Rigoletto Story

Where is the story from?

- French Romantic author Victor Hugo's "Le Roi s'Amuse" ("The King (Francis I) Has Fun") - After 2 performances, censors did not want to represent the French king poorly, so they changed the king to a duke, moved the story from France to Italy, and made the jester's name Rigoletto (was Triboulet)

Original name

- "La Maledizione"= "The Curse" (always have been important in literature to advance or color the plot)

Risorgimento

- "The Resurgence" - Verdi was responsible through shaping/reflecting the struggle for Italian unification in his words - Inspired the Italian people to fight to gain their independence - Resulted in the unification of Italy in 1861 (finalized in 1870) - "Viva Verdi"= composer and acronym for Vittorio Emanuele, the first king of the Italian nation

Setting

- 16th century Mantua

Orchestra

- 2 Flutes (Flute 2 doubles picocolo) - 2 Oboes (Oboe 2 doubles English Horn) - 2 Clarinets - 2 Bassoons - 4 horns - 2 Trumpets - 3 Trombones - Cimbasso - Timpani - Bass drum - Cymbals - Strings

How long did it take to write?

- 40 days (took some like Rossini and Donizetti at least 2 years) during a period of inspiration - Impressively concise and everything has its perfect place

Count Monterone

- Baritone - The Duke's enemy

Rigoletto

- Baritone - The Duke's hunchback jester - Very complex due to his layer of being a loving and caring father - Sometimes learn through thoughts or public actions

Sparafucile

- Bass - Hired assassin - Translates to "hitman" or "gun for hire"

Maddalena

- Contralto - Sparafucile's sister

How was it a break from the past?

- Dominated by baritone voice - No more entrance arias/finale ensembles - Recitativo cantando= sung, melodic - Orchestra provides commentary

Act 2

- Duke's palace - The Duke is singing about his beloved Gilda - He is overjoyed when his courtiers tell him they abducted her - Immediately goes to see her - Rigoletto is heartbroken, looking for his daughter - Hears she is with the Duke, curses the courtier - Gilda enters, and the crowd of courtiers leaves, believing Rigoletto has gone mad - In a duet, Rigoletto swears vengeance on the Duke while Gilda pleads for her lover - Monterone goes to jail, sees Duke's portrait, and admits defeat

Librettist and language

- Francesco Maria Piave - Italian

Composer

- Giuseppe Verdi - Struggled to find personal vision and style of drama during amni di galera (galley years- focused on characters going against the times) and Rigoletto came just after - Wrote 27 operas over 3 periods 1) Early= standard elements of opera, politically motivated 2) Middle= moves away from standard Italian opera, themes are more personal and less political 3) Late= wanted to transform Italian opera using elements of French grand opera

Premiere

- La Fenice, Venice, March 11, 1851

Countess Ceprano

- Mezzo-soprano

Giovanna

- Mezzo-soprano - Gilda's chaperone/nurse

Overture?

- No, has a prelude instead

Act 1, Scene 1

- Room in the Duke's palace (still an actual building- where Gonzaga family used to live, employed Monteverdi during the Baroque) - The Duke is hosting a party with many guests, proceeds to sing the aria "Questa o Quella" to make intentions clear, wants to conquer Countess Ceprano - Rigoletto mocks Ceprano and makes fun of Count Monterone's anger after the Duke has seduced his daughter. - Monterone confronts the Duke, gets arrested, and curses Rigoletto for making fun of him. - Rigoletto is very scared of his curse (superstition that an old man's curse has real power)

Gilda

- Soprano - Rigoletto's daughter

Act 1, Scene 2

- Street of Mantua with courtyard of Rigoletto's house - Rigoletto returns home after the curse - Runs into Sparafucile, a trained assassin, who offers his services - Rigoletto wishes to protect his daughter Gilda from the world and its evil ways - She is all that is good to him in this world - Rigoletto leaves, telling Giovanna the nurse to keep the doors locked - The Duke of Mantua sneaks through the garden posing as a student (Gualtier Maldè) and bribes Giovanna - The Duke and Gilda make love, then he leaves - Gilda is assumed to be Rigoletto's mistress and is abducted by a group of courtiers - Blindfolded, Rigoletto is tricked into holding the ladder - Hearing Gilda scream and realizing his daughter is gone, Rigoletto remembers and cries out against the curse

Act 3

- Street outside Sparafucile's house (inn) - Act of the famous quartet w/ Gilda, Rigoletto, Maddalena, and the Duke - Rigoletto and Gilda hear the Duke inside singing "La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle"). - Sparafucile's sister, Maddalena, lured him into the house where he flirts with her - This upsets Gilda because he is not faithful. - Rigoletto tells Gilda to dress as a man and leave for Verona. When she leaves, he pays Sparafucile to kill the Duke. Rigoletto leaves. - A thunderstorm keeps the Duke at Sparafucile's house - Sparafucile decides to kill the Duke in his sleep. - Gilda returns dressed as a man, and overhears Maddalena begging Sparafucile to spare the Duke. He says if he can find another victim before Rigoletto returns at midnight, he will spare the Duke. - Gilda enters the house, and is stabbed and mortally wounded, sacrificing herself for the Duke. - Rigoletto arrives at end of storm and pays Sparafucile for the corpse wrapped in a sack. As he is about to throw the body into the river, he hears the Duke singing "La donna è mobile" and opens the sack, finding Gilda. - She wakes up for a short time and claims she was glad to die for her beloved, and then dies in Rigoletto's arms. Rigoletto cries out "La maledizione!" ("The curse!")

Duke of Mantua

- Tenor - Rakish noble - Root of many dramatic situations