved, the Duke rushes into his bedroom where Gilda is concealed.

Rigoletto enters and tries to find his daughter’s whereabouts. He denounces the courtiers for their cruelty. Gilda rushes into her father’s arms and, ashamed, confesses her liaison with the Duke. Rigoletto vows revenge despite Gilda’s pleas on the Duke’s behalf.

Act III

Rigoletto plans to escape from the corruption of Mantua. He disguises Gilda (who still loves the Duke) in men’s clothing so they can leave the city unnoticed. He also hires Sparafucile to kill the Duke. Sparafucile’s sister, Maddalena, assists in the scheme by luring the Duke to her house. Maddalena feels sorry for her handsome victim and persuades her brother to let him live; in his place, they will kill their next visitor. Overhearing this, Gilda decides that she will sacrifice her own life for the Duke’s. When Rigoletto returns to claim the Duke’s body, the jester is shocked to discover that it is his own daughter who has been murdered instead.

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Cover of piano transcription of Verdi’s Rigoletto, published 1860.

Presented by Washington National Opera, host Saul Lilienstein takes you through the musical world of Verdi’s 1851 operatic masterpiece, Rigoletto.

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