Opera's Other Crying Clown

Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi

High Notes

Gilda is not a role that Callas performed very often, but she did make an excellent recording.  Gilda's showpiece is "Caro Nome."  The highest not Callas sings in her interpretation is a high D sharp.  To here a high E, which is the tonic of the piece, check out Anna Moffo or Roberta Peters.  Callas also sings a high E flat (which is enharmonic to D sharp) in the duet that she sings with Gobbi at the end of the second act. 

A melodramma in three acts, 2 hours

Composed from 1850 to 1851

Set to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo's tragedy "Le roi s'amuse"

First performed in Venice, Italy, La Fenice, on 11 March 1851.

The cast at the premiere included Felice Varesi (Rigoletto), Teresa Brambilla (Gilda) and Raffaele Mirate (Duke).

Principle Roles

• Rigoletto, hunchback court jester of the Duke.........baritone
• Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter...........................................soprano
• The Duke of Mantua, noble and libertine................tenor
• Sparafucile, a hired assassin......................................bass
• Count Monterone, noble and the Duke's enemy.....bass-baritone
• Maddalena, Sparafucile's sister..................................contralto
• Giovanna, Gilda's nurse.................................................mezzo-soprano

The Story

Rigoletto happily encourages the Duke in his escapades, but his sharp tongue only earns him disfavor among the other courtiers. Among them is Count Monterone, whose daughter has been dishonored by the Duke. Count Monterone vents his anger at the Duke and curses Rigoletto. The courtiers suspect that Rigoletto has a mistress and plot against him. On his way home, Rigoletto is accosted by Sparafucile, who offers Rigoletto his services. After pondering the likeness of their professions, Rigoletto goes home to his dauther, Gilda. She has recentlry returned from school. Rigoletto warns her to stay in the house but she is enamored with a student whom she met at church. The student, however, is actually the Duke. The Duke and his courtiers abduct Gilda. They do so with the aid of Rigoletto who is blindfolded and told they are abducting a countess. When Rigoletto returns to court, he seeks revenge against the Duke and he takes Sparafucile up on his offer. Gilda is still in love with the Duke, but Rigoletto plans to change her mind by taking her to see the Duke with Maddalena. Maddalena's inn is to be the site of the assassination. After spending some time with the Duke, however, Maddalena has also fallen in love. She begs her brother to spare his life. Sparafucile agrees to kill the next man to come thru the door in the Duke's place and place the body in a bag for Rigoletto to drag away. Gilda overhears the plan and disguises herself as a man and enters the inn. She is killed, placed in a bag and given to Rigoletto. While dragging the body, he hears the Duke singing from the inn and opens the bag to discover his daughter.

Notable Incipits

• "Questa o quella per me pari sono" (Duke)
• "Caro nome" (Gilda)
• "Tutte le feste al tempio" (Rigoletto & Gilda)
• "La donna e mobile" (Duke)
• "Bella figlia d'more" (Rigoletto, Gilda, Duke & Maddalena)

Recommended Recordings

• Gobbi (Rigoletto), Callas (Gilda), Di Stefano (Duke)
• Milnes (Rigoletto), Sutherland (Gilda), Pavarotti (Duke)

Upcoming Performances

• October/November 2008 - Paris
• October 2008-January 2009 - Prague (Statni)
• October 2008-June 2009 - Zurich (Oper)
• January-April 2009 - New York (Metropolitan)
• March/April 2009 - Hamburg (Staatsoper)
• April/May 2009 - Houston Grand Opera
• June 2009 - Madrid (Real)
• September 2009 - Buenos Aires (Colon)