Verdi Rigoletto
Tuesday 23 February 2027 - 20 h (Gala evening)
Thursday 25 February 2027 - 20 h
Sunday 28 February 2027 - 15 h
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 master.
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 arias 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.
The Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra
In a dark alley in Mantua, not far from the Duke’s palace, three figures meet at nightfall: Rigoletto, the jester, Gilda, his daughter, and the Duke of Mantua.
The Duke (smiling): Ah, Rigoletto! Still scheming in the shadows? Who are you waiting for this time? An enemy? A friend? Or perhaps a new victim?
Rigoletto (bitterly): Jesters have neither friends nor enemies, Your Grace. They have masters… and, at times, regrets.
Gilda (gently): Father, you speak as though the whole world had wronged you.
Rigoletto: Because it has. At court, everything is deceit, seduction and betrayal. (He glances at the Duke.) Some, more than others, have made it an art.
The Duke: Come now… seduction is no crime. It is a gift. And besides, love is a most delightful game.
Gilda: A game? For you, perhaps… For others, it is a whole life.
Rigoletto: That is precisely the problem: some play, others lose.
The Duke (lightly): You are rather sombre for someone in the entertainment business.
Rigoletto: The jester makes people laugh… but he sees everything. He sees fathers worrying about their daughters. He sees young girls believing in promises. He sees powerful men take what they want and move on.
Gilda (looking at the Duke): And yet… when one loves, one believes that love is different. Unique.
The Duke: My dear child, all loves are unique… for a while.
Rigoletto: And that is how tragedies begin.
(A silence.)
Gilda: Father… why did you keep me hidden from the world all these years?
Rigoletto: Because I know men. Because I know this man. Because your innocence would be prey in such a world.
The Duke (feigning indignation): So now I am cast as a monster!
Rigoletto: No. Worse. A charming man.
Gilda: But if one does not live, does not meet anyone, never loves… then what is the point of life?
Rigoletto (darkly): To avoid suffering.
Gilda: To love, even if it is impossible, even if it is dangerous… is that not better than never loving at all?
The Duke: Now that is a philosophy I can admire.
Rigoletto: Of course you can. You always come out unscathed.
Gilda (softly): Perhaps love is not meant to endure… Perhaps it is meant to change us.
Rigoletto: Love destroys.
Gilda: No, father. It reveals.
The Duke: And sometimes, it entertains.
Rigoletto: And sometimes, it kills.
(A heavier silence.)
Rigoletto: Once, I laughed at an old man whose daughter had been taken from him. He cursed me. I mocked him. I thought curses belonged to stories. But in Mantua, stories rarely end well.
The Duke: Have you grown superstitious?
Rigoletto: Let us say I once met a man who kills for money… and, watching him, I realised we share the same trade. He kills with a blade, I with words.
Gilda: Father…
Rigoletto: I thought I could take revenge on the world. But one cannot do so without losing oneself.
Gilda: Then we are all prisoners of something: you, father, of your fear; you, Duke, of your desire; and I… of my love.
The Duke: That would make a splendid opera.
Rigoletto: Yes. A story in which no one can be happy, because each loves badly, loves too much, or loves alone.
Gilda: So… a story of impossible love.
Rigoletto: Exactly. And it is always the innocent who pay the price.
The Duke (shrugging): Such is life.
Rigoletto: No, Your Grace. This is Verdi.
© L'estremità di una via cecia. Rigoletto. Archivio Storico Ricordi