CHAPTER 40
Multimedia Hits: Verdi and Italian Romantic Opera
OVERVIEW
In this chapter, we cast Verdi and the popular leading sopranos of the day to illustrate the
intersection of commercial appeal and serious art in Italian operas of the nineteenth century. This
blend of art and pop is documented in Verdi’s masterpiece Rigoletto.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the popular success of women singers in Italian opera of the Romantic
nineteenth century
2. To understand Verdi’s operatic success within the context of the Italian bel canto tradition
3. To recognize Rigoletto as an exemplary model of Verdi’s commercial and artistic success as
an opera composer
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Introduce students to the “Swedish Nightingale,” Jenny Lind, who made a highly successful
tour of the United States in 1850–52, organized by the promoter and impresario P. T.
Barnum. Barnum published his recollections of the tour in 1873, noting, among other
things, the money he made from Jenny Lind–themed merchandise (see P. T. Barnum,
Struggles and Triumphs; or, Forty Years’ Recollections [Buffalo, NY: Warren and Johnson,
1873], pp. 270–354). A popular staple of Lind’s repertory was “Casta diva” from Bellini’s
Norma, perhaps the most famous bel canto aria of all time. Play a recording of “Casta diva,”
noting the hallmarks of the bel canto style, and emphasizing the importance of Lind’s bel
canto repertory in her rise to fame.
2. Ask the class for four volunteers to read the libretto of the quartet from Act III of Rigoletto.
Space the readers so that the Duke and Maddalena are separated from Rigoletto and Gilda,
and ask the class to imagine a wall with a window separating the two couples. After the
script reading, listen to or watch the quartet, asking students to notice how the music
transforms the effect of the libretto. What musical cues and gestures does Verdi employ to
bring this scene to life?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. As the textbook notes, Italian opera was both social commentary and political persuasion
for audiences in the nineteenth century. What social and political issues emerge from the
story of Rigoletto?
2. Jenny Lind was one of many women singers who embraced both the popular/vernacular and
serious/cultivated music of their day, incorporating into their performing repertory songs
and arias from both traditions. Can you think of any singers or artists today who also
embrace both serious and popular styles? Do you think that the split between “serious” and
“popular” is so severe that it alienates certain crossover artists from their audiences? Or do
you think it increases their appeal among fans?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
A challenge in teaching this chapter is providing enough background to the characters, libretto,
and score of Rigoletto so that the excerpts from the culminating final act deliver an impact as
moving as students would experience if they had seen the entire opera unfold. In addition to
clarifying the details of the libretto, you may also want to play brief aria excerpts from key
scenes before and after those covered in the textbook (e.g., “Caro nome” from Act I,
“Cortigiani!” and “Tutte le feste al tempio” from Act II, and the final return of the curse scene
that concludes the opera).
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
Verdi: Il trovatore, La traviata
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Balthazar, Scott L., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Verdi. Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2004. A collection of essays on the life of Verdi and the
reception of his music. In Chapter 3 (“Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento”),
Mary Ann Smart elaborates on the contemporary political and aesthetic dimensions of
Verdi’s music.
Barnum, P. T. Struggles and Triumphs; or, Forty Years’ Recollections. Buffalo, NY: Warren and
Johnson, 1873. Barnum published his recollections of the tour in 1873, noting, among other
things, the money he made from Jenny Lind–themed merchandise (pp. 270–354).
Rosselli, John. Singers of Italian Opera. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press,
1992. Rosselli examines the occupation of opera singer since the seventeenth century.
Chapter 3 (“Women”) focuses on the careers of women opera performers, including the
leading singers of the nineteenth century.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Multimedia Hits: Verdi and Italian Romantic Opera (Chapter 40)
I. Nineteenth-Century Opera Saturated Culture
A. Opera arrangements marketed
1. home: piano four-hands
2. public: wind band medleys
3. music became economically and socially popular
4. emotional reinforcement to political messages
II. Women and Nineteenth-Century Opera
A. “Natural” female voices preferred
1. women opera singers prominent performers
2. in demand, Europe and the Americas
3. Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano, international star
a. operatic roles, concert artist
b. 1850 American debut: sang operatic arias and parlor ballads
III. Verdi and Italian Opera
A. Opera seria and opera buffa: continued into 19th century
1. bel canto style (beautiful singing)
a. florid melodic lines, great agility, purity of tone
b. masterpieces by Gioachino Rossini
B. Giuseppi Verdi (1813–1901)
1. Italian opera composer
2. tragic loss of daughter, baby son, and wife (1838–40)
3. later married Giuseppina Strepponi, Italian operatic soprano
4. composed during Italian liberation from Austrian Hapsburg rule
a. music associated with patriot cause, national hero
b. served one term in Italian Senate
5. Shakespeare: favorite literary source
6. music marketed, commercially successful
7. founded, left fortune to Casa Verdi (home for aged musicians)
8. style: appealing melodies, intense dramatic situations
9. output: 28 operas spanning entire career, vocal music, Requiem Mass
C. Rigoletto
1. inspired by French Romantic play by Victor Hugo
2. profound emotion: lechery, deceit, treachery
3. setting: Renaissance-era ducal court at Mantua
4. main characters
a. Duke: womanizer
b. Rigoletto: hunchbacked jester
c. Gilda: Rigoletto’s daughter, kept in seclusion
d. Sparafucile: assassin
e. Maddalena: Sparafucile’s sister
5. plot summary
a. curse put on Rigoletto for making light of the Duke’s seductions
b. Gilda becomes the Duke’s next conquest
c. Rigoletto plots to kill the Duke
d. the Duke woos Maddalena
e. Duke’s immorality revealed to Gilda
f. Gilda sacrifices herself for the Duke
g. Gilda dies in her father’s arms: fulfillment of the curse
6. immediate success; one of most performed operas today
D. Listening Guide 29: Verdi, Rigoletto, Act III, excerpts (1851)
1. Aria: “La donna è mobile” (“Woman is fickle”), sung by the Duke
a. strophic aria with refrain
b. lilting triple-meter, some rubato
c. orchestra: guitarlike strumming
d. soaring tenor line
e. broad, contrasting dynamics
2. Quartet (first part): “Un dì,” (“One day”), sung by the Duke, Maddalena, Gilda, and
Rigoletto
a. Allegro, agitated movement
b. each character reveals his/her emotion
i. Duke: bel canto-style melody
ii. Maddalena: laughing line, short notes
iii. Gilda: heartbroken, laments
iv. Rigoletto: swears vengeance for his daughter
3. Quartet (second part): “Bella figlia” (“Beautiful daughter”)
a. A-B-A´-C
b. opening melody sung by the Duke
c. simpler, squarer melody
d. characters interact, then sing together