Rigoletto

Melodramma in three acts
Music by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, from Victor Hugo's play Le Roi s’amuse 
Premiere: Venise, Teatro La Fenice, 11 march 1851

Production Théâtre Lyrique de Cagliari

A budding love relationship is doomed from the beginning when an innocent girl longs for the romantic bond imagined in her fantasy, whereas her young man is a notorious philanderer, out for a one-night stand with a virgin. And then there are the incompatible social positions: she, Gilda, the daughter of the hunchbacked court jester Rigoletto, he, the Duke of Mantua, Rigoletto’s boss.

Rigoletto himself is first presented as disagreeable, nasty and vengeful. But the magic of this opera is how Giuseppe Verdi manages to fill us with deep empathy for this miserable man, thanks to his powerful music, which became an immediate success at its world premiere in 1851.  

Rigoletto is dark, dense, full of suspense and drama, with only a few bright moments from Gilda, whose young and pure life is unfortunately cut short prematurely. The pacing of different moods and styles – famous hits like “La donna è mobile” alternating with sophisticated ensembles like the famous third-act quartet, which even Victor Hugo admired, naturalistic orchestral pieces like the raging storm, and memorable leitmotifs like Monterone’s tremendous curse – is perfect and made Rigoletto into one of the most popular operas of all times.