Love of the punt

02/15/11 12:08
(http://www.klassa.bg/)

by Petar PLAMENOV

19 February (Saturday), 18:00
Opera and Philharmonic Association
Address:
Varna, 1 Nezavisimost Square
Working time: mon-fri 10:00–13:00, 14:00–18:00, sat 11:00–18:00
Phone: 052 66 50 22

Conductor: Borislav Ivanov
Cast: Vencislav Anastasov, Valeri Georgiev, Plamen Dimitrov, Irina Jekova, Evgenii Stanimirov, Boika Vasileva, Daniela Rabcheva, Mihail Mateev, Svilen Nikolov, Stoyan Findjikov, Rosen Rangelov

Rigoletto is the earliest of the Verdi operas which have retained their place in public favour. This famous opera is in three acts, words by Francesco Maria Piave, founded on Victor Hugo’s play, "Le Roi s'Amuse.", produced by Fenice Theatre, Venice. For political reasons the performance of Victor Hugo’s "Le Roi s'Amuse" was forbidden in France after the first representation. In Hugo’s play the principal character is Triboulet, the jester of Francois I. The King, of course, also is a leading character; and there is a pen-portrait of Saint-Vallier. It was considered unsafe, after the revolutionary uprisings in Europe in 1848, to present on the stage so licentious a story involving a monarch. Therefore, to avoid political complications, and copyright ones possibly later, the Italian librettist laid the scene in Mantua. Triboulet became Rigoletto; Francois I the Duke, and Saint-Vallier the Count Monterone. Early in its career the opera also was given under the title of "Viscardello." La Fenice is now in crisis; the new season depends on a new opera by Verdi. Piave and others meet the censors and take up Verdi's demands, searching for a compromise. On December 23, they write Verdi that his main requests can be granted and "there will be no problem about the sack." A new title for the opera, Rigoletto, is proposed. The police approve the work, asking only for the change of a few names. On January 26, Piave writes to Verdi, "At last yesterday at three in the afternoon our Rigoletto reached the directors safe and sound, with no broken bones and no amputation."

Verdi arrives in Venice with the completed score on February 19, with three weeks to rehearse Rigoletto, which is expected to save an otherwise lackluster season at La Fenice. It premieres on March 11, 1851, to sell-out crowds and mixed reviews, many critics offended by the subject. Despite this, and a heavily cut version in Rome which fails, the opera soon enters the repertoire of opera companies in Italy and around the world. Now considered one of Verdi's greatest works, it is one of the most performed operas of all time.

As regards the music, "Rigoletto" marked an immense progress in Verdi‚Äôs style. The instrumentation is far less noisy than in former works, and has more significance than a mere accompaniment. There are brilliant touches of dramatic power, particularly in the last Act. The vocal score contains many effective passages, such as Rigoletto‚Äôs wrath at the stratagem of the courtiers in abducting his daughter; Gilda‚Äôs love-song, "Caro Nome"; and the Duke‚Äôs gay and lightsome aria, "La donna e mobile," so full of elegant ease, and so striking in rhythm. The magificent quartet, "Un di, si ben rammento mi," sung by Rigoletto, Gilda, the Duke, and Maddalena, is often remarked upon by critics as combining the most diverse emotions into a powerful ensemble. Even today it is a model of concerted writing. Here, and in other places, Verdi reached a level of art which he had never before attained, and which, indeed, he did not touch again until twenty years later in "Aida." The famous "La donna e mobile," already referred to, made an instantaneous hit, and was long hummed and sung and played to boredom in every quarter of the globe. To make quite sure that the public should not get wind of this arresting melody before the night of the performance, Verdi did not put it on paper until within a few hours of the time when Mirate, the tenor, had to sing it. Soon all Venice was mad over it; and the men, they say, sang it in the streets into the ears of the women.

In 1550 in Manthua, the duke Alvares, the famous darling of the females, seduces the beautiful daughter of the fool, that is known with his knifepoints, Rigoletto. Vowed to revenge, her waxy father signs a notorious killer, to spare the family. The Duke of Mantua seduces women while his hunchbacked Jester, Rigoletto, insults the husbands and fathers. The joke goes too far when a curse falls upon Rigoletto's innocent daughter, Gilda. An assassin and seductress are added to the mix. Will Gilda's love for the Duke bring down the curse upon them all?