The San Francisco Public Library’s Art&Music&Recreation Department is pleased to continue its partnership with the Merola Opera Program and screen Rigoletto on March 20, 2016, as part of Merola Goes to the Movies series.
It was described by some critics as ‘revolutionary’ and by Verdi himself as almost without arias “but only an unending string of duets.” Based on a play by Victor Hugo, Rigoletto premiered on 11 March 1851 in Venice. This is the story of an embittered jester who makes comic fodder out of human tragedy only to find himself at the heart of his own tragedy when his beautiful, sheltered daughter falls in love with the faithless duke he serves.
The French born Jean-Pierre Ponnelle directed the film version of Rigoletto in 1981 with Luciano Pavarotti as The Duke and Ingvar Wixell as Rigoletto.
San Francisco Public Library carries many books, CDs and DVDs relating to Rigoletto, the legendary composer Giuseppe Verdi, and opera generally.
Verdi's Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi; introduced and translated by Ellen H. Bleiler (Dover Publications, 1983).
Understanding Italian Opera by Tim Carter (Oxford University Press, 2015).
Experiencing Verdi: A Listener's Companion by Donald Sanders (Scarecrow Press, 2014).
Rigoletto [videorecording]: Opera in Three Acts by Francesco Maria Piave, after Victor Hugo ; music by Giuseppe Verdi (Deutsche Grammophon, 2006).
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