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The Duke of Mantuna (Tenor) Rigoletto, his court jester (Baritone) Gilda, his daughter (Soprano) Sparafucile, a villain (Bass) Maddalena, his sister (Contralto) Giovanna, Gilda's duenna (Mezzosoprano) The Count of Monterone (Baritone) Marullo, a nobleman (Baritone) Matteo Borsa, a courtier (Tenor) The Count of Ceprano (Bass) The Countess, his wife (Mezzosoprano) Court Usher (Tenor) Page of the Duchess (Mezzosoprano) Chorus Gentlemen of the court, ladies, pages, halberdiers. Prelude 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.) A room in the ducal palace (There is a door on each side and a larger one at the far end flanked by full-length portraits of the Duke and his wife. A high-backed chair stands near a velvet-covered table and other furniture.) DUKE (entering, agitated) She has been stolen from me! When, O heaven? In those few moments, before some inner voice made me hastily retrace my steps! The gate was open, the house deserted! And where is she now, that dear angel? She who first kindled my heart with the flame of a constant affection? So pure that her modest demean our almost convinced me to lead a virtuous life! She has been stolen from me! And who dared do this?...But I shall be avenged. The tears of my beloved demand it. I seem to see the tears coursing from her eyes as, bewildered and afraid at the surprise attack, remembering our love, she called her Walter’s name. But he could not defend you, sweet, beloved maid; he who would pledge his very soul to bring you happiness; he who, in loving you, envied not even the angels. He who, in loving you, etc. (Marullo, Ceprano, Borsa and other courtiers enter.) BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS My lord, my lord! DUKE What is it? BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS Rigoletto’s mistress has been carried off. DUKE What? From where? BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS From his house. DUKE Ah! ah! Tell me, how was it done? BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS Together we went at nightfall, to a street on the edge of the town; there, as we had foreseen, we found a most beautiful girl. It was Rigoletto’s paramour, but as soon as we saw her, she vanished. Our plans to abduct her were ready, when along came the jester himself, whom we convinced, the simpleton, that we were after Ceprano’s countess. So once we had set up the ladder, he, blindfolded, held it secure. So once we had set up the ladder, etc. We climbed up and in less than no time had carried the young girl away. DUKE (to himself) Heavens! BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS When he realised how we’d paid him out,you should have heard him curse! DUKE (to himself) Dear God! It’s her, my beloved! (aloud) But where is the poor girl now? BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS We brought her here ourselves. DUKE (to himself) Ah, heaven has not stolen everything from me! (He hurries away. Rigoletto enters, humming to himself and trying to disguise his grief.) MARULLO Poor Rigoletto! RIGOLETTO La ra, la ra, la ra, etc. CHORUS Here he comes!...Be silent! RIGOLETTO La ra, la ra, la ra, la ra, etc. BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS Good morning, Rigoletto. RIGOLETTO (to himself) They were all in on it! CEPRANO What news, jester? RIGOLETTO What news, jester? Only that you are more of a bore than usual. BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS Ha! ha! ha! RIGOLETTO La ra, la ra, la ra, etc. (restlessly searching everywhere; to himself) Where can they have hidden her?... BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS (aside) See how upset he is! RIGOLETTO La ra, la ra, la ra, etc. BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS Yes! See how upset he is! RIGOLETTO (to Marullo) I am glad that the cold air last night did not harm you in the least... MARULLO Last night!... RIGOLETTO Yes!...Ah, it was a fine trick! MARULLO But I was asleep all night! RIGOLETTO Ah, you were asleep! So I dreamed it! La ra, la ra, la ra, etc. (He moves off. Seeing a handkerchief on the table, he examines the monogram agitatedly.) CHORUS (aside) See how he inspects everything! RIGOLETTO (throwing down the handkerchief; to himself) It isn’t hers. (aloud) Is the Duke still asleep? CHORUS Yes, he is still asleep. (One of the Duchess’s pages enters.) PAGE The Duchess wishes to speak to the Duke. CEPRANO He’s asleep. PAGE Wasn’t he here with you just now? BORSA He went hunting. PAGE Without his escort! Unarmed! ALL Don’t you understand that he can’t see anyone right now? RIGOLETTO (standing apart, he has followed the conversation attentively, and now leaps among them, crying out:) Ah, she is there, then! She is with the Duke! ALL Who? RIGOLETTO The girl you carried off from my house last night. But I shall get her back. She’s in there! ALL If you’ve mislaid your mistress, look for her elsewhere. RIGOLETTO I want my daughter! ALL His daughter! RIGOLETTO Yes, my daughter! After such a sweet revenge, what? You’re not laughing? She’s in there...I want her...Give her back. (running towards the centre door, but finding it barred by the courtiers) Courtiers, vile, damnable rabble, how much were you paid for my treasure? There’s nothing you won’t do for money, but my daughter is beyond any price. Give her back...or this hand, though unarmed, will prove a dread weapon indeed. A man will fear nothing on earth when defending his children’s honour. Assassins, open that door! (He again attacks the door, is dragged away from it by the courtiers, struggles awhile, then gives up, exhausted.) The door, the door, assassins, open it. Ah! You’re all against me! All against me! (weeping) Then I’ll weep. Marullo, my lord, you whose soul is as gentle as your heart, tell me, where have they hidden her? Marullo, my lord, tell me, where have they hidden her? She’s in there...isn’t she? isn’t that so?...in there?....isn’t that so? You don’t answer...Alas! My lords, forgive me, have pity! Give an old man back his daughter! To give her back can cost you nothing now, but to me my daughter is everything. Lords, forgive me, etc. (Gilda suddenly runs from the room on the left and throws herself into her father’s arms.) GILDA Father! RIGOLETTO Oh, God! My Gilda! Sirs, she is all the family I have. Don’t be afraid now, my angel child... (to the courtiers) It was only a joke wasn’t it? I, though I wept before, now laugh. (to Gilda) Why do you still weep? GILDA The shame, father! RIGOLETTO Good God! What do you mean? GILDA To you alone I confess... RIGOLETTO (to the courtiers) Off with you, all of you! And if your Duke should dare approach, tell him not to enter, tell him I am here. BORSA, MARULLO, CEPRANO, CHORUS (among themselves) With children and with madmen, pretence is often best. We’ll leave, but still keep watch to see what he may do. (They go out.) RIGOLETTO Speak...we are alone. GILDA (to herself) O Heaven, give me courage! (to Rigoletto) Each holy day, in church, as I prayed to God, a fatally handsome young man stood where I could see him... Though our lips were silent, our hearts spoke through our eyes. Furtively, only last night he came to meet me for the first time. “I am a student and poor,” he said so tenderly, and with passionate fervour told me of his love. He went...my heart was rapt in the sweetest dreams, when suddenly the men broke in who carried me away; they brought me here by force, cruelly afraid. RIGOLETTO (to himself) Ah! I asked infamy, O God, only for myself, so that she might be raised as high as I had fallen. Ah, beside the gallows one must raise an altar! But all is now lost, the altar is cast down! (to Gilda) Weep, my child, weep... GILDA Father! RIGOLETTO ...and let your tears fall upon my breast. GILDA Father, an angel speaks through you and consoles me, etc. RIGOLETTO Weep, my child, etc. When I have finished what I must do here, we can leave this house of doom. GILDA Yes. RIGOLETTO (to himself) A single day has changed everything! (Preceded by an usher, Count Monterone enters between two halberdiers and crosses the back of the room.) USHER Open up: Monterone is to go to the dungeon. MONTERONE (halting before the Duke’s portrait) Since my curse has been in vain, and neither steel nor thunderbolt has struck your breast, you will live on, o Duke, in happiness. (He goes out between the guards.) RIGOLETTO No, old man, you’re wrong...you shall be avenged. (passionately addressing the portrait) Yes, revenge, terrible revenge is all that my heart desires. The hour of your punishment hastens on, that hour which will be your last. Like a thunderbolt from the hand of God, the jester’s revenge shall strike you down. GILDA O my father, what a fierce joy flashes in your eyes! RIGOLETTO Revenge! GILDA Forgive him: and then we too may hear the voice of pardon from Heaven. RIGOLETTO Revenge! GILDA Forgive him! RIGOLETTO No! GILDA (to herself) He betrayed me, yet I love him; great God, I ask for pity on this faithless man! RIGOLETTO Like a thunderbolt, etc. GILDA Forgive him, etc. (They leave through the main door.) The right bank of the River Mincio (On the left is a two-storied house, half fallen into ruin.At ground level, beyond an arcade, the interior of a rustic wine shop can be seen and a rough stone staircase leading to a loft with a small bed which,since there are no shutters, is in full view. Downstairs,in the wall facing the road, is a door that opens inwards. The wall itself is so full of cracks and holes here that whatever takes place within is clearly visible.In the background are the deserted fields along the Mincio, which runs behind a crumbling parapet.Beyond the river lies Mantua. It is night. Gilda and Rigoletto, both ill at ease, are standing in the road; Sparafucile is seated at a table in the wine shop.) RIGOLETTO And you love him? GILDA I always will. RIGOLETTO Yet I have given you time to forget. GILDA I love him. RIGOLETTO Poor woman’s heart! Ah, the scoundrel! You shall be avenged, o Gilda. GILDA Have pity, my father! RIGOLETTO And if you were sure of his lack of faith, would you still love him? GILDA I do not know, but he adores me. RIGOLETTO He does? GILDA Yes. RIGOLETTO Well then, just watch. (He leads her to a crack in the wall. She looks through into the wine shop.) GILDA I see a man. RIGOLETTO Wait a moment. (The Duke, wearing the uniform of a cavalry officer, enters the wine-shop through a door on the left.) GILDA (startled) Ah, father! DUKE (to Sparafucile) Two things and quickly... SPARAFUCILE What things? DUKE A room and a bottle of wine! RIGOLETTO These are the fellow’s habits. SPARAFUCILE Oh, the gay blade! (He goes into an adjoining room.) DUKE Women are as fickle as feathers in the wind, simple in speech, and simple in mind. always the loveable, sweet, laughing face, but laughing or crying, the face is false for sure. Women are as fickle, etc. If you rely on her you will regret it, and if you trust her you are undone! Yet none can call himself fully contented who has not tasted love in her arms! Women are as fickle, etc. (Sparafucile returns with a bottle of wine and two glasses, which he puts on the table; then he strikes the ceiling twice with the pommel of his sword. At this signal, a buxom young woman in gypsy costume comes jumping down the stairs. The Duke runs to kiss her, but she eludes him. Meanwhile, Sparafucile, having slipped out into the road, speaks softly to Rigoletto.) SPARAFUCILE Your man’s in there. Is he to live or die? RIGOLETTO I’ll come back later to conclude our business. (Sparafucile moves off behind the house in the direction of the river.) DUKE One day, if I remember rightly, my pretty one, I met you... I asked someone about you and was told that you live here. Let me say that ever since, my heart has been yours alone. GILDA (to herself) Deceiver! MADDALENA Ah! Ah! And of twenty others that maybe you’re forgetting? I think my fine young man is a bit of a libertine. DUKE Yes, I’m a monster. GILDA Ah, father! MADDALENA Leave me alone, you scatterbrain! DUKE Ho, what a fuss! MADDALENA Behave yourself! DUKE Be nice to me. Don’t play hard to get. Good behaviour doesn’t exclude jollity and love. (caressing her hand) Pretty white hand! MADDALENA You are joking, sir. DUKE No, no. MADDALENA I’m ugly. DUKEK iss me. GILDA (to herself) Deceiver! MADDALENA You’re drunk! DUKE With love. MADDALENA My cynical friend, you like to joke, don’t you? DUKE No, no. I want to marry you... MADDALENA I want your word of honour. DUKE (ironic) Sweet little maid! RIGOLETTO (to Gilda, who has seen and heard all) Haven’t you seen enough? GILDA The wicked deceiver! etc. MADDALENA I want your word of honour! etc. DUKE Sweet little maid! etc. RIGOLETTO Haven’t you seen enough? etc. DUKE Fairest daughter of love, I am a slave to your charms; with but a single word you could relieve my every pain. Come, touch my breast and feel how my heart is racing. With but a single word, etc. MADDALENA Ah! Ah! That really makes me laugh; talk like that is cheap enough... GILDA Ah, these are the loving words... MADDALENA ...believe me, I know exactly what such play-acting is worth! GILDA ...the scoundrel spoke once to me! RIGOLETTO (to Gilda) Hush, weeping can do no good, etc. GILDA O wretched heart betrayed, do not break for sorrow. MADDALENA I, my fine sir, am quite accustomed to foolish jokes like this, my fine sir! DUKE With but a single word you could relieve my every pain. GILDA O wretched heart betrayed, do not break for sorrow, etc. MADDALENA Ah! Ah! That really makes me laugh; talk like that is cheap enough, etc. DUKE Fairest daughter of love, I am a slave to your charms, etc. RIGOLETTO (to Gilda) You are now convinced he was lying. Hush, and leave it up to me to hasten our revenge. It will be quick, it will be deadly, I know how to deal with him. Listen to me, go home. Take some money and a horse, put on the men’s clothes I provided, then leave at once for Verona. I shall meet you there tomorrow. GILDA Come with me now. RIGOLETTO It’s impossible. GILDA I’m afraid. RIGOLETTO Go! (The Duke and Maddalena continue to laugh and talk together as they drink. Gilda having left, Rigoletto goes behind the house and returns with Sparafucile, counting out money into the cut-throat’s hands.) Twenty scudi, you said? Here are ten,and the rest when the work is finished.He is staying here? SPARAFUCILE Yes. RIGOLETTO At midnight I shall return. SPARAFUCILE No point: I can throw him in the river without help. RIGOLETTO No, no, I want to do it myself. SPARAFUCILE All right; his name? RIGOLETTO Do you want to know mine as well? He is Crime, I am Punishment. (He leaves; the sky darkens, lightning flashes.) SPARAFUCILE The storm is getting closer. The night will be darker. DUKE Maddalena? (trying to embrace her) MADDALENA (pushing him away) Wait...my brother is coming. DUKE So? MADDALENA Thunder! SPARAFUCILE (entering) It’s going to rain soon. DUKE So much the better. You can sleep in the stable... or in hell...wherever you like. SPARAFUCILE Thank you. MADDALENA (softly to the Duke) Ah no!...You must leave. DUKE (to Maddalena) In this weather? SPARAFUCILE (softly to Maddalena) It means twenty gold scudi. (to the Duke) I’ll be glad to offer you my room. If you want to see it, let’s go up now. (Taking a lamp, he starts up the stairs.) DUKE Good; I’ll be with you in a moment. (He whispers something to Maddalena, then follows Sparafucile.) MADDALENA Poor lad! He’s so handsome! God! What a night this is! DUKE (upstairs, noticing that the loft is open on one side) We sleep in the open, eh? Good enough!Goodnight. SPARAFUCILE Sir, may God protect you. DUKE We’ll not sleep long; but I’m tired. (He lays down his hat and sword and stretches out on the bed. Maddalena, meanwhile, has sat down at the table below. Sparafucile drinks from the bottle which the Duke left unfinished. Both are silent for a moment, lost in their thoughts.) Oh, women are fickle, as feathers in the wind, simple in speech and simple in mind... simple in speech and in mind... women... are fickle... etc. (He falls asleep.) MADDALENA He is really most attractive, this young man. SPARAFUCILE Oh, yes...to the tune of twenty scudi. MADDALENA Only twenty!...That’s not much! He was worth more. SPARAFUCILE His sword: if he’s asleep, bring it down to me. (Maddalena goes upstairs and stands looking at the sleeping Duke, then she closes the balcony as best she can and comes down carrying the sword. Gilda, meanwhile, appears in the road wearing male attire, boots and spurs, and walks slowly towards the inn where Sparafucile is still drinking. Frequent thunder and lightning) GILDA (to herself) Ah, my reason has left me! Love draws me back... Father, forgive me! (thunder) What a terrible night! Great God, what will happen? MADDALENA (having put the Duke’s sword on the table) Brother? GILDA (peeping through a crack) Who is speaking? SPARAFUCILE (rummaging in a cupboard) Go to the devil! MADDALENA He’s an Apollo, that young man; I love him, he loves me...let him be... let’s spare him. GILDA (listening) Dear God! SPARAFUCILE (throwing her a sack) Mend this sack! MADDALENA Why? SPARAFUCILE Because your Apollo, when I’ve cut his throat, will wear it when I throw him in the river. GILDA I see hell itself! MADDALENA But I reckon I can save you the money and save his life as well. SPARAFUCILE Difficult, I think. MADDALENA Listen...my plan is simple. You’ve had ten scudi from the hunchback; he’s coming later with the rest... Kill him, and the twenty... GILDA What do I hear? MADDALENA ...you’ve got... GILDA My father! MADDALENA ...so we lose nothing. SPARAFUCILE Kill the hunchback? What the devil do you mean? Am I a thief? Am I a bandit? What client of mine has ever been cheated? This man pays me, and I shall deliver. MADDALENA Ah, have mercy on him! SPARAFUCILE He must die. MADDALENA I’ll see he escapes in time. (She runs towards the stairs.) GILDA Oh, merciful girl! SPARAFUCILE (holding her back) We’d lose the money. MADDALENA That’s true! SPARAFUCILE Don’t interfere. MADDALENA We must save him. SPARAFUCILE If someone else comes here before midnight, they shall die in his place. MADDALENA The night is dark, the weather too stormy; no one will pass by here at this late hour. GILDA Oh, what a temptation! To die for the ingrate? To die! And my father?...Oh, Heaven, have mercy! MADDALENA The night is dark, etc. SPARAFUCILE If someone else comes here, etc. GILDA Oh, Heaven, have mercy, etc. (A distant clock chimes half-past eleven.) SPARAFUCILE There’s still half an hour. MADDALENA (weeping) Wait, brother... GILDA What! A woman like that weeps, and I do nothing to help him! Ah, even if he betrayed my love I shall save his life with my own! (She knocks on the door.) MADDALENA A knock at the door? SPARAFUCILE It was the wind.(Gilda knocks again.) MADDALENA Someone’s knocking, I tell you. SPARAFUCILE How strange! Who’s there? GILDA Have pity on a beggar; grant him shelter for the night. MADDALENA A long night will it be! SPARAFUCILE Wait a moment. (searching in the cupboard) MADDALENA Come on, get on with it, finish the job. I am eager to save one life with another. SPARAFUCILE So, I’m ready; open the door; all I want to save is the gold. GILDA (to herself) Ah, death is near, and I am so young! Oh, Heaven, for these sinners I ask thy pardon. Father, forgive your unhappy child! May the man I am saving be happy. MADDALENA Get on with it, etc. SPARAFUCILE So, I am ready, etc. MADDALENA Get on with it! SPARAFUCILE Open up! MADDALENA Enter! GILDA (to herself) God! Forgive them! MADDALENA, SPARAFUCILE Enter! (Dagger in hand, Sparafucile positions himself behind the door; Maddalena opens it, then runs to close the big door under the archway while Gilda enters. Sparafucile closes the door behind her and the rest is darkness and silence.) (Rigoletto comes down the road alone, wrapped in his cloak. The violence of the storm has abated, now there is only the occasional thunderclap and flash of lightning.) RIGOLETTO At last the moment of vengeance is at hand! For thirty days I have waited, weeping tears of blood behind my fool’s mask. This door... (examining the house) is closed!...ah, it is not yet time! I shall wait. What a night of mystery! A tempest above, a murder below! Oh, how big I feel now! (The clock chimes twelve.) Midnight! SPARAFUCILE (coming out of the house) Who’s there? RIGOLETTO (about to enter) It is I. SPARAFUCILE Wait. (He goes into the house and returns with the sack.) Here is your man, dead. RIGOLETTO Oh joy!...A light! SPARAFUCILE A light? No, the gold! (Rigoletto gives him a purse.) Let’s throw him into the river quickly... RIGOLETTO No, I can do it alone. SPARAFUCILE As you wish. This is not a good place. Further on the stream is deeper. Quick, so that no one sees you. Goodnight. (He goes back into the house.) RIGOLETTO He’s in there!...Dead! Oh, but I must see him! But what’s the use?...It’s him all right! I can feel his spurs! Now look upon me, O world! Here is a buffoon, and this is a mighty prince! He lies at my feet! It’s him! Oh joy! At last you are avenged, O grief! Let the river be his tomb, a sack his winding sheet! To the river! To the river! (He is about to drag the sack towards the river, when he hears, to his amazement, the voice of the Duke in the distance.) DUKE Women are as fickle, etc. RIGOLETTO His voice!...This is a trick of the darkness! (drawing back in terror) No!...No! This is he!... (shouting towards the house) Damnation! Hola!...You devil of a bandit! (He cuts open the sack.) Who can this be, here in his stead? (lightning) I tremble...It’s a human body! My daughter!...O God!...My daughter! Ah, no, it cannot be! She has left for Verona! (kneeling) It was a spectre...It is she! Oh, my Gilda, child, answer me! Tell me the murderer’s name! Holà...Is no one there? (knocking desperately at the door) No one!... (returning to Gilda) My daughter? My Gilda?...Oh, my daughter! GILDA Who calls me? RIGOLETTO She speaks!... She moves!... She is alive! Oh, God! Ah, my only joy on earth... look at me...say who I am... GILDA Ah, my father! RIGOLETTO I’m mystified!...What happened?... Are you wounded? Tell me... GILDA (pointing to her heart) The dagger wounded me here. RIGOLETTO Who struck you? GILDA I deceived you...I was guilty... I loved him too much...now I die for him! RIGOLETTO (to himself) Great God in heaven! She was struck by the bolt that I, in righteous vengeance, loosed! (to Gilda) Beloved angel! Look at me, listen to me! Speak, speak to me, dearest child. GILDA Let me be silent! Forgive me, and him. Bless your daughter, O my father – in heaven above, near my mother, I shall pray for you evermore. RIGOLETTO Do not die, my treasure, have pity! Oh, my dove, you must not leave me! GILDA In heaven above, etc. RIGOLETTO Oh my daughter! No, you must not leave me, do not die. If you go away, I shall be alone! Do not die, or I shall die beside you! GILDA No more...Forgive him. My father...Farewell! In heaven above, etc. RIGOLETTO Oh my daughter, my Gilda! No, you must not leave me, do not die! (She dies.) RIGOLETTO Gilda! My Gilda! She is dead! Ah, the curse! (Tearing his hair in anguish, he falls senseless upon his daughter’s body.) END |
| libretto by Dale McAdoo, 1956, revised 1989 |