Video Description
La Donna e Mobile from Verdi's Rigoletto performed by Pavarotti.
Source: YouTube.
La donna e mobile
"La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle") is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto
(1851). The inherent irony, of course, is that it is the callous playboy
Duke himself who is mobile ("inconstant").
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice
in Venice on March 11, 1851. Source:
Wikipedia,
Rigoletto.
Le roi s'amuse
Le roi s'amuse (translated into English as "The King's Fool") is a play written by Victor Hugo in 1832. While it depicts the escapades of Francis I of France, censors of the time believed that it also contained insulting references to King Louis-Philippe and banned it after one performance.
Giuseppe Verdi
Verdi (1813 - 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture - such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La traviata and Triumphal March from Aida.
Source:
Wikipedia, Verdi.
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (called a libretto) and musical score.
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