Erhalten Sie Zugang zu diesem und mehr als 300000 Büchern ab EUR 5,99 monatlich.
- Herausgeber: Icon Books
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: Great Operas
- Sprache: Englisch
From the première of Rigoletto at Venice's La Fenice in 1851, the Duke's La donna è mobile caught on with the public and has done much to ensure the ongoing popularity of Verdi's opera about the body in the sack. Rigoletto, the sarcastic court jester, is cursed by a nobleman who he has mocked. Subsequent events see the curse realised, as Rigoletto's daughter Gilda is kidnapped, raped, and later killed. The story, originally about King François, contemporary of the English King Henry VIII, came from a novel by Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Concerned by its combination of debauchery, seduction, rape by a king, regicide, kidnap and murder, the censors required the librettist Francesco Piave to relocate it from the Louvre in Paris to the court in Mantua. The wonderful music also includes the Duke's Questa o quella, Gilda's Caro nome, Rigoletto's Piangi! piangi fanciulla and the glorious ensemble Bella figlia dell'amore. Enrico Caruso made his début at the Metropolitan Opera House as Rigoletto. Others who have starred include Patti, Melba, Callas, Domingo and Pavarotti. Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, 'Short Guides to Great Operas' are concise, entertaining and easy to read. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience. Other 'Short Guides to Great Operas' that you may enjoy include La Traviata, Tosca and Lucia di Lammermoor.
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 35
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013
Das E-Book (TTS) können Sie hören im Abo „Legimi Premium” in Legimi-Apps auf:
Published in the UK in 2013 by Icon Books Ltd,
Omnibus Business Centre, 29–41 North Road, London N7 9DP
email: [email protected]
www.iconbooks.net
ISBN: 978-1-84831-606-5 (ePub format)
ISBN: 978-1-84831-607-2 (Adobe ebook format)
Content previously published in Great Operas, published in the UK in 2012 by Icon Books Ltd
Text copyright © 2012, 2013 Michael Steen
The author has asserted his moral rights.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Typesetting by Marie Doherty
CONTENTS
Title page
Copyright
PREFACE
USING THIS EBOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VERDI’SRIGOLETTO
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT
THE INTERVAL: TALKING POINTS
Rigoletto, the lead part in the opera
The role of Gilda
The place of Rigoletto in Verdi’s oeuvre
ACT BY ACT
Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sources of quotes
Other sources
NOTES
Short Guides to Great Operas
PREFACE
This guide is aimed at the ordinary opera-goer and opera-lover, usually a busy person who wants to know the essentials of the opera but has little time to grasp them.
It provides key background information to Rigoletto, told engagingly by someone who knows the opera intimately.
It is light, easy to read, and entertaining. Relevant information has been carefully selected to enhance your appreciation of Verdi’s work.
It is authoritative, but not dense or academic. It is unburdened with the clutter that can easily be obtained elsewhere. It concentrates on information that it will help you to know in advance.
Read quickly before going to the opera or listening to it at home, you will get the very best out of the performance and have a truly enjoyable experience.
Opera can be a great social occasion. Being knowledgeable and well-informed, you’ll appreciate this magical art-form much more if you read this first.
I hope you enjoy the opera!
Michael Steen
USING THIS EBOOK
A very quick grasp of the opera can be gained by reading the opening section on ‘The opera and its composer’ and the ensuing ‘Who’s who and what’s what’. Further elaboration may be found in the sections entitled ‘The interval: talking points’ and ‘Act by act’.
The footnotes and boxes are an integral part of the information. The reader is encouraged to go to these by clicking on the links.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Steen OBE studied at the Royal College of Music, was organ scholar at Oriel College, Oxford, and has been chairman of both the RCM Society and the Friends of the V&A Museum. He is a trustee of the Gerald Coke Handel Foundation and Anvil Arts, and Treasurer of The Open University.
VERDI’SRIGOLETTO
A SHORT GUIDE TO A GREAT OPERA
The opera and its composer
Who’s who and what’s what
The interval: talking points
Act by act
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
Debauchery, seduction and rape by a king. Regicide, kidnap, murder. It is not surprising that the police and censors in Venice gave Verdi a hard time over his proposed opera for their 1850/51 carnival season. The libretto, by Francesco Maria Piave,1 was based on Le Roi s’Amuse, a play by the towering French literary figure, Victor Hugo (1802–1885), who we know particularly for Les Misérables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The play had been banned in France after the first night.
Even in the 1920s, the audience at New York’s Met found the rape sufficiently shocking that some women turned their backs to the stage when Gilda, deflowered, emerged from the royal bedroom.
Towards the middle of 1850, Verdi had contracted with La Fenice to produce a new show for the carnival season in the New Year. For some time, he had been pondering the operatic potential of Hugo’s play, which is set in the luxurious dissipation of the French court of King François 1er, consummate lecher and debauchee, contemporary of the English King Henry VIII.
