Verdi’s opera Rigoletto is a complete treasure trove of wonderful, heartbreaking drama and music. While the Duke’s La donna è mobile may be the opera’s most famous aria, are you familiar with some of its other magnificent musical moments? Read our guide here for our top moments to listen out for in Rigoletto.
Don’t forget, you can also read our Guide to Rigoletto.
Act 1: The Duke Questa o Quella (This girl or that)
In Rigoletto, Verdi did away with the traditional entrance arias of his previous works and made the opera’s action continuous from the very start. Opening proceedings in Mantua, a magnificent ball is held at the palace, where the Duke lives a life of frivolity and debauchery, seducing the court’s women, whether married or unmarried. His care-free aria Questa o Quella sings of the joys of his prolific love-life and excess.
Act 1: Gilda’s Caro nome che il mio cor (Sweetname that made my heart)
Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda, has fallen in love with a poor student named Gualtier Maldé (who is actually the Duke in disguise) and she sings dreamily of her new, treasured ‘caro nome’. Gilda’s young naivety is fully exposed by Verdi here, accompanied by solo interjections from the flutes and solo violin. Towards the end of her aria the palace courtiers enter, robbing Gilda of the traditional aria-ending cadenza - another plot device from Verdi to move on with the drama.
Act 2: Rigoletto and Gilda’s duet Ah! Piangi, fanciulla / Padre, in voi parla un angiol, swiftly followed by Sì vendetta / O mio padre
Gilda has been attacked and Rigoletto does his best to comfort her Piangi, fanciulla - it’s a heartbreaking and tender moment of vulnerability between the two, Gilda knowing she has been fooled and Rigoletto is devastated that he has not done enough to protect his daughter. He quickly moves to anger after he finds out that Count Monterone is being taken to prison, singing Sì, vendetta, assuring Monterone that he will be avenged. These two duets transition seamlessly into one another, reflective of Verdi’s developing, new style that allowed the free flowing of arias without finales to transition smoothly between changing emotions and subject matters.
Act 3: Quartet Bella figlia dell’amore (Fairest daughter of love)
In Act 3, Rigoletto decides that the Duke has gone too far and takes Gilda to the city’s outskirts to show her the Duke’s true nature. There, they find the Duke and Maddalena unashamedly flirting and Gilda is heartbroken. All four sing in a quartet of two separate conversations: the Duke’s seduction of Maddalena and her teasing flirtation in return, and Gilda’s cries of anguish with Rigoletto’s vows of revenge. The quartet is the high point in the opera’s dramatic structure, with Verdi acknowledging at the time that ‘many consider it the finest piece of ensemble writing in all of opera.’
You can take in these musical moments and more during WNO’s brand-new production of Rigoletto. Opening night will take place at Wales Millennium Centre on 21 September 2024, before heading out on tour throughout the Autumn to Llandudno, Plymouth, Oxford and Southampton until 16 November 2024. Book your tickets now.
