Rigoletto Program Notes
56 | FLORIDA GRAND OPERA
season
The “working title” of Verdi’s RIGOLETTO was La
Maledizione. This is the key to understanding what the
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and places throughout the years: 1950’s Las Vegas, the
Kennedy White House and the infamous Planet of the Apes
version – just to list a few. For me it’s crucial to place it in
a time where the characters would truly believe in the potent
curse issued by Monterone in Act I. As a woman I think it
necessary to place it in a period
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the same rights and privileges
as men and were often used as
property. I therefore landed on
the 1500s in a court not unsimilar
to Henry the VIII.
The character of Rigoletto is
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jester in the French court named
Triboulet. The status of the court
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many luxuries. You were still a servant, but it was a good gig.
They certainly mocked themselves, but also had the freedom
to poke fun at the noble members they served without fear of
retribution. Even the king could be teased about his waste and
extravagance. The name Rigoletto is a blend of Triboulet and
the French verb rigoler which means to laugh.
Rigoletto is a man of tangled contradictions. The man at court
encourages the Duke to embrace vice after vice and pits the
courtiers against each other, inciting them to violence. The man
at home has the purest love for his daughter, Gilda, cloistering
her away from societal evils. Evils that ironically are the results
of his court manipulations. He ruthlessly mocks Monterone,
instigating the curse that will target the thing he loves most, the
virtue of his beloved daughter, and brings him ruthless public
humiliation. The tragedy of this tale lies in Rigoletto’s inability
to learn from these events and his blinding, continuing thirst
for revenge. What right does he
have to punish the Duke for his
love of vice, nurtured by Rigoletto
himself? What right does the evil
court jester have to declare himself
as an agent of God? The resulting
storm and death of Gilda seems to
be Destiny teaching Rigoletto the
ultimate lesson.
This story seen through a 21st
century lens is rather believable.
We could easily substitute
contemporary political leaders into the roles of the Duke and
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to the insidious and corrupt nature of government today.
Society could learn from Rigoletto’s mistakes and choose a
path of love and acceptance over revenge at all costs.
BY KATHLEEN BELCHER
We could easily substitute
contemporary political leaders
into the roles of the Duke and
Rigoletto . . . Society could
learn from Rigoletto’s mistakes
and choose a path of love and
acceptance over revenge at all
costs.
From the Director
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