Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto is first performed…
March 1851 CE
An opera in three acts, the Italian libretto is written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo.
Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors, who have control over northern Italian theaters at this time, the opera has a triumphant premiere.
It is widely considered to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career.
Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda.
The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to a curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter the Duke has seduced with Rigoletto's encouragement.
The curse comes to fruition when Gilda falls in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from assassins hired by her father.
Locations
Subjects
Regions
Southwest Europe
View →Subregions
