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Le Roi s’amuse, a play by the great French
writer Victor Hugo, was the basis for the opera Rigoletto.
The story deals with a dishonorable ruler, an unjust and
unfeeling aristocracy and social injustice. When Verdi composed
this opera in the 1830’s, such disrespectful portrayals
of the ruling class were severely condemned.
The original title Verdi chose for his new opera was La
maladezione (The Curse). Italy was occupied by Austrian
troops at this time, and the Austrian officials regarded
Verdi as an agitator who contributed to the anti-Austrian
atmosphere. This opera, featuring the attempted murder
of a crowned head, was particularly offensive to them.
Piave, the librettist for the opera, was forced to change
the most controversial passages, moving the action from
France to Italy, and making Francis I of France a libertine
duke of Mantua, an unimportant political figure. Verdi
changed the title to Rigoletto, and it was, at last, presented
in Venice in March of 1851 to an enthusiastic audience.
The complex quality of the characters
in this opera is a big part of what makes it special and
an enduring favorite. Opera frequently features mostly one-dimensional
characters: good guys and bad guys! That was especially the
case prior to 1850. Here, however, Verdi gives us a deformed
and mean-spirited jester who is the virtual embodiment of
paternal love, a virtuous heroine who is nevertheless willing
to die for her black-hearted seducer, and a vicious libertine
who is handsome and enticing enough to seduce several of
the female characters. That kind of character complexity
was a new development for opera. Rigoletto also
boasts a superlative dramatic structure because dark, ghoulish
scenes alternate with lavish, ornate ones. Verdi relies heavily
on his melodic gift as the ultimate instrument of musical
expression. In fact, in much of his music, and especially
in his music for solo voices (arias), the harmony is ascetic,
with the entire orchestra occasionally sounding as if it
were one large accompanying instrument – a giant-sized guitar playing chords. No
composer of Italian opera has managed to match Verdi's popularity,
perhaps with the exception of
Giacomo Puccini.
Courtesy
of EMI Classics
Photo courtesy Baltimore Opera Company,
Stan Barouh, photographer |
