Rigoletto
Tags: tragedy

Plot synopsis:
Place: Mantua
Time: the Sixteenth century
=== Act 1 ===
Scene 1: A room in the palace of Duke of Mantua
At a ball in his palace, the Duke sings of a life of pleasure with as many women as possible: "Questa o quella" ("This woman or that"). He has seen an unknown beauty in church and desires to possess her, but he also wishes to seduce the Countess of Ceprano. Rigoletto, the Duke's hunchbacked court jester, mocks the husbands of the ladies to whom the Duke is paying attention, including the Count Ceprano, and advises the Duke to get rid of him by prison or death. The Duke laughs indulgently, but Ceprano is not amused. Marullo, one of the guests at the ball, informs the courtiers that Rigoletto has a "lover", which astonishes them. The courtiers resolve to take vengeance on Rigoletto for making fun of them. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of the elderly Count Monterone, whose daughter the Duke had seduced. Rigoletto provokes him further by making fun of his helplessness to avenge his daughter's honor. Monterone confronts the Duke, and is immediately arrested by the Duke's guards. Before being led off to prison, Monterone curses Rigoletto for having mocked his righteous anger. The curse terrifies Rigoletto, who believes that an old man's curse has real power.
Scene 2: A street, with the courtyard of Rigoletto's house
Preoccupied with the old man's curse, Rigoletto approaches his house and is accosted by the assassin Sparafucile, who walks up to him and offers his services. Rigoletto declines for the moment, but leaves open the possibility of hiring Sparafucile later, should the need arise. Sparafucile wanders off, after repeating his own name a few times. Rigoletto contemplates the similarities between the two of them: "Pari siamo!" ("We are alike!"); Sparafucile kills men with his sword, and Rigoletto uses "a tongue of malice" to stab his victims. Rigoletto opens a door in the wall and returns home to his daughter Gilda. They greet each other warmly: "Figlia!" "Mio padre!" ("Daughter!" "My father!"). Rigoletto has been concealing his daughter from the Duke and the rest of the city, and she does not know her father's occupation. Since he has forbidden her to appear in public, she has been nowhere except to church and does not even know her own father's name.
When Rigoletto has gone, the Duke appears and overhears Gilda confess to her nurse Giovanna that she feels guilty for not having told her father about a young man she had met at the church. She says that she fell in love with him, but that she would love him even more if he were a student and poor. As she declares her love, the Duke enters, overjoyed. Gilda, alarmed, calls for Giovanna, unaware that the Duke had sent her away. Pretending to be a student, the Duke convinces Gilda of his love: "È il sol dell'anima" ("Love is the sunshine of the soul"). When she asks for his name, he hesitantly calls himself Gualtier Maldè. Hearing sounds and fearing that her father has returned, Gilda sends the Duke away after they quickly trade vows of love: "Addio, addio" ("Farewell, farewell"). Alone, Gilda meditates on her love for the Duke, whom she believes is a student: "Gualtier Maldè!... Caro nome" ("Dearest name").
Later, Rigoletto returns: "Riedo!... perché?" ("I've returned!... why?"), while the hostile courtiers outside the walled garden (believing Gilda to be the jester's mistress, unaware she is his daughter) get ready to abduct the helpless girl. They tell Rigoletto that they are actually abducting the Countess Ceprano. He sees that they are masked and asks for a mask for himself; while they are tying the mask onto his face, they also blindfold him. Blindfolded and deceived, he holds the ladder steady while they climb up to Gilda's room: Chorus: "Zitti, zitti" ("Softly, softly"). With her father's unknowing assistance Gilda is carried away by the courtiers. Left alone, Rigoletto removes his mask and blindfold, and realizes that it was in fact Gilda who was carried away. He collapses in despair, remembering the old man's curse.
=== Act 2 ===
The Duke's Palace
The Duke is concerned that Gilda has disappeared: "Ella mi fu rapita!" ("She was stolen from me!") and "Parmi veder le lagrime" ("I seem to see tears"). The courtiers then enter and inform him that they have captured Rigoletto's mistress: Chorus: "Scorrendo uniti" ("We went together at nightfall"). By their description, he recognizes it to be Gilda and rushes off to the room where she is held: "Possente amor mi chiama" ("Mighty love beckons me"). Pleased by the Duke's strange excitement, the courtiers now make sport with Rigoletto, who enters singing. He tries to find Gilda by pretending to be uncaring, as he fears she may fall into the hands of the Duke. Finally, he admits that he is in fact seeking his daughter and asks the courtiers to return her to him: "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" ("Accursed race of courtiers"). Rigoletto attempts to run into the room in which Gilda is being held, but the courtiers block the way. Gilda enters. The courtiers leave the room, believing Rigoletto has gone mad. Gilda describes to her father what has happened to her in the palace: "Tutte le feste al tempio" ("On all the blessed days"). In a duet Rigoletto swears vengeance against the Duke, while Gilda pleads for her lover: "Sì! Vendetta, tremenda vendetta!" ("Yes! Revenge, terrible revenge!").
=== Act 3 ===
A street outside Sparafucile's house
A portion of Sparafucile's house is seen, with two rooms open to the view of the audience. Rigoletto and Gilda arrive outside. The Duke's voice can be heard from inside, singing "La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle"). Sparafucile's sister, Maddalena, has lured him to the house. Rigoletto and Gilda listen from outside as the Duke flirts with Maddalena. Gilda laments that the Duke is unfaithful; Rigoletto assures her that he is arranging revenge: "Bella figlia dell’amore" ("Beautiful daughter of love").
Rigoletto orders Gilda to put on a man's clothes to prepare to leave for Verona and tells her that he plans to follow later. After she leaves, he completes his bargain with the assassin, who is ready to murder his guest for 20 scudi. Rigoletto then withdraws.
With falling darkness, a thunderstorm approaches and the Duke decides to spend the rest of the night in the house. Sparafucile directs him to the ground floor sleeping quarters, resolving to kill him in his sleep.
Gilda, who still loves the Duke despite knowing him to be unfaithful, returns dressed as a man and stands outside the house. Maddalena, who is smitten with the Duke, begs Sparafucile to spare his life. Sparafucile reluctantly promises her that if by midnight another victim can be found, he will kill the other instead of the Duke. Gilda, overhearing this exchange, resolves to sacrifice herself for the Duke, and enters the house. Sparafucile stabs her and she collapses, mortally wounded.
At midnight, when Rigoletto arrives with money, he receives a corpse wrapped in a sack, and rejoices in his triumph. Weighting it with stones, he is about to cast the sack into the river when he hears the voice of the Duke, sleepily singing a reprise of his "La donna è mobile" aria. Bewildered, Rigoletto opens the sack and, to his despair, discovers his dying daughter. For a moment, she revives and declares she is glad to die for her beloved: "V'ho ingannato" ("Father, I deceived you"). She dies in his arms. Rigoletto cries out in horror: "La maledizione!" ("The curse!")

Review: Opera as it used to be.. This film was actually shot at the Rome opera house. It was originally made in black and white but may have been coloured later on. The only singer not acting her own part is Lina Pagliughi, at that time dealing with quite severe weight problems. The cast is very good, Tito Gobbi's interpretation of Rigoletto being quite convincing, although the voice is too light and lacking in darkness for my taste. Mario Filipesci is a tailor-made duke and Giulio Neri, the only true basso profondo ever to emerge from Italy, is simply the greatest Sparafucile of all time. The smaller roles are fairly well cast. The beauty of this production is that here you can see opera as it should be produced. Period, sincere, with commitment, and well sung. Some might complain about the acting, but then again, opera is mainly about the quality of singing. If you want acting, go to the theatre. Rarely you can have both. Trust me as a professional opera singer (basso profondo, this is really a production to enjoy.. A Rigoletto to treasure. Rigoletto is one of my favourite Verdi operas not just for the intriguing characters and story but especially for the music which, with Cortigiani, the quartet, La Donna e Mobile, Ella Mi Fa Rapita...Parmi Veder Le Lagrime, Caro Nomme, the wonderful duets between Gilda and Rigoletto and the chilling La Maledizione, is magnificent.Alongside the 1982 Jean Pierre Ponelle film, this is my favourite Rigoletto. The orchestral playing and conducting do perfect justice to this amazing score, and the settings, photography and costumes still look absolutely beautiful.The performances are outstanding. Gilda is sung with an appealing tone and is acted beguilingly, while Mario Fillepeshi is perfect as the Duke of Mantua and one of the best tenors in the role and I don't think I know a Sparafucile better than Guilio Neri(though Martti Talvela on the 1971 Bonynge recording comes close).Tito Gobbi however is a revelation in this very difficult title role. Vocally, perhaps he is not entirely ideal, I too think Rigoletto needs a darker voice, however Gobbi does do a superb job with a moving Cortigiani and La Maledizione was enough to chill the blood. Gobbi did have a good voice that he used with great skill, it's just that it wasn't what I call powerful and it wasn't always beautiful either. However, as an interpretation Gobbi is one of the best, his acting and musicianship here as it always was is extraordinary.All in all, one of the best Rigolettos there is. 10/10 Bethany Cox. Italian opera at its best. The film "Rigoletto" is marvellous and quite electrifying, every scene is so meaningful -- high drama at its best, I call it -- and so well acted by Gobbi, a master of his craft. What a pity I've waited six decades before having the privilege of seeing it.The main plot centres on the Duke's philandering ways and the misfortune he has brought down upon the families at court who have suffered from his escapades, in other words, no maiden is safe when the Duke is around.Rigoletto has a lovely daughter, Gilda, that no one knows about. The Duke has been intent on secretly courting her in the disguise of a student and has entered the house. However one night she is abducted from her home while Rigoletto unwittingly aids the courtiers involved for they blindfolded him and he does not realize until too late that it was not the neighbour's house but his own house and his daughter who were targeted by the abductors. In later scenes Rigoletto plans on his revenge for injustices done but it has surprising consequences.If you like a riveting dramatic opera, you've got it here. Don't miss it.