''Rigoletto'' in a 1979

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...

film directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and starring

Ingvar Wixell Karl Gustaf Ingvar Wixell (7 May 19318 October 2011) was a Swedish baritone who had an active international career in operas and concerts from 1955 to 2003. He mostly sang roles from the Italian repertory, and, according to ''The New York Times'' ...

, Edita Gruberová and

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, with the music score conducted by

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions ...

. The film is based upon the 1851 opera of the same name by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Francesco Maria Piave Francesco Maria Piave (18 May 18105 March 1876) was an Italian opera librettist who was born in Murano in the lagoon of Venice, during the brief Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. Career Piave's career spanned over twenty years working with many of th ...

Plot

As court

jester A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

for the Duke of Mantua (

), hunch-back Rigoletto (

) is tasked with amusing the Duke at the expense of courtiers much to their annoyance. Recently the Duke, who lives a life of pleasure bedding as many women as possible, started noticing a young lady named Gilda ( Edita Gruberová) walking to church every Sunday and vows to have his way with her. At the court, Count Monterone (also played by Ingvar Wixell) who is the father of one of the Duke's love interests confronts him for trying to seduce his daughter. Rigoletto decides to make fun of the Count causing the Duke to laugh at him, now angry, the Count casts a curse on Rigoletto. Later, the begrudged courtiers find out that Rigoletto is living with Gilda who they believe to be his mistress, however in fact is his daughter. Attempting to humiliate Rigoletto the courtiers kidnap Gilda and bring her to the Duke's bedroom where he is waiting for her, Gilda who is infatuated with the Duke gives herself to him. Rigoletto later having learned of the Duke lying with his daughter, hires assassin Sparafucile (

Ferruccio Furlanetto Ferruccio Furlanetto (born 16 May 1949 in Sacile, Italy) is an Italian bass. His professional debut was in 1974 in Lonigo, he debuted at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1979, in a production of Verdi's ''Macbeth'', conducted by Claudio Abbado. H ...

) to kill him in revenge. Sparafucile uses his beautiful sister Maddalena (Victoria Vergara) to lure the Duke to a tavern where he tries to seduce her. Outside, Rigoletto shows Gilda the Duke's infidelity. The heartbroken Gilda puts on men's clothing so she can return home safely without her father but returns to the tavern to overhear Rigoletto and Sparafucile plotting to kill the Duke. After Rigoletto leaves, the still eavesdropping Gilda hears Maddalena beg Sparafucile not to kill the Duke and instead kill the next person who enters the door. Hoping to protect the Duke, the lovestruck Gilda enters the tavern and is immediately stabbed by Sparafucile, her dying body rolled up into a rug and dropped down a trapdoor onto Rigoletto's boat. Thinking it is the Duke, Rigoletto goes up the river to dispose of the body but in the distance hears the Duke singing La donna è mobile. The confused Rigoletto unravels the rug to reveal his half-dead daughter who finally dies, he realises the curse had come to pass – the distraught Rigoletto cries out in pain.

Cast

as Rigoletto Monterone, the Duke's jester and as Count Monterone * Edita Gruberová as Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter *

as Il Duca di Mantova (The Duke of Mantua) *

as assassin Sparafucile * Victoria Vergara as Maddalena, Sparafucile's sister *

Fedora Barbieri Fedora Barbieri (4 June 1920 – 4 March 2003) was an Italian mezzo-soprano and actor. Barbieri was born in Trieste. She performed regularly in Florence for fifty years, and performed internationally through the years. She died, aged 82, in Flor ...

as Giovanna, Gilda's nurse * Roland Bracht as Count Ceprano * Kathleen Kuhlmann as Countess Ceprano * Rémy Corazza as Matteo Borsa, a courier *

Louis Otey Louis Otey (born 22 November 1954) is an American baritone singer born in South Dakota. He performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera and other major international companies. He is notable for his per ...

as Marullo, a guest at the ball

Filming locations

This staging was shot in the Teatro Farnese (

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

), the Teatro all'antica (

Sabbioneta Sabbioneta ( egl, label= Casalasco-Viadanese, Subiunèda) is a town and in the province of Mantua, Lombardy region, Northern Italy. It is situated about north of Parma, not far from the northern bank of the Po River. It was inscribed in the World ...

), the piazza in front of the Duomo di Cremona, the

Castello di San Giorgio The Palazzo Ducale di Mantova ("Ducal Palace") is a group of buildings in Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, built between the 14th and the 17th century mainly by the noble family of Gonzaga as their royal residence in the capital of their Duchy. ...

(palazzo ducale of

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

) and the

Palazzo del Te or is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Although formed in Italian, the usual name in English of Palazzo del Te is not that ...

(also in Mantua).

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{Luciano Pavarotti 1980s romantic musical films 1982 films Films based on operas by Giuseppe Verdi Italian romantic musical films Opera films 1980s Italian-language films 1980s Italian films