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The Curse Of Monterone In Act 1 Of Rigoletto

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The curse of Monterone At the end of scene 1 of act 1 of Giuseppe Verdi’s famous opera, Rigoletto, the Duke’s hunchbacked court jester (Rigoletto, a baritone) is cursed by Count Monterone (also a baritone); this incident is commonly referred to as the curse of Monterone. The scene goes as follows: the Count of Monterone, furious with the Duke for having seduced his daughter and dishonored his family name, barges into the Duke’s extravagant ball seeking revenge and dramatically changing the mood and tone of the scene. Rigoletto, who is ever eager to remain in favor with the Duke, cruelly mocks the Count (which only serves to further enrage him). Interestingly, instead of putting a booming orchestra underneath the deep voices of the Count and Rigoletto, Verdi instead chose to use violins to indicated the intense nervousness of the situation. The Duke promptly has the Count arrested, and as he is being taken away by the guards the Count turns to Rigoletto and delivers a powerful curse upon him. It is the curse of a father, and Rigoletto, who is a …show more content…

As it is generally understood today, bel canto refers to the Italian-originated vocal style which prevailed throughout most of Europe during the 18th century until about 1840. It originated with the first operas during the Baroque era (early 1700s) and was later revived by Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. During this time, bel canto was a reassertion of the emphasis on the voice as the most important expressive element in opera, in distinct contrast to the other popular operatic vocal styles of the time. The words of bel canto operas can be rather dull, but their open vowels allow singers to create beautiful music that effectively expresses the feelings of the character. The vocal line in bel canto scores calls for soft, rounded notes and great agility in ornamentation and

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