Edited by Randi Bjornstad

Here’s Rigoletto in a nutshell, as announced by Eugene Opera in advance of its two performances of one of Giuseppe Verdi’s classics:

” … a gripping tale of power, betrayal, and revenge set in the decadent court of Mantua. The story revolves around Rigoletto, a hunchbacked court jester who is both feared and despised for his sharp wit and ruthless tongue. However, beneath his caustic exterior lies a deep love for his daughter, Gilda, whom he keeps hidden from the corrupt world around them.

When Gilda falls victim to the Duke of Mantua’s seductive charms, Rigoletto’s world is shattered. In a desperate bid for vengeance, he hires an assassin to kill the Duke, only to have his plan go tragically awry. The opera’s powerful music, including the famous arias “La donna è mobile” and “Caro nome,” heightens the emotional intensity of this dark and dramatic tale.

For a little more detail, there’s a summary in a tiny volume, The Story of a Hundred Operas, originally copyrighted in 1913 by none other than Felix Mendelsohn and recopyrighted and republished in 1940 by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

The plot

Act 1: The Duke of Mantua, who is accustomed to pursuing every pretty girl he encounters, meets yet another and begins his efforts at conquest. Other nobles already re bitter toward the profligate Duke as well as his jester, Rigoletto, who has a physical disability unkindly referred to “hunchback,” but more scientifically called kyphosis, a forward curvature of the upper back, or thoracic spine, undoubtedly in Verdi’s time (1813-2901) less subject to diagnosis and successful treatment than became available later.

In any case, maybe because of Rigoletto’s habit of mocking them, the nobles decide to get even. One of them believes that the jester has a sweetheart. He does not, but he does have a lovely daughter, Gilda, whom he tries to protect from the worldly ways of the court, partly through the efforts of her maidservant. She assures her father that she only goes out on Sunday, to Mass, but  she what she does not tell him is that she has been attracted to a student whom she has seen there. It turns out the “student” is none other than the Duke himself, and they enter into a clandestine relationship. The nasty nobles, knowing this, tell Rigoletto that they are going to kidnap the Duke’s latest love interest for a joke, and Rigoletto, who enjoys a prank, says he will join them. They all wear masks and set out, ending up in front of Rigoletto’s own house, where they kidnap Gilda.

Act 2: At the Duke’s palace, the courtiers tell him that they have kidnapped the jester’s sweetheart, not knowing that she instead is Rigoletto’s daughter as well as the Duke’s latest conquest. The Duke learns that they have hidden the woman in a room in the palace, and he goes to find her. Then Rigoletto enters, finding Gilda there, and she confesses her duplicity. Angered, Rigoletto declares he will take vengeance on the Duke.

Act 3: Rigoletto and Gilda go to the home of Sparafucile, a professional assassin that Rigoletto has hired to dispatch the Duke, with Gilda dressed as a man in preparation to flee the area after the vengeance has been accomplished. The Duke not only is there also, but he is carrying on a romance with Maddalena, who is Sparafucile’s sister. The Duke leaves the room and Rigoletto tells Gilda to leave at once for Verona. Then he hires Sparafucile to kill the Duke, agreeing that they will meet at midnight with the Duke’s body in a bag.

Rigoletto leaves, but Gilda returns to hear Maddalena begging her brother not to kill the Duke because she loves him. Sparafucile says he will honor her request if a substitute can be found that he can deliver in the bag to Rigoletto. Gilda decides to sacrifice herself to save the Duke, whom she also loves. At midnight, Rigoletto goes to the meeting place and is handed a sack to be thrown into the river. But he opens the sack and finds Gilda, who dies in his arms.

The cast

The Eugene Opera production stars Grant Youngblood (Rigoletto), Véronique Filloux (Gilda), Bernard Holcomb (Duke of Mantia), Ben Brady (Sparafucile), and Erika Rauer, former executive director of Eugene Opera (Maddalena), and vocalists Doremus Scudder, Dylan Bunten, Esteban Zuñiga Calderon, Alyse Jamieson, Daniel Au, Paula Alva, Thomas Gillies, and Grace Vangel.

Rigoletto will be conducted by Andrew Bisantz, with stage direction by Fenlon Lamb, and accompaniment by the Eugene Opera Orchestra.

Eugene Opera’s s Rigoletto

When: 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31; and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 2

Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center for the Performing Arts, 1 Eugene Center (Seventh and Willamette streets), Eugene

Tickets: $26/$36/$42/$52/$58/$68/$74/$84, available from the Hult Center box office, 541-683-5000 or online at eugeneopera.org or hultcenter.org