HOW TO USE THIS STUDY GUIDE

Motivations
Father-Daughter Relationship
The Quartet

Father-Daughter Relationship:

Many of Verdi's operas have extended scenes between a father (or a father surrogate) and his daughter. Verdi had lost his own children soon after they were born, and he had an uneasy relationship with his parents. Perhaps the lack of close family relationships in his real life inspired Verdi to create them in his operas. The duets between Rigoletto and his daughter Gilda stand as some of the high points in the opera.

Act I, scene I - Gilda is kept locked up in the house with an attendant (Giovanna) and is not permitted to go out except to church, where a handsome stranger has been showing interest in her. Gilda is supposed to be 16 years old in the opera. After a powerful monologue in which Rigoletto has declared that his tongue is as powerful as the assassin Sparafucile's sword, his daughter comes out to greet him. On this particular night she asks Rigoletto about her mother and the sad fate that took her from them. In an expressive cantabile melody Rigoletto explains how his beloved angel, his wife and Gilda's mother was taken from them much too soon--"Deh non parlare al misero" ("Don't speak to a wretched man") (Ex. #1). In a sympathetic yet agitated response, Gilda expresses her sadness over this--"Oh, quanto dolor" ("Oh, what grief") (Ex. #2). Their voices soon blend in counterpoint and harmony in thirds (Ex. #3). The tempo changes to allegro as Rigoletto replies in an expansive phrase to Gilda's question about family, friends and country by saying "my entire universe is you!" (Ex. #4).

Rigoletto instructs the attendant Giovanna to keep close tabs on Gilda and not to let her go out, for he has to leave to go back to the Duke's court and be his court jester. He and Gilda sing alternate imitative phrases--Rigoletto expressing the sentiment that she must be carefully guarded and Gilda questioning his caution (Ex. #5). At the end of the act, after Rigoletto realizes hs has been duped by the courtiers to hold the ladder for his own daughter's abduction, he cries out in despair the famous "Ah la maledizione" ("Ah the curse) (Ex. #6) as Monterone's curse has been partially fulfilled.

Act II - Gilda has been kidnapped and brought to the court for the Duke's pleasure. Rigoletto discovers this outrage and the courtiers discover that Gilda is Rigoletto's daughter and not his mistress as they had believed. After a powerfully convincing entreaty, Gilda is released to cry in her father's arms. It is the first time she has seen him dressed as a court jester. He has suffered the ravishment of his daughter. The courtiers leave them alone together in what becomes their second duet. Introduced by a plaintive oboe melody, Gilda innocently describes how she met and fell for the Duke (Ex. #7).

In one of the most moving moments of the opera, Rigoletto bids her to cry --"Piangi fanciulla" ("Weep my child") (Ex. #8).

Their voices blend in a tearful duet as the violins play an obbligato figure of great poignancy. In the finale to the act, Rigoletto swears vengeance for the Duke in an impetuous melody accompanied by a rolling triplet figure in a tempo marked allegro vivo (Ex. #9). With the same melody, but in a higher key, Gilda has the opposite sentiment. She wants the Duke to be forgiven for she still loves him. Rigoletto punctuates her request with "No" and he vows revenge as the curtain falls.

Act III (The famous quartet will be discussed in the next section). Near the end of the opera when Rigoletto tears open the sack to discover that his own beloved Gilda has sacrificed herself for the man she loves, she has just enough life left in her for one final serene duet. Rigoletto begs her not to die as she asks him to bless her one last time--"Lassu in cielo" ("Up there, in heaven")--as she plans to once again join her mother (Ex. #10). As she expires, Rigoletto has one final outcry of "Ah, la maledizione" (See Ex. #6). The curse has been fulfilled.

The Quartet:

One of the finest examples of ensemble writing in all of opera occurs in Act III of. The stage is set so that the two characters inside the inn (the Duke and Maddalena) are unaware of the two characters outside (Gilda and Rigoletto). The audience gets a side view, with a clear visual differentiation of the double scene. Maddalena, the sister of the assassin Sparafucile (who has been hired by Rigoletto to murder his nemesis the Duke) has enticed the Duke to the inn. Outside, Rigoletto has brought Gilda to see what a horrible two-timing cheater he is. They peer into the tavern from the outside. After an introductory section consisting mostly of musical dialogue over a catchy orchestral melody (Ex. #11), the quartet proper begins.

The opening segment belongs entirely to the Duke--"Bella figlia dell'amore" ("Beautiful daughter of love") (Ex. #12a). It is a soaring, legato phrase that expresses his new found love for Maddalena.

Maddalena responds coquettishly in a staccato phrase that takes no more than a measure to express (Ex. #12b).

Gilda's voice, from outside the inn, responds immediately, starting on a high note and descending rapidly, with 2 short breaks in her phrase (Ex. 12c). She is beginning to realize that she is being betrayed.

Maddalena and Gilda repeat their phrases and the 4th member of the quartet, Rigoletto, then adds his voice to the ensemble saying in effect, "I told you so" (Ex. 12d).

The 4 voices now merge, but maintain their individuality throughout. Notice in the next example (Ex. 13) how the Duke and Maddalena alternate their lines of flirtation, while Gilda and Rigoletto, the uppermost and lowermost voices sing parallel rhythms in contrary motion.

Later in the quartet, Gilda has breathless, 2-note phrases; Maddalena laughs on 1 pitch; the Duke is still soaring with a legato phrase and Rigoletto holds up the bass of the harmony with 16th notes alternating with a long sustained C (Ex. #14). The four voice parts, individual not only in melody and rhythm, but also in the type of emotion expressed, add up to a quartet which is remakable in its psychological differentiation among the characters and yet at the same time, a unity of great power and persuasiveness.

(Note to the teacher: The musical examples cited in the duets between Rigoletto and Gilda should be played on a recording as the explanations of their musical and dramatic content are given. Since the 4 lines of the quartet cannot be individually excised from a recording, the individual lines should be played on the piano first, so they can be differentiated and then the quartet in its entirety should be played, more than once, so the blend of the 4 lines can be heard as one unit.