Giuseppe Verdi’s 1851 opera Rigoletto returns this month to with Ioan Hotea as the duke, Ionut Pascu as Rigoletto, Hila Fahima as Gilda, Mariano Buccino as Sparafucile, and Maya Lahyani as Maddalena. “Verdi was a genius,” Lahyani told The Jerusalem Post, “and in this opera, there is plenty of irony, social criticism, and truth in the sense that everybody needs to make a living.” “Each character takes itself seriously,” she added.
This means that when her character suggests to Sparafucile not to murder the duke, but kill Rigoletto instead and rob him, the brother is livid. “Do you think I’m a bandit? I am a murderer! Not a thief!” Similarly, Rigoletto is genuinely hurt when Count Monterone (Changdai Park) curses him. Rigoletto, an invalid, is simply earning a living in the duke’s service.
In his eyes, and others, he is not a member of the ruling class. This is painfully clear in “Cortigiani Vil Razza Dannata” (Courtiers, vile damned race) when he weeps for mercy and is met with contempt. “Rigoletto thinks that if he puts on a mask, he is safe,” Fahima said.
“As she understands him, if he could quit being a fool and live with Gilda in the house he keeps her in forever, that would be ideal.” The duke’s two famous arias in this opera, “Questa o Quella” (This Woman or Another) and “La Donna è Mobile” (Woman is Fickle) offer a glimpse into the soul of a self-centered man who is truly in love with women, in general, not any specific one .
