Rigoletto is considered by many to be the great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's first operatic masterpiece. The iconic melodrama boasts an action-packed plot, memorably complex characters, and a hit parade of brilliant music, including the tenor aria "La donna e mobile," Gilda's aria "Caro nome," and the Quartet from Act 4.
The opera's tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices her life to save him from the assassins hired by her father.