Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on Victor Hugo's drama Le Roi s'amuse ("The King enjoys himself.") With Il trovatore (1853) and La traviata (1853) it forms Verdi's so-called "popular trilogy." Centered on the dramatic and original figure of a court jester, Rigoletto was initially subjected to Austrian censorship. The same fate had befallen the original drama Le Roi s'amuse in 1832, which was blocked by censorship and revived only 50 years after its premiere. In Hugo's play, which neither the public nor the critics liked, the debauchery of the French court was in fact described in no uncertain terms, with the libertinism of Francis I, King of France, at its center. The compromise was reached in the opera to have the action take place at the court of Mantua, which no longer existed at that time, turning the king of France into the duke of Mantua. On June 3, 1850 Verdi wrote to Piave: "As for the title when one cannot keep Le roi s'amuse, which would be nice...the title must necessarily be La maledizione di Vallier, that is, to be shorter La maledizione. The whole subject is in that curse that also becomes moral. An unhappy father mourning the honor taken away from his daughter, mocked by a court jester whom the father curses, and this curse seizes the jester in a frightful way, seems to me moral and great, to the supreme great." The final decision on the title fell on the protagonist's name, changing it from Triboletto, a "literal" translation of the original Triboulet, to Rigoletto (from the French rigoler, meaning to joke). An intense drama of passion, betrayal, filial love and revenge, Rigoletto not only offers a combination of melodic richness and dramatic power, but also lucidly highlights social tensions and the subordinate condition of women in a reality in which nineteenth-century audiences could easily mirror themselves.[senza fonte] Musically we have, right from the prelude, the constant repetition of the theme of the curse, through the repetition of the note C in double dotted rhythm. Director's Notes Rigoletto, a hunchbacked court jester, desperately tries to keep his daughter Gilda's existence a secret from the courtiers, many of whom wish to take revenge on him for his cruel mockery. Gilda, unaware of the pitfalls of the world around her, has fallen in love with the frivolous and inconstant Duke of Mantua, believing him to be a poor student. The Duke, with cunning and deception, broke into Rigoletto's house to passionately court Gilda, exploiting her innocence and naiveté. Later, the Duke's courtiers kidnap Gilda, believing her to be Rigoletto's lover, and bring her to court. Gilda, seduced and betrayed by the Duke, falls into despair, while Rigoletto, consumed by anger and grief, vows to take revenge for the wrong he has suffered. To this end, he hires a hitman, Sparafucile, to kill the Duke. However, in a tragic twist, Gilda, still in love with