One
soprano, two baritone and three tenor arias, one duet, one
trio and one quartet including the finale ultimo of RIGOLETTO
by Giuseppe Verdi
The
Opera
Rigoletto,
Verdi's seventeenth opera, was written over a short period
of time of forty days.Yet, Verdi was toying for a very long
time with the idea of writing this opera
In
early 1850, he signed a contract with the Teatro La Fenice
for composing an opera seria to be staged during the Carnival
in February 1851. Verdi started to work on the play by Victor
Hugo's 'Le Roi s'amuse'. In this play, the hunchbacked court-jester
Triboulet, at the court of Francois I, discovers that the
royal courtiers have kidnapped his daughter. He turns to them,
calls out the names of great old families of France and says,
"Your mothers slept with their lackeys, you bastards!"
This
expression was a scandal and the play was banned. Verdi expected
the same furore in Italy and was not surprised when the director
of La Fenice informed him that the Austrian Military Governor
had rejected the libretto. The censors also objected to Verdi's
title of the opera, 'La Maledizione' (The Curse) but that
was another story. To tone things down, the French King was
made the Duke of Mantua and the hunchback's name of Triboulet
(Triboletto) became Rigoletto, the new title of the opera.
Rigoletto
is unabashed melodrama and Piave's libretto written for Verdi
was his best. With Rigoletto, Verdi was transformed from a
popular composer of Italian opera to a genius of world-wide
repute. Rigoletto
is a masterpiece and, on the evening of 11 March 1851, the
audience at La Fenice recognised it as such. It was a long
step forward.
Rigoletto
|
Il
Duca
|
Gilda
|
Maddalena
e Sparafucile
|
The
conversation between Rigoletto and Sparafucile is not just
a duet but a dramatic conspiracy. Melody is played by the
orchestra and two men discuss terms for the Duke's murder
in a sort of parlando. "La donna è mobile" may be an
old-fashioned aria (remaining one of Verdi's most popular
melodies) but is a perfect character-sketch of a cynical seducer,
the Duke.
On
the magnificent quartet in the last act, "Bella figlia dell'
amore", Verdi told Felice Varesi, the baritone who created
the role of Rigoletto, that he would probably never write
a better ensemble.Within
four years, Rigoletto was performed all over the world. If
Verdi had written nothing else, he would have been rich and
still famous today.
The
librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, was born in May 1810 at
Murano, the son of a glass-maker. He was recommended to Verdi
by Count Mocenigo whence forth a great collaboration began
from Ernani up to La forza del Destino. He moved to Milan
in 1859 and on Verdi's recommendation he got a post at La
Scala. Verdi would always give Piave precise instructions
on what he wanted and through their partnership they became
friends for the rest of their lives.
The
Rigoletto's characters
Rigoletto
(baritono)
- a hunchback and jester at the court of Il Duca di Mantova
Duca
di Mantova (tenore)
- an inveterate skirt-chaser
Gilda
(soprano)
- Rigoletto's virginal daughter but not for long
Sparafucile
(basso)
- a professional assassin
Maddalena
(mezzosoprano)
- His sister with an erotic spot for Il Duca
Count
Monterone (baritono)
Giovanna
(mezzosoprano)
- Gilda's custodian
Marullo
(baritono)
- A courtier
Borsa
(tenore)
- Another courtier
Countess
Ceprano (mezzosoprano)
- One of the Duke's conquests
Count
Ceprano (basso)
- Her husband but a cuckold.
Page
(mezzosoprano)
The
Plot
The
scene is Mantua in the sixteenth century.
Act
I -
A magnificent hall of the Ducal palace. The Duke and Borsa
enter, deeply in conversation about a pretty girl, whom the
Duke has seen attending church. He is determined to pursue
her. He sings his cavalier attitude to women in the dashing
aria 'Questa o quella', (This or that one), and proceeds to
put the hard word on Countess Ceprano, one of his conquests.
Rigoletto, the hunchbacked jester, enters. An outside disturbance
heralds the arrival of Count Monterone. Bitterly, he denounces
the Duke of being the seducer of his only daughter. Rigoletto
mocks him but is struck dumb with terror as Monterone curses
first the Duke and then the jester himself.
Outside
Rigoletto's house. Haunted by Monterone's curse, the jester
is joined by a professional assassin Sparafucile, who offers
him his services. Rigoletto sings of his fate, as a jester,
never allowed to weep and love for his daughter Gilda. As
she enters, they sing a wonderful duet together. After Rigoletto
rushes off to see what caused the noise outside his house,
the Duke enters dressed as a student. He tells Gilda that
he is a poor student but honest and the two sing about their
mutual love. After he leaves, Gilda sings 'Caro nome' (Dear
name). Outside the house, Rigoletto, under false pretences,
helps to kidnap his own daughter instead of Countess Ceprano
as he is told. Monterone's curse has struck.
Act
II -
A Salon of the Ducal palace. The Duke has learned from his
courtier Marullo that they brought Gilda for him. Rigoletto
enters and feigns nonchalance. He talks to the courtiers and
realises that he has helped his own daughter's kidnap for
the Duke. Furiously, he denounces them before pleading with
them to take pity on a loving father. Shamefacedly, they turn
away. Gilda hurries into the room and Rigoletto orders the
courtiers to leave them. Gilda tells him the whole story and
he tries to comfort her. Monterone is now led in, on his way
to execution. His passing inspires Rigoletto to swear vengeance
on the Duke while Gilda pleads mercy for the man she still
loves despite everything.
Act
III -
A derelict inn. It is the home of Sparafucile and his sister,
the flirtatious Maddalena. Rigoletto and Gilda appear. He
brought her there to witness the faithlessness of the Duke,
who, on arrival at the house, calls for wine and a room for
the night. Catching the sight of Maddalena, he sings 'La donna
e mobile' (Fickle is womankind) and flirts with her. Outside,
Gilda laments his betrayal and Rigoletto swears vengeance
again. Sparafucile enters and Rigoletto pays him half of the
fee for killing the Duke. He will pay the rest when the body
is delivered to him. Outside, he orders Gilda to disguise
herself as a man and go to Verona .
A
storm arises. The Duke retires to his room and Maddalena pleads
with her brother to spare his life. Gilda returns to the inn
in disguise, overhears their conversation and sees the chance
of saving the man she loves. She knocks at the door, is admitted
as a poor beggar and Sparafucile strikes her down. The storm
is over and Rigoletto appears.
Sparafucile
drags out a sack containing Gilda's body, takes the money
and wishes the jester goodnight. Rigoletto gloats over the
sack but as he prepares to hurl it into the river Mincio,
the Duke's voice breaks into a song off-stage. Rigoletto tears
open the sack to reveal his dying daughter. Pleading for forgiveness,
she dies in his arms. Broken hearted, Rigoletto cries out
that Monterone's curse has been fulfilled.
The
opera premiere
La
Fenice, Venice ,
11 March 1851 (as La Maledizione )
The
Duke di Mantua - Raffaele Mirate (tenor)
Rigoletto
- Felice Varesi (baritone)
Sparafucile
- Paolo Damini (basso)
Count
Monterone - Feliciano Ponz (baritone)
Marullo
- Francesco De Kunnert (baritone)
Borsa
- Angelo Zuliani (tenor)
Count
Ceprano - Andrea Bellini (basso)
Court
Usher - Giovanni Rizzi (basso)
Gilda
- Teresa Brambilla (soprano)
Giovanna
- Laura Saini (soprano)
Maddalena
- Annetta Casaloni (mezzosoprano)
Countess
Ceprano - Luigia Morselli (mezzosoprano)
Page
- Unknown (mezzosoprano)
Performances
at major theatres of the world followed: Vienna, Budapest,
Brno, Stuttgart, London (Covent Garden), Madrid, Athens, Lisboa,
New York, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Dublin, Brussels,
Berlin, Dublin, Basel, Stockholm, Surabaja, Copenhagen, Tunis,
Helsinki, Sofia, Kaunas, Jerusalem and San Francisco.
The
major soloists in this production
Rigoletto
..................Ettore Bastianini
Gilda....................
Renata Scotto
Il
Duca ...................Alfredo Kraus
Maddalena
................. Fiorenza Cossotto
Matteo
Borsa ................Enzo Guagni
La
Contessa di Ceprano ...........Clara Foti
Il
Conte di Ceprano ............. Giuseppe Moresi
Sparafucile..................
Ivo Vinco
Marullo
................... Virgilio Carbonari
Il
conte di Monterone ............ Silvio Maionica
Orchestra
e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Conductor
- Gianandrea Gavazzeni
Maestro
del Coro - Andrea Morosini
Recorded
in 1960 and released by Dischi Ricordi SpA in 1969.
Featured
bits * (removed)
Audio 1 Parmi
veder le lacrime (Il Duca) 9/10
Audio 2 Cortigiani,
vil razza dannata (Rigoletto)
Audio 3 La
donna e` mobile (Il Duca) 4/11
Audio
4 Bella
figlia dell´amore (Il
Duca, Gilda,
Maddalena, Rigoletto)
Audio
5 Somiglia
un Apollo (Maddalena, Sparafucile, Gilda)
Audio
6 V'ho
ingannato . colpevole fui (Gilda, Rigoletto)
26/11
*
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Comments
on the major soloists and conductor
Ettore
Bastianini - It
is very difficult not to admire his bronze but velvety voice
which made him a favourite. He had a very smooth voice with
the Verdian legato and luxurious tone, one of the very best
in the business. It is impossible to tell the precise time
of this recording because Bastianini was able to sing and
act till a very late stage of his grave illness. Towards the
end, his baritone was very dry and almost unpleasant but not
heard in this recording. The biography of this great baritone
has been saved in the 'Featured bits' section of Archive.
Renata Scotto - She is an intelligent singer,
nowadays a reputable Artistic Director and an Italian queen
of bel canto in her heydays. Scotto has always been dramatically
effective. In this recording, however, she
is very sweet, almost childish and only she
was capable of singing/acting as such. Alfredo Kraus
- He was the finest lyric tenor
of his generation. He quickly established himself as a great
exponent of Verdi's roles and bel canto singing. He is a great
Duke. Fiorenza Cossotto - Her beautiful tones
and rich deep mezzo is magnificent and evenly produced. Ivo
Vinco - He is in excellent voice.
He was a smooth and quite respectable basso. Gianandrea
Gavazzeni - He was an outstanding personality in
the musical world of twentieth century Italy. He always allowed
his singers to shine. He is superb.
(l.s.)
|
”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory
with you, when it is your time to go”