A Victor Hugo play, haunting and scandalous, provided the inspiration for Verdi’s mid-career masterpiece. A vengeful but misguided court jester strives to save his daughter from a duke’s licentious clutches, but can't part with the feeling that a curse looms over all of his actions. In Rigoletto, the composer introduces several of his most iconic arias and duets—as well as an 11th-hour quartet that counts among the finest moments in opera.

• Deutsche Grammophon
• The Metropolitan Opera
• Cornell MacNeil
• Ileana Cotrubas
• Justino Díaz
• Plácido Domingo
• Isola Jones
• Ariel Bybee
• John Cheek
• Philip Booth