“Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi libretto (English)

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three

ACT ONE

Scene One

A magnificent hall in the Ducal Palace, Mantua(Doors at the far end lead to other rooms; all are splendidly illuminated and thronged with a courtly company of knights and ladies in rich attire. Pages pass to and fro. The merrymaking is at its height. From within, the sound of music. The Duke and Borsa emerge from a door at the far end.)

DUKE
I intend to clinch my affair
with that nameless beauty of the bourgeoisie.

BORSA
The girl you’ve seen in church?

DUKE
Every feast-day for the past three months.

BORSA
Where does she live?

DUKE
In a quiet back-alley;
a mysterious man goes there every night.

BORSA
And does she know who her admirer is?

DUKE
No, she doesn’t.
(A group of ladies with their cavaliers cross the room.)

BORSA
What a bunch of beauties! Look at them!

DUKE
But Ceprano’s wife beats them all.

BORSA
Don’t let the Count hear you, my lord!

DUKE
What do I care?

BORSA
He might tell another woman.

DUKE
That wouldn’t worry me at all.
Neither is any different
from the rest I see around me;
I never yield my heart
to one beauty more than another.
Feminine charm is a gift bestowed
by fate to brighten our lives.
And if one woman pleases me today,
tomorrow, like as not, another will.
Fidelity – that tyrant of the heart –
we shun like pestilence.

Only those who want to should be faithful;
without freedom there is no love.
I find the ravings of jealous husbands
and the frenzy of lovers ridiculous;
once smitten by a pretty face
I’d not let Argus’ hundred eyes deter me!
(Count Ceprano enters and, from a distance, watches
his wife who is on the arm of another man; more ladies
and gentlemen enter.)

DUKE
(to Ceprano’s wife, greeting her with great gallantry)
You are leaving us? How cruel!

COUNTESS CEPRANO
I must go with my husband to Ceprano.

DUKE
So bright a star
should be shedding its brilliance on my court.
You would make every heart beat faster here.
The fires of passion already flare
headily, conquering, consuming my heart.

COUNTESS
Calm yourself!

DUCA
The fires of passion already flare, etc.

COUNTESS
Calm yourself!
(The Duke gives her his arm and leads her out.
Rigoletto meets Ceprano, then the courtiers.)

RIGOLETTO
What have you on your head,
my lord of Ceprano?
(Ceprano reacts with an angry gesture, then follows his
wife and the Duke. Rigoletto says to the courtiers:)
He’s fuming, did you see?

BORSA, CHORUS
What sport!

RIGOLETTO
Oh, yes!

BORSA, CHORUS
The Duke is enjoying himself!

RIGOLETTO
Doesn’t he always? That’s nothing new.
Gaming and wine, parties, dancing,
battles and banquets – anything goes.
Now he’s laying siege to the Countess
while her husband goes off in a rage.
(He leaves the room. Marullo enters excitedly.)

MARULLO
Great news! Great news!

CHORUS
What has happened? Tell us!

MARULLO
This will amaze you!

CHORUS, BORSA
Tell us, tell us.

MARULLO
Ah! Ah! Rigoletto...

CHORUS, BORSA
Well?

MARULLO
Against all the odds...

CHORUS, BORSA
He’s lost his hump? He’s no longer a monster?

MARULLO
Even more extraordinary! The fool has...

CHORUS, BORSA
Has what?

MARULLO
A mistress!

CHORUS, BORSA
A mistress! Who’d ever believe it?

MARULLO
The hunchback has changed into Cupid.

CORO, BORSA
That monster? Cupid?...Some Cupid!
(The Duke returns followed by Rigoletto, then Ceprano.)

DUKE (to Rigoletto)
Ah, no one is such a bore as Ceprano!
And his dear wife is an angel!

RIGOLETTO
Carry her off.

DUKE
Easy to say; but how?

RIGOLETTO
Tonight.

DUKE
Have you forgotten the Count?

RIGOLETTO
What about prison?

DUKE
Ah, no.

RIGOLETTO
Well, banish him, then.

DUKE
Not that either, fool.

RIGOLETTO (with a graphic gesture)
Well then, his head...

CEPRANO (to himself)
The black-hearted villain!

DUKE (clapping the Count on the shoulder)
What, this head?

RIGOLETTO
Naturally.
What else can you do with such a head?...What’s itgood for?

CEPRANO (furiously, drawing his sword)
Scoundrel!

DUKE (to Ceprano)
That’s enough!

RIGOLETTO
He makes me laugh.

MARULLO, CHORUS (to each other)
He’s furious!

DUKE (to Rigoletto)
Fool, come here.

BORSA, MARULLO, CHORUS
He’s in a fury!

DUKE
You always take a joke too far.
The wrath you provoke could rebound upon you.

CEPRANO (to the courtiers)
Revenge on the fool!

RIGOLETTO
Who could harm me? I’m not afraid of them.
No one dare touch a favourite of the Duke.

CEPRANO
Which of us nurses
no grudge against him?
Revenge!

BORSA, MARULLO, CHORUS (to Ceprano)
But how?

CEPRANO
Let those with spirit come armed
to my house tomorrow.

BORSA, MARULLO, CHORUS
Yes!

CEPRANO
After dark.

BORSA, MARULLO, CHORUS
Agreed.

RIGOLETTO
Who could harm me? etc.

DUCA
Ah, you always take a joke, etc.

BORSA, CEPRANO, MARULLO, CHORUS
Revenge on the fool!
Which of us nurses
no grudge against him
for his cruel ways?
Yes, revenge! etc.
Yes, revenge!

DUKE, RIGOLETTO
What gaiety! What a party spirit!
(The dancers swirl into the room.)

ALL
What gaiety! What party spirit!
What splendid entertainment!
Oh, just look, would you not say
that this was the realm of pleasure?
(Enter Count Monterone.)

MONTERONE
Let me speak to him.

DUKE
No!

MONTERONE (coming forward)
I shall!

BORSA, RIGOLETTO, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS
Monterone!

MONTERONE
(fixing the Duke with a look of fearless pride)
Yes, Monterone. My voice, like thunder,
shall make you quake wherever you go...

RIGOLETTO
(to the Duke, imitating Monterone)
Let me speak to him.
(advancing with mock-solemnity)
You did conspire against us, my lord,
and we, with royal clemency, forgave you.

What mad impulse is this, that night and day
you make complaint about your daughter’s honour?

MONTERONE
(regarding Rigoletto with angry contempt)
One more insult!
(to the Duke)
Ah yes! I shall disrupt
your orgies; I shall come here to complain
so long as the atrocious insult
to my family remains unpunished.
And if you give me over to your hangman,
I shall haunt you as a terrifying spectre,
carrying my skull in my hands,
crying to God and man for vengeance!

DUKE
Enough! Arrest him.

RIGOLETTO
He’s mad.

CHORUS
What audacity!

MONTERONE (to the Duke and Rigoletto)
May both of you be damned!

BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS
Ah!

MONTERONE
To unleash your hounds on a dying lion
is cowardly, o Duke.

(to Rigoletto)
and you, you serpent,
you who ridicule a father’s grief,
my curse upon you!

RIGOLETTO (aside, horror-struck)
What has he said! Alas!

ALL (except Rigoletto)
(to Monterone)
O you who so daringly disrupt our revels,
some demon from hell must have guided you here;
no words will avail you, begone from this place,
go, greybeard, beware of your sovereign’s wrath.

RIGOLETTO
Horror!
What horror! etc.

MONTERONE
My curse upon you! And you, you serpent! etc.

ALL (except Rigoletto)
You have provoked it, all hope is lost,
this was a fatal mistake on your part.
(Monterone goes out between two halberdiers. The
others all follow the Duke into an adjoining room.)

Scene 2

The end of a cul-de-sac
(Left, a modest house with a small courtyard enclosed by walls. In the courtyard, a large tree with a marble bench beside it; a door in the wall opens on to the street. Above the wall, a terrace over a loggia. From the second storey a door opens on to the terrace, which is reached by a flight of steps in front. To the right of the road, a much higher wall surrounding the garden and one side of the Ceprano palace. It is night. Rigoletto enters, wrapped in a cloak. Sparafucile, a long sword beneath his cloak, follows him.)

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
The old man cursed me!

SPARAFUCILE
Signor?...

RIGOLETTO
Go – I have nothing.

SPARAFUCILE
And I asked for nothing. You see before you
a swordsman.

RIGOLETTO
A robber?

SPARAFUCILE
One who can rid you,
for a small fee, of a rival,
which you have.

RIGOLETTO
Who?

SPARAFUCILE
Your woman lives there.

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
What’s this!
(to Sparafucile)
And how much
would you charge me for a nobleman?

SPARAFUCILE
I’d demand a higher price.

RIGOLETTO
How are you usually paid?

SPARAFUCILE
Half in advance, the rest on completion.

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
The demon!
(to Sparafucile)
And how is it
that you can work so safely?

SPARAFUCILE
I either kill in the town
or under my own roof.
I wait for my man at night;
one thrust and he dies.

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
The demon!
(to Sparafucile)
And how do you work at home?

SPARAFUCILE
It’s simple.
My sister helps me.
She dances in the streets...she’s pretty...
she entices the victim, and then...

RIGOLETTO
I understand.

SPARAFUCILE
Without a sound...

RIGOLETTO
I understand.

SPARAFUCILE
This is my instrument.
(indicating his sword)
Can it serve you?

RIGOLETTO
No...not just now.

SPARAFUCILE
You’ll regret it.

RIGOLETTO
Who knows?

SPARAFUCILE
My name is Sparafucile.

RIGOLETTO
A foreigner?

SPARAFUCILE (as he leaves)
Burgundian.

RIGOLETTO
And where, if the need should arise?

SPARAFUCILE
Here, each night.

RIGOLETTO
Go!

SPARAFUCILE
Sparafucile, Sparafucile.
(He leaves.)

RIGOLETTO (his gaze following Sparafucile)
Go, go, go, go.
We are two of a kind: my weapon is my tongue,
his is a dagger;
I am a man of laughter,
he strikes the fatal blow!
The old man cursed me...
O mankind! O nature!It was you who made me evil and corrupt!
I rage at my monstrous form, my cap and bells!To be permitted nothing but to laugh!I’m denied that common human right, to weep.

My master,
young, carefree, so powerful, so handsome,
half-dozing, says:
“Fool, make me laugh!”
And I must contrive to do it! Oh, damnation!
My hate upon you, sneering courtiers!
How I enjoy snapping at your heels!
If I am wicked, the fault is yours alone.
But here I become another person!
The old man cursed me!...Why should this
thought still prey so on my mind?
Will some disaster befall me?
Ah no, this is folly!
(He opens the gate with a key and enters the
courtyard. Gilda runs from the house and into his
arms.)
My daughter!

GILDA
Father!

RIGOLETTO
Only with you
does my heavy heart find joy.

GILDA
Oh, how loving you are, father!

RIGOLETTO
You are my life!
Without you, what would I have on earth?
Ah, my daughter!

GILDA
You sigh! What makes you so sad?
Tell your poor daughter.
If you have secrets, share them with her:
let her know about her family.

RIGOLETTO
You have no family.

GILDA
What is your name?

RIGOLETTO
What does it matter?

GILDA
If you are unwilling
to tell me about yourself...

RIGOLETTO (interrupting)
Never leave this house.

GILDA
I only go out to church.

RIGOLETTO
Oh, that is good.

GILDA
If you will tell me nothing of yourself,
let me know at least who my mother was.

RIGOLETTO
Oh, do not speak to your wretched
father of his lost love.

She felt, that angel,
pity for my sorrows.
I was alone, deformed, poor,
and she loved me out of compassion.
She died...may the earth rest lightly
upon that beloved head.
Only you are left to this wretch...
O God, I thank thee for that!

GILDA (sobbing)
What sorrow! What can have caused
such bitter tears?
Father, no more, calm down.
This sight tortures me.

RIGOLETTO
You only are left to this wretch, etc.

GILDA
Tell me your name, tell me
what sorrow so afflicts you.

RIGOLETTO
What good would it do? None at all!
I am your father, let that suffice.
Perhaps some people fear me,
and some may even hate me.
Others curse me...

GILDA
Country, family, friends,
have you none of these?

RIGOLETTO
Country! family! friends!
My faith, my family, my country,
my whole world is in you!

GILDA
Ah, if I can make you happy,
then I shall be content!

RIGOLETTO
My faith, my family, etc.

GILDA
I have been here for three months now,
yet I have never seen the town:
if you would let me, now I could...

RIGOLETTO
Never! Never! Tell me, have you been out?

GILDA
No.

RIGOLETTO
Woe betide you!

GILDA (to herself)
What have I said?

RIGOLETTO
Make sure you never do!
(to himself)
They could follow her, carry her off!
Here, the dishonouring of a jester’s daughter
would be cause for laughter...Oh, horror!

(aloud)
Hola?
(Giovanna comes out of the house.)

GIOVANNA
Signor?

RIGOLETTO
Does anyone see me come in?
Mind you tell me the truth.

GIOVANNA
Ah no, no one.

RIGOLETTO
Good. Is the gate to the street
always kept locked?

GIOVANNA
Yes, always.

RIGOLETTO
Mind you tell me the truth.
O woman. watch over this flower
entrusted, pure, to your keeping;
be vigilant, that nothing may ever
sully its purity.
From the fury of the winds
that have broken other flowers,
protect her, and unstained
restore her to her father.

GILDA
What affection! What concern!
What do you fear, my father?

In heaven above, at God’s right hand,
an angel watches over us.
We are shielded from all harm
by my mother’s blessed prayers.
No hand will ever pluck or crush
this flower so dear to you.
(The Duke, dressed as a commoner, appears in the street.)

RIGOLETTO
O woman, watch over this flower,
entrusted pure, to your...
There is someone outside!
(He opens the gate and, as he goes out into the street,
the Duke slips into the courtyard and hides behind the
tree, throwing a purse to Giovanna to ensure her
silence.)

GILDA
Dear God!
Always some new suspicion!

RIGOLETTO (returning, to Giovanna)
Has anyone ever followed you to church?

GIOVANNA
Never.

DUKE (to himself)
Rigoletto!

RIGOLETTO
If anyone ever knocks,
mind you don’t open the gate.

GIOVANNA
Not even for the Duke?

RIGOLETTO
Especially not for him.
My daughter, good night.

DUKE (to himself)
His daughter!

GILDA
Good night, father.

RIGOLETTO
O woman, watch over this flower, etc.
My daughter, good night!

GILDA
What affection, etc.
Good night, father.
(They embrace and Rigoletto departs closing the gate
behind him; Gilda, Giovanna and the Duke remain in
the courtyard.)

GILDA
Giovanna, I am ashamed...

GIOVANNA
Whatever for?

GILDA
I said nothing of the youth
who followed us to church.

GIOVANNA
Why tell him? Do you dislike
this young man, then?

GILDA
No, no, he is too handsome
and I could be tempted to love him.

GIOVANNA
And he seems generous, a fine gentleman.

GILDA
I hope he’s not a gentleman or a prince;
I think I should love him more if he were poor.
Sleeping and waking, I call to him,
and my soul in ecstasy cries: I lo...

DUKE
(rushing out and waving Giovanna away, he kneels
before Gilda and finishes the sentence for her)
I love you!
I love you! Speak those dear words once more
and a heaven of joy will open before me!

GILDA
Giovanna? Alas! There is no one here
to answer me! Oh, God! No one?

DUKE
I am here, and my very soul answers you.
Ah, two who love are a world in themselves!

GILDA
Who, whoever brought you here to me?

DUKE
Whether angel or devil, what does it matter?
I love you!

GILDA
Leave me.

DUKE
Leave you?...Now?...
Now that both of us burn with a single fire!
Ah, the god of love has bound
our destinies together, inseparably!
Love is the sunshine of the soul, ’tis life itself!
It’s voice is the beating of our hearts.
Fame and glory, power and thrones,
are but fragile, earthbound things beside it.
One thing alone is unique, divine:
’tis love that bears us heavenwards!
So let us love, my angel-woman;
you would make me the envy of all mankind.

GILDA (to herself)
Ah, these are the tender, longed-for words
I have heard in my maiden dreams! etc.

DUKE
Let us love,
you would make me the envy of all mankind, etc.
You love me, say it once again.

GILDA
You eavesdropped...

DUKE
How happy you’ve made me!

GILDA
Tell me your name...
Am I permitted to know it?
(Ceprano and Borsa appear in the street below.)

CEPRANO (to Borsa)
This is the place.

DUKE (racking his brains)
My name is...

BORSA (to Ceprano)
Good.
(He and Ceprano leave.)

DUKE
Walter Maldè.
I am a student, and poor...

GIOVANNA (returning in a state of alarm)
I can hear footsteps outside!

GILDA
My father, perhaps...

DUKE (to himself)
Ah, if I should catch the traitor
who cost me such a chance!

GILDA
Show him out
through the garden gate...Go now...

DUKE
Tell me, will you love me?

GILDA
And you?

DUKE
For the rest of my life...then...

GILDA
No more, no more...you must go.

TOGETHER
Farewell...my heart and soul
are set on you alone.
Farewell...my love for you
will last for ever.
Farewell, etc.
(He leaves, escorted by Giovanna. Gilda stands
watching the gate through which he disappeared.)

GILDA (alone)
Walter Maldè...name of the man I love,
be thou engraved upon my lovesick heart!
Beloved name, the first to move
the pulse of love within my heart,
thou shalt remind me ever
of the delights of love!
In my thoughts, my desire
will ever fly to thee,
and my last breath of life
shall be, beloved name, of thee.
In my thoughts, etc.
(Taking a lantern, she walks up the steps to the
terrace.)
Walter Maldè!

(Meanwhile, Marullo, Ceprano, Borsa and other courtiers have appeared in the road, armed and masked; they watch Gilda as she enters the house.)Beloved name, etc.

BORSA
There she is.

CEPRANO
Look at her!

CHORUS
Oh, isn’t she lovely!

MARULLO
She looks like a fairy or an angel.

CHORUS
So that’s Rigoletto’s
mistress!
Oh, isn’t she lovely!
(Rigoletto enters with a preoccupied air.)

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
I’ve come back!...Why?

BORSA
Silence. To work, now...do as I say.

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
Ah, I was cursed by that man!
(brushing against Borsa)
Who’s there?

BORSA (to his companions)
Quiet...It’s Rigoletto.

CEPRANO
A double victory! We’ll kill him.

BORSA
No, tomorrow the jest will be even better.

MARULLO
Leave this to me...

RIGOLETTO
Who is that speaking?

MARULLO
Eh, Rigoletto?...Is that you?

RIGOLETTO
Who is that?

MARULLO
Eh, don’t snap our heads off! This is...

RIGOLETTO
Who?

MARULLO
Marullo.

RIGOLETTO
It’s so dark I can’t see a thing.

MARULLO
We’re here for a prank...
We’re going to carry off Ceprano’s wife.

RIGOLETTO (to himself)
Ah, I can breathe again!
(to Marullo)
How can you get in?

MARULLO (to Ceprano)
Your key!
(to Rigoletto)
Don’t worry.
We’ve got it all arranged...
(giving him Ceprano’s key)
Here is the key.

RIGOLETTO (feeling it)
I can feel his crest.
(to himself)
Ah, my terror was unfounded!
(to Marullo)
This is his place. I’m with you.

MARULLO
We’re masked...

RIGOLETTO
Then I should be too.
Give me a mask.

MARULLO
Fine, it’s right here.

(He puts a mask on Rigoletto, at the same time blindfolding him with a handkerchief, then positions him by a ladder which the others have leant against the terrace.)You shall hold the ladder.

RIGOLETTO
It’s dark as pitch.

MARULLO
The cloth has stopped his eyes and ears.

CHORUS
Softly, softly, the trap is closing;
now we shall catch him, all unsuspecting.
The mocker so insolent, so unremitting,
will soon be a butt of derision himself!
Stealthily, stealthily we’ll kidnap his mistress,
and in the morning the whole Court will laugh!
Stealthily, stealthily, etc.
The mocker so insolent, etc.
Softly, softly, softly, softly,
stealthily, stealthily, stealthily,
to work, to work.
(Some of the men climb up to the terrace, force the
door, open the gate from the inside to admit the
others, then emerge dragging Gilda, gagged with a
handkerchief. As she is carried off, she drops a scarf.)

GILDA (from afar)
Help, father!

CHORUS (in the distance)
Victory!

GILDA (from further away)
Help!

RIGOLETTO
They haven’t finished yet!...A good joke this!
(touching his eyes)
I’m blindfolded!
Gilda!...Gilda!
(He tears off the mask and the blindfold. By the light of
a lantern left by Marullo’s men, he sees Gilda’s scarf,
then the open gate. Rushing into the courtyard, he
drags out the terrified Giovanna and stares at her,
stupefied; speechless, he tears his hair. Finally, after a
great struggle, he cries out:)
Ah, the curse!
(He faints.)

libretto by Dale McAdoo, 1956, revised 1989

Contents: Roles; Act One; Act Two; Act Three