Publisher's Synopsis
Based upon a play by Victor Hugo, author of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE-DAME and LES MISERABLES, Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera RIGOLETTO is a tragedy of Shakespearean caliber set to music. The time is the Renaissance, the place the Italian city of Mantua. The bitter court jester of a libertine Duke fails tragically to shield his innocent daughter from the Duke's advances. Verdi's great score, composed at the start of his prime, includes three of the most famous numbers in Italian opera: "La donna e mobile," "Caro nome," and the Quartet. Audio and video recordings of RIGOLETTO have involved some of the most celebrated operatic conductors, singers, and stage directors of all time: Solti, Sutherland, Pavarotti, Domingo, Gobbi, Callas, Siepi, Ponnelle, and a great many more. Through detailed reviews of the best of these recordings, VERDI'S "RIGOLETTO" A SELECT DISCOGRAPHY WITH COMMENTARY traces the performance history of this riveting and tuneful opera since the 1940s. Illustrated with photographs and Renaissance-themed paintings.
