The hitman Sparafucile and his sister Maddalena agree on that if someone else passes by the house during the night, they will kill them instead of Duke of Mantua (Se pria ch’abbia il mezzo la notte toccato alcuno qui giunga, per esso morrà ./If someone else comes here before midnight, they shall die in his place.). Not a very satisfying deal for Maddalena, as in a stormy night that outcome is highly unlikely (È buia la notte, il ciel troppo irato, nessuno a quest’ora da qui passerà ./The night is dark, the weather too stormy; no one will pass by here at this late hour.).
Gilda, who has been listening from outside, feels tempted to barge in (Oh, qual tentazione! morir per l’ingrato?Morire!...e mio padre!...Oh cielo, pietà !/Oh, what a temptation! To die for the ingrate?To die! And my father?...Oh, Heaven, have mercy!). She is not as enchanted by the Duke once she has learned his true self, but knows his father could be endangered. Finally, she decides to knock the door and pretend she is a beggar (1:11), they confirm the deal and open the door (2:18) (Dio! Loro perdonate!/God! Forgive them!), murdering Gilda.
Sparafucile (1:27):
Ebbene, son pronto; quell’uscio dischiudi,
più ch’altro gli scudi mi preme salvar.
So, I’m ready; open the door;
all I want to save is the gold.
Rigoletto has gone away and has sent Gilda out of the town. She returns, however, and after overhearing the plan to murder the Duke unless a stranger should come to the inn that night, she resolves to sacrifice herself for her lover. She knocks at the door behind which Sparafucile is lurking with a knife ready to slay whoever enters.
Rigoletto is a melodrama in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi and libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the drama Le Roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo. Originally named La Maledizione (“The Curseâ€), had a triumphant premiere in La Fenice in 1851, where people where allegedly singing “La donna è mobile†on the streets the following day.
Brief synopsis of Rigoletto (spoiler alert): Rigoletto is the story of Rigoletto, a jester in the palace of Duke of Mantua, whose beloved daughter, Gilda, whom he overprotects as the gift of his only love affair, is seduced by the Duke of Mantua, among many others. One of which was the daughter of Count of Monterone, who confronts the Duke and gets cruelly mocked by Rigoletto on its failure to defend his daughter’s honour. Enraged by the jester, Monterone casts a curse on Rigoletto. This is the main leit motiv of the work and will define the fatal ending. In revenge, Gilda is kidnapped by courtisans and taken to the palace, where she is raped by the Duke of Mantua. Rigoletto plans his own vengeance by hiring the hitman Sparafucile to murder the Duke. But Gilda, still madly in love with the Duke, hands herself to Sparafucile to die in his place. Finally, when Rigoletto comes to throw the corpse to whom he believes to be the Duke to the river, is astonished to hear the tune of such in the distance (“La donna é mobileâ€) and snaps in horror when discovers the body of Gilda inside the stead by the Monterone curse came to fruition.
Full Libretto:
Cast: Ingvar Wixell as Rigoletto and Count of Monterone, Luciano Pavarotti as Duke of Mantua, Edita Gruberova as Gilda, Ferruccio Furlanetto as Sparafucile, Victoria Vergara as Maddalena, Fedora Barbieri as Giovanna, Bernd Weikl as Marullo, Remy Corazza as Borsa, Roland Bracht as Count of Ceprano and Kathleen Kuhlmann as Countess of Ceprano.
Wiener Philharmoniker, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, 1981.
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