12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 33: Rigoletto – La Donna E Mobile

by Giuseppe Verdi

Performer: Enrico Caruso

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Giuseppe Verdi's 'La Donna è Mobile' (Translation: Woman is Fickle) from the opera Rigoletto. In Rigoletto, an angry mother curses the Duke of Mantua and his court jester, Rigoletto, for wronging her daughter. Rigoletto's lovely daughter, Gilda, loses her life as a result of the curse. In 'La Donna è Mobile,' the Duke of Mantua laments that women are untrustworthy. However, it is the Duke's deceitful treatment of a young woman that drives the plot, leading to tragedy.

Vocabulary

Fickle: Not loyal, sincere, or reliable.
Duke: A high title of nobility; the male holder of a dukedom.
Court Jester: A person in colorful garb and fool's cap who amused a medieval and early modern royal or noble court.
Curse: A prayer or invocation that harm may befall someone.
Strait: A narrow channel of water connecting two larger bodies of water.

Composer

1. After Verdi had composed Aida, he wrote no more operas for sixteen years. Then to the great surprise of all the world he wrote two others, the finest of them all—Othello and Falstaff.
2. Meanwhile he was a farmer. He planted, harvested, helped his tenants, urged them to cultivate the land carefully. He bought all kinds of American farming machinery to show the Italians how to cultivate the ground to best advantage.
3. The great man, who was once a simple little boy, died at the age of 87 in 1901, on January 27, which day is the anniversary of Mozart's birth. Here Verdi is as an older man.

4. All his life long Verdi had succeeded, doing a little more and a little better each year, so that, at the end of his life, he was able to do a truly wonderful thing: namely, to build a home where musicians—who had not succeeded in life—could find a comfortable abiding place in their old age. Here is the Verdi home for aged musicians.

5. In this house are many souvenirs of the great Italian. Here is the tomb of Giuseppe Verdi.

6. Verdi was loved by his fellow countrymen. His music is their joy, and ours, and will so remain for years to come, perhaps forever.
7. The great sculptor, Vincenzo Gemito, has molded wonderful bronze busts of Verdi, which shows us how the little boy of Roncole grew to be a man of world renown. Here is a bust of Verdi located in Italy.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Giuseppe Verdi was born in Roncole, Italy.
• Name the other European countries bordering Italy.
• What is the capital of Italy?
• Recite aloud the names of the seas surrounding Italy.
• Find the Strait of Sicily. What is a strait?

Activity 4: Read Aloud Your Paper About Giuseppe Verdi

• Read your one-page story about Giuseppe Verdi to your family.
• Make any corrections, as needed, after reading the paper aloud.

Review

Question 1

On which great playwright's work are Giuseppe Verdi's operas of Macbeth and Othello based?

1 / 4

Answer 1

Verdi based his operas Macbeth and Othello on the great plays of famed playwright William Shakespeare.

1 / 4

Question 2

What occupation did Giuseppe Verdi have in addition to composing music?

2 / 4

Answer 2

Verdi was also a land owner and farmer.

2 / 4

Question 3

How old was Giuseppe Verdi when he died?

3 / 4

Answer 3

Verdi was 87 when he died in 1901.

3 / 4

Question 4

To what kind charity did Giuseppe Verdi devote his fortune?

4 / 4

Answer 4

Verdi used his fortune to build a home for aged musicians who had not made enough money in life to support themselves in old age.

4 / 4

❮ ❯

1. On which great playwright's work are Giuseppe Verdi's operas of Macbeth and Othello based? Verdi based his operas Macbeth and Othello on the great plays of famed playwright William Shakespeare.
2. What occupation did Giuseppe Verdi have in addition to composing music? Verdi was also a land owner and farmer.
3. How old was Giuseppe Verdi when he died? Verdi was 87 when he died in 1901.
4. To what kind charity did Giuseppe Verdi devote his fortune? Verdi used his fortune to build a home for aged musicians who had not made enough money in life to support themselves in old age.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Giuseppe Verdi - The Story of the Little Boy who Loved the Hand Organ. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1919.

'La Donna E Mobile Rigoletto. (CC0 1.0)' Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Donna_E_Mobile_Rigoletto.ogg. n.p.

'Rigoletto.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'La donna è mobile.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.