The success of Rigoletto is due to this perfect proportion
of dark and light
There are stark contrasts and this music we get to know right at the outset
It is a genuine light motif, a musical visiting card
You hear it with the trumpets and this terrible chord
It's very gothic almost. Continues with the brass
I mean it becomes tremendously violent
This repeated obsessional figure with a chromatic baseline
Never imagine that there is light at the end of that tunnel
But listen to the court life
You hear the light that comes after the dark
and there's this constant back and forth
Each character has a type of music
The Duke has a certain devil made care
This fast barcarolle, it swings and he says
'They are all the same to me, whoever is around' and he's talking about women
He is a disgusting man!
But you need him to propel the action forward
Then of course, there is Gilda, the daughter of Rigoletto
introduced to us musically almost as an angelic character
She hasn't even sung yet but in that one colour
we hear who she is and it is so beautiful
and so innocent and her innocence is very very important
because this innocence will be sullied
These soliloquies are extremely Shakespearean and even philosophical
and the style of singing is quite innovative
Rigoletto ponders
There are several moments of unusual orchestration in Rigoletto
One of them is certainly the duet between Rigoletto and the assassin Sparafucile
He uses only the short strings, some woodwinds, bassoons, clarinet
and a solo cello, muted, and a solo double bass
who play in unison in this very suave and serpentine melody
is meaningful, goes to the minor there
goes back to the major and against that
The simple chords to give it a structure
and when you hear the sound of the muted instruments
It's very eerie, very very creepy and menacing
The father and daughter element in Verdi is so important
You've got to realise that Verdi lost two children
He lost his first wife as Rigoletto has lost his wife
and so he most certainly recognises, sympathises with the situation
And that's the key is to give the audience something that they can relate to
and understand and that's the genius of Verdi
He makes people understand