Opera  in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play "Le roi s'amuse" by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851. It was first performed in Tbilisi in 1853.

Synopsis

Act I
Scene I

There is a great feast in the palace of the Duke of Mantua, The Duke amuses himself in the company of noblemen. He pays court to the Countess Ceprano and the Count is jealous. Rigoletto, the jester of the Duke, mocks him up wickedly and advises the Duke to kidnap the Countess at that very night. The count, full with indignation, resolves to take vengeance on Rigoletto. Suddenly Count Monterone bursts into the hall, demanding from the Duke to return him his daughter. Rigoletto scoffs at him, too. By the order of the Duke the Count Monterone is arrested. Monterone menaces the Duke to revenge him for dishonouring his daughter and curses Rigoletto.

Scene II

Monterone's curse makes Rigoletto feel uneasy. Late at night, with a heavy burden on his heart, he heads to home. On his way he meets a killer and bandit, Sparafucile, who offers his services for a certain reimbursement. Rigoletto is worried about the fate of her daughter, Gilda. Together with a maidservant, Gilda lived concealed in one of the remote suburbs of the city. Fearing the Duke, his father has forbidden her to go out in the city, she has been nowhere except to church. Rigoletto feels himself happy only beside Gilda... When he leaves the house, he strictly directs the maidservant to take care of Gilda as the pupil of her eyes. When Gilda remains alone, she is taken away with a daydream: she saw a beautiful young man in the church and was ravished by his beauty... Suddenly, this student, or better, the Duke disguised as a student, appears in the house in front of Gilda. The unexpected meeting intimidates the young girl, but the hot love of the "student" and his vow of eternal love turn the inexperienced girl's head. Near Rigoletto's house the Duke's retinue, who are charged to abduct Gilda. Rigoletto, ceased by an evil presentiment, returns home. He runs upon the noblemen of the Duke's palace in the dusk. In order to dispel his doubts, they assure him that they age going to abduct the Countess Ceprano, whose palace is near to the spot and ask him his assistance. Rigoletto agrees... But he hears Gilda's cry from afar... Rigoletto guesses that Gilda is abducted.

Act II

The Duke is worried... The beautiful maid has disappeared without any traces, someone has kidnapped her. The noblemen recite with a laugh the story to the Duke, how Rigoletto aided them to abduct her own daughter. They bring in a lady covered with a mantle... Gilda, frightened as she sees the noblemen, runs to her lover at his first sight. Glad and Happy to see him, she accompanies her beloved. To disguise his sorrow, Rigoletto enters singing. He tries to find Gilda. As soon as he understands that Gilda is in the palace, he demands her return with menaces, but the noblemen do not pay attention to his menaces and pleadings. Hearing her father's voice, Gilda rushes into, Rigoletto now understands everything. He makes an oath of vengeance for the dishonour of his daughter. Meeting with Monterone, who was taken away to lock him up in jail, has made Rigoletto's beliefs of vengeance stronger. Gilda, faithful to her love, begs her father to have mercy on the Duke, but in vain...

Act III

Sparafucile's house at the abandoned river's bank. Rigoletto and Gilda approach the entrance of the house. The father brings his daughter here on purpose, so that she sees with her own eyes treason of the Duke, who has come here to meet Sparafucile's sister Maddalena. The father sends his daughter off to Verona: Gilda, disguised in young man's dress, must leave Mantua in that very evening. Rigoletto himself is going to stay to pay Sparafucile for the murder of the Duke and than to throw the hated corpse into the river. ... A thunderstorm breaks out. Maddalena, who likes very much the charming young man, or better, the Duke, appeals his brother not to kill him. After long pleading Sparafucile agrees to kill instead the Duke the one, who first enters the door till the midnight. Gilda, who returns to save her beloved, hears everything... and knocks at the door.... The tempest is over. Sparafucile hands in a bag to Rigoletto. The latter rejoices in his triumph: he achieved his revenge! He is about the cast the bag into the river, but in this moment he hears the well-known song of the Duke... Bewildered, he opens the bag and... to his despair discovers the lifeless corpse of his daughter...

Development and Composition

Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is based on a play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo, which was written in 1832. The French cencorship banned production of the play after its first performance for in n their opinion it undermined the royal authority. Hugo brought an action against the government and demanded the restoration of the major achievement of the 1830 French Revolution - freedom of speech. The suit had wide public echo, but with no result. The play was allowed to be staged in France only 50 years later. Verdi stumbled upon Hugo's play and decided to create an opera, but the libretto had to undergo substantive revisions in order to satisfy the epoch's censorship. The Italian libretto was writen by Francesco Maria Piave. Initially the opera was called The Malediction (or The Curse) by the composers, but finally they chose upon Rigoletto; it was written in 40 days. Verdi had his own interpretation of the characters from the original literary source. This was met with Hugo's ptrotest. When the opera had already been finished, the cencorship insisted on its fundamntal change. Piave tried to revise the libretto, but Verdi was completely against this proposed solution. Concerning Piave's new variant of the libretto, in which Rigoletto was an imposing man, Verdi wrote to Marzari, director of the theatre: "I am convinced that this misinterpreted and modified work has lost its spirits and idea; as a result, even its most dramatic moments are devoid of any excitement… The main hero is a singing jester, why not?! I think, it is a brilliant idea to create a character with unattractive appearance, but a good sense of humour and strong feeling of love and torment. This is what drew my attention and in case I have to decline the plot, I won't be able to write music. If you tell me that my music goes well with the modified libretto too, I will say in response, that these speculations are odd to me. I am sincere to say, that whether my music is good or bad, it is not casual. I always try to put character into it." Having satisfied the demands of the censorship, Francisc I turned into Duke of Mantua and Tribule - into Rigoletto. Rigoletto successfully premiered on March 11, 1851, in Venice and was soon staged at many European opera houses.