Today I am talking about Opera. I was exposed to it from a very early age, but I truly started to understand and feel Opera after growing up. You need life experience for this. Opera touches the deepest level of my soul and makes me cry every time. Last weekend I was at the Mayflower theatre, Southampton for an amazing production by Welsh National Opera.
Rigoletto is an operatic masterpiece by Giuseppe Verdi based on the play by Victor Hugo. The main heroes are Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda. Originally working title was The Curse and refers to a curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by the Count Monterone, whose daughter the Duke has seduced with Rigoletto’s encouragement. Gilda falls in love with the Duke and sacrifices her life to save him from the assassin hired by her father as a revenge. It is a tragic story of love, passion, betrayal, and karma.
Interesting fact
Anticipating that the Duke’s song La Donna e mobile (Woman is fickle) would become a popular hit, Verdi excluded it from all orchestral rehearsals and forbade anyone to sing or hum the tune before the premier, He was completely correct. By the next morning the tune was heard being sung in the streets and still remains the most well-known melody in Rigoletto.
If you never experienced Opera before, I would highly encourage you to try it. Let me know how you felt about it.
With love , Yana De Lilac
Walking in My Shoes 
Leave a comment