Composed February, 1851.

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Recording (1982)

0:00- Prelude
2:11- Act I
53:32- Act II
1:23:37- Act III

Ingvar Wixell- Rigoletto
Edita Gruberova- Gilda
Luciano Pavarotti- Il Duca di Mantova
Victoria Vergara- Maddalena
Ferruccio Furlanetto- Sparafucile
Fedora Barbieri- Giovanna
Remy Borazza- Borsa
Louis Otey- Marullo
Roland Bracht- Ceprano
Kathleen Kuhlmann- Contessa di Ceprano

This opera was THE turning point of Verdi’s career, and perhaps his magnum opus (along with the supreme creation that is Otello). In it, he utilized some very new techniques: a strong emphasis of orchestral recitative to blur the line between aria and recit, new orchestral effects (I think of the storm scene), and, of course, wonderful melodies that stick with you like a bad penny. With Rigoletto, we get a sense of Verdi’s love for tragedy; how painful it all is, the life of the poor hunchback. And how beautifully Verdi writes for him. Verdi really was the quintessential Italian Romantic composer.

Few people realize that Verdi was a very good orchestral writer in his own right. It is indeed very present here, in wonderful moments such as the prelude, the measures before the conclusion of Act 1 (those constant key-changes!!), and Rigoletto’s monologue in Act 2.

I am working on other Verdi operas, so stay tuned.

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