RIGOLETTO - the Quartet

From the Bel Canto Opera production, Rigoletto brings his daughter Gilda to see first hand the faithless character of her heart-throb, the Duke of Mantua, as the love-rat Duke pledges himself to the putana Maddalena, the seducing sister of the assassin Sparafucile.

DUKE: Fairest daughter of the Muse of Love
I am captivated by your charms
So imprison me within your arms
and I will serve you as a slave for your every whim
Put your lovely ear
to my throbbing breast
Whisper what you hear...
Listen carefully to what my heart is telling you
It beats a message ever hopeful you'll love me too.
MADDALENA: I have never had a client quite so desperate to flatter.
GILDA: Ah, that he is speaking of loving this woman.
MADDALENA: I've had every kind of lover but they don't come here to chatter
GILDA: Ah! To think he told me he'd love me forever.
RIGOLETTO: Quiet! There's little point in crying.
Listen to him! You know now he was lying.
He meant to gull you..now you know it. It's a waste of time to cry. I've sworn that I will get revenge. No more gain in standing by.

DUKE: You enslave me! Come, soothe my love-sick heart that throbs for love of you.
MADDALENA: Most seductions are pathetic
but at least yours is poetic
Ha ha! Ridiculous! Ha ha! So laughable
Ha Ha! Preposterous. Ha ha!
Ah, men!
GILDA: He pretended his love was true
I believed him. He betrayed me.
Now he breaks my heart in two.

MADDALENA: You said we'd marry. Say that again.
You make me laugh, you really do.
You joke with me...I'll joke with you
Ah...men!

words©Tom Boyd

Category:

Music

Tags:

• bel
• canto
• opera
• rigoletto
• quartet
• verdi
• boyd
• black
• purcell
• powell
• lancaster

[Johnabraytis]

So exactly what did the licentious Duke do to Gilda? And why is it ok to kidnap a guy's girlfriend, but not his daughter?

[hughdrover]

1) presumably rape 2) who says it's OK to kidnap anyone?

[csupor]

Because a lover (or girlfriend) is "guilty" of living in a love-affair without marriage. A young girl - a daughter - is innocent and (probably) virgin.

[Johnabraytis]

The "nobles" say it's okay to kidnap a guy's mistress. Recall how they were all "shocked" when they discovered Gilda was Rigoletto's daughter.