His patronage of Claudio Monteverdi should endear him to any opera lover, but his handling of the Mantuan court make comparisons with Rigoletto’s Duke not unfair.The San Francisco Opera, one of the big American houses that has exhibited commendable fiscal resourcefulness while maintaining its artistic standards, selected a conservative opener for its 90th season with a revival of its de Chirico-inspired production of Rigoletto. His father was a frugal, puritanical hunchback, but Vincenzo took a different path, spending vast money on wine, horses and music. Most likely is Vincenzo Gonzaga, who was Duke of Mantua from 1562-1612. There are a few possible candidates, almost all of whom belong to the Gonzaga family. Though Rigoletto was originally based on French kings, Verdi was not without a historical model for dirty Mantuan Dukes. By the time Verdi would come to write Rigoletto, Louis had been deposed and died though Hugo was in no better state, having been exiled from France by Napoleon III. This particularly offended Hugo as censorship had supposedly been eliminated only two years previous. Louis had come to the throne only two years earlier, and after many years of political unrest, the government was extremely twitchy about perceived criticism. However, the French government understood the play (quite accurately) as little more than a thinly veiled attack on the current King: Louis Philippe. He was the king of France for most of the first half of the 16th Century, now long dead. Victor Hugo’s Le Roi s’amuse, premiered in November 1832, was on the surface simply historical fiction about Francis I. Somehow in the darkness, they trick Rigoletto into believing they are kidnapping a woman from the house adjacent to his, and in the ensuing action, Rigoletto actually assists in the kidnapping of his daughter. Outside the house, the noblemen mass to abduct Gilda, who they still think is Rigoletto’s lover. it’s the Duke! He bribes Giovanna into letting him in and in the ensuing love song lies to Gilda, telling her that he is a poor student. The only place Gilda is permitted to go is the church, and she has recently fallen in love with a young man she has seen there.Īs soon as Rigoletto leaves, that man promptly appears, and would you believe it. Rigoletto has kept Gilda secret from the Duke, and Gilda does not know about Rigoletto’s job at the palace. She is the figure that the noblemen suspect to be his lover. Rigoletto enters his home, where his daughter, Gilda, greets him. Sparafucile offers his services, but Rigoletto rejects his offer, saying he does not need them. He comes across Sparafucile, the local assassin (every town should have one!), skulking in the darkness. Rigoletto trudges home, worried by the curse.
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