Rigoletto, Quarantined

With heavy hearts, we quarantine Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto. This opera, which was scheduled to open Florentine’s 2020/2021 season, has been postponed due to Covid-19. But don’t fret, Rigoletto and live performances will return and the opera will open our 2021/2022 season.

Need to know

Verdi’s Rigoletto is based on Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amuse, which is based on Francis I, who was king of France for most of the first half of the 16th century. It was quickly censored, as the French government took the play as a thinly veiled attack on the current King, Louis Philippe.

Verdi originally based the opera on the French kings, but to get around his own censorship, changed the king to the Duke of Mantua, a political group not without its own skeletons. Most likely, the Duke is based on Vincenzo Gonzaga (1562-1612) who spent large sums of money on wine, horses, and music during his reign. Gonzaga’s gluttonous lifestyle is not that different then the Duke in Rigoletto.

About Rigoletto, Verdi said, “My intention was that Rigoletto should be one long series of duets, without arias and finales.” That said, he knew there was something special about the final aria he wrote for the Duke, “La Donne è Mobile”, and not wanting the aria to be leaked to the public, swore his singers to secrecy. He didn’t provide the music for the song until a few days before the first performance.

Rigoletto was an instant success at its premiere in 1851 and hasn’t slowed down since. The opera is one of the top ten most performed operas around the world still today.

Here are some more facts about the great composer.

Opera’s Sleaziest Aria

“La donne è mobile” is one of the most famous arias in all of opera, its tuneful exuberance is easily hummable and a favorite of many opera goers. The lyrics of this aria actually tell a much darker tale of a narcissistic man that treats women as nothing more than a transaction. The juxtaposition of horrible words beautiful sung from a charismatic character is in fact one of the most ingenious storytelling devices Verdi uses. Listen to the aria sung here.

The Duke’s a jerk, but dang, he throws a good party!

In honor of Rigoletto’s most infamous character, the Duke of Mantua, your pre-opera cocktail is simply, “The Duke”. This sweet vermouth cocktail says all the right things, but is a dash bitter sweet! Watch John make the cocktail here.

Ingredients: 1 oz Cognac, 1 oz Sweet Vermouth, 1 oz Amaro Montenegro, 2 dashes orange bitters, 1 orange peel. Directions: Stir cognac, vermouth, amaro, and bitters over ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel. Enjoy!

Synopsis

Rigoletto, a hunchback jester, encourages his young master, the Duke of Mantua, to debauch the wives and daughters of his courtiers, all the while hiding his own innocent young daughter Gilda. The courtiers plot revenge on the jester and discover the hiding place of his daughter, whom they believe is his mistress. Count Monterone publicly protests the dishonoring of his daughter by the Duke and when Rigoletto mocks him, he places a curse on both the jester and the Duke.

The courtiers trick Rigoletto into helping them and while he’s distracted, they kidnap Gilda for the Duke. Unbeknownst to all, Gilda and the Duke, who she thinks is a poor student, have already pledged their love for each other. Rigoletto pleads with the courtiers to return his daughter and when she burst into the room, orders the crowd to leave the two of them alone. Believing his part of the curse fulfilled, he swears vengeance on the Duke and leaves with Gilda.

A month later, Rigoletto arranges for the Duke to visit a tavern occupied by an assassin, Sparafucile. Upon his arrival, the Duke is enticed by yet another conquest, the assassin’s attractive sister Maddelena. The jester brings Gilda to watch and she is heartbroken to see the Duke seduce another woman. Rigoletto sends Gilda away and pays Sparafucile to assassin the Duke. In the meantime, Maddelena convinces her brother to spare the Duke, he agrees so long as they find another victim to provide a body to the jester. Gilda overhearing this, offers herself up and is killed. Rigoletto returns and leaves with what he believes is a bag with the Dukes body. Upon hearing the Duke in the distance, Rigoletto opens the bag to find Gilda and now realizes the curse was actually the death of his daughter.