Opera by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) in three acts with Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le Roi s'amuse of Victor Hugo. It was released in 1851 and is considered one of the masterpieces of Verdi's career. It is a drama of passion, deceit, love and revenge which has as protagonist Rigoletto, the hunchbacked court jester of the Ducal court of the Italian city Mantuna in the Lombardy region.
