("Parmi veder le lagrime"), in which he laments the loss of Gilda.
Another fine chorus ("Scorrendo uniti remota via") follows, from which
he learns that Gilda is already in the palace. In the fourth scene
Rigoletto has another grand scena ("Cortigiani vil razza dannata"),
which is intensely dramatic, expressing in its musical alternations
the whole gamut of emotions, from the fury of despair to the most
exquisite tenderness of appeal as he pleads with the courtiers to tell
him where his daughter is. In the next scene he discovers her, and the
act closes with a duet between them ("Tutte le feste al tempio"),
which, after a strain of most impassioned tenderness, is interrupted
by the passage of the guards conveying Monterone to prison, and then
closes with a furious outburst of passion from Rigoletto. With the
exception of two numbers, the last act depends for its effect upon the
dramatic situations and the great power of the terrible denouement;
but these two numbers are among the finest Verdi has ever given to the
world. The first is the tenor solo sung in Sparafucile's house in the
second scene by the Duke,--"La donna e mobile," an aria of extreme
elegance and graceful abandon, which is heard again in the last scene,
its lightly tripping measures contrasting strangely with the savage
glee of Rigoletto, so soon to change to wails of despair as he
realizes the full force of the malediction. The second is the great
quartet in the third scene between the Duke, Gilda, Magdalena, and
Rigoletto ("Bella figlia dell' amore"), which stands out as an
inspiration in comparison with the rest of the opera, fine as its
music is. The story itself is almost too repulsive for stage
representation; but in beauty, freshness, originality, and dramatic
expression the music of "Rigoletto" is Verdi's best; and in all this
music the quartet is the masterpiece.