Rigoletto Essay
Musicianship III, p.7
3 February 2010
Rigoletto - Why Was it Written?
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, was written during a time when the major Italian cities
were especially sensitive with any political, moral, and religious implications of all public displays. Based on the controversial drama, Le roi s’amuse, by Victor Hugo, the production of
Rigoletto was taken negatively because of the beliefs of that time. However, when asked to write an opera specifically for San Carlo, Verdi took Le roi s’amuse and censored it enough, to meet society’s standards. The reason for Verdi’s ardent interest in the controversial play was that by this time Verdi had already become a known composer, and with that credit, he was able to pick and choose what he wanted to set to music. Verdi wished for himself to find a more
“energetic subject” (Gosset XVI) to work on and found Le roi s‘ amuse. Verdi was intrigued by it’s “powerful positions” and how the subject was so “great, immense, and has a character that is one of the most important creations...”
Although the music itself in the opera were not spectacular compositions, the audience -
the Italians, were not looking to analyze the depth of the composition but rather to enjoy and be entertained by the opera. Verdi’s operas brought “rich vocal melodies, well-developed orchestral movements,” and arias that were written to display voice. Verdi’s purpose in writing the opera
Rigoletto was to give the people entertainment and show his appreciations of truly good literature. Rigoletto - Why Does it Matter?
Because of Rigoletto’s respect for great literature and Shakespearean texts, he as a
composer had a distinct upper hand on all the others of his time. “Verdi was a master at choosing texts”. He became one of the first ever to write an effective adaptation of a piece of a
Shakespearean work which consequently made the drama, Le roi s’amuse, more popular, in a sense “imortaliz[ing]
3 February 2010
Rigoletto - Why Was it Written?
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, was written during a time when the major Italian cities
were especially sensitive with any political, moral, and religious implications of all public displays. Based on the controversial drama, Le roi s’amuse, by Victor Hugo, the production of
Rigoletto was taken negatively because of the beliefs of that time. However, when asked to write an opera specifically for San Carlo, Verdi took Le roi s’amuse and censored it enough, to meet society’s standards. The reason for Verdi’s ardent interest in the controversial play was that by this time Verdi had already become a known composer, and with that credit, he was able to pick and choose what he wanted to set to music. Verdi wished for himself to find a more
“energetic subject” (Gosset XVI) to work on and found Le roi s‘ amuse. Verdi was intrigued by it’s “powerful positions” and how the subject was so “great, immense, and has a character that is one of the most important creations...”
Although the music itself in the opera were not spectacular compositions, the audience -
the Italians, were not looking to analyze the depth of the composition but rather to enjoy and be entertained by the opera. Verdi’s operas brought “rich vocal melodies, well-developed orchestral movements,” and arias that were written to display voice. Verdi’s purpose in writing the opera
Rigoletto was to give the people entertainment and show his appreciations of truly good literature. Rigoletto - Why Does it Matter?
Because of Rigoletto’s respect for great literature and Shakespearean texts, he as a
composer had a distinct upper hand on all the others of his time. “Verdi was a master at choosing texts”. He became one of the first ever to write an effective adaptation of a piece of a
Shakespearean work which consequently made the drama, Le roi s’amuse, more popular, in a sense “imortaliz[ing]
Cited: Gosset, Philip. Verdi Rigolleto. Italy: The University of Chicago Press, 1983. “The Music of Rigoletto.” 2 Feb. 2010 “Italy at the time of the composition of Rigoletto.” 2 Feb. 2010