Charles Wright Middle School Students Attend “Rigoletto” at the Seattle Opera

Last month, 10 Charles Wright Middle School students, all of whom are studying French, and three faculty members traveled to the Seattle Opera to attend “Rigoletto,” an opera written by Verdi based on the play “Le Roi S’Amuse" (“The King Has Fun”) by Victor Hugo. Attending the performance was part of the culture-credit projects that are integrated into the Tacoma private school's Middle School world languages curriculum. Below, two students reflect on their experience:

Ann ’18: What I looked forward to most about “Rigoletto” was the different characters and how the dialogue would fit in with the plot of the opera. I was also looking forward to seeing if I could follow along with it, but I understood it well.

The biggest surprise for me is when tragedy strikes in the end and someone dies—only it was a spoiler because the theater handed out a summary of the whole story. For the experience of being in the theater, I was surprised that they would have subtitles, which I found to be very useful, as well as the paper explaining the whole plot.

The story is explained through poetic dialogue and shown through each of the character's different experiences. I liked the dialogue the most because it was so theatrical and poetic. My favorite part was probably the singing, which was very beautiful, and expressing emotions of the character even though it was in Italian.

My favorite aspect of the culture credit is that we get to pick what we want to present. That way we can find our own topics or experiences that appeal to us and [study] something we are interested in learning. I get to learn more about the culture of the language I speak. Whether it’s traditional dishes, popular songs, historical moments or even a cultural experience such as an opera, I think it will become very helpful when I visit France, one of my goals.

Sarah ’19: I saw “Rigoletto” for my cultural experience. “Rigoletto” is the story of the duke, his court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda. There is a curse placed on both the duke and Rigoletto by a man named Monterone, whose daughter had been seduced by the duke with Rigoletto's help and encouragement. The curse starts when Gilda falls in love with the duke, who tells her he is a poor student and that he is in love with her. At the end of the play, Gilda gives her life to save the duke from the assassin named Sparafucile hired by her father.

I looked forward to seeing the opera because it was a chance to expand my area of what I have seen. I have seen a lot of symphonies and plays, but this was the two of them combined.

Even though it was in Italian, it was quite understandable. The actors were singing in Italian opera, but the way they acted it out was very explanatory of what they were saying. The opera itself was beautiful and impressive. The costumes were very simple but played the part, although in the beginning, at the party, women were wearing dresses of all colors that had some sort of sparkle or feathers. The singers’ voices were absolutely beautiful. It is truly amazing that they can project their voices that loudly. I had a little bit of trouble following the story, but after I read the summary of the acts during intermission, it all started to make sense.

What surprised me was the ending. I knew the opera was a tragedy, but I did not think it would go so far as to kill off one of the main characters. But, while Gilda was dying, she asked her father for forgiveness and all was mended.

My favorite part of the play was when Gilda was telling her maid about the mysterious man, the duke, looking at her in church. Gilda was so happy to tell someone. That was important because Gilda was never allowed out of the house except to go to church. She did not even know her father’s name. Gilda had never had much human socialization, so it was good for her to meet someone new.

From watching “Rigoletto,” I learned that Europe is a land of many languages and many cultures. The cultures are similar, and stories from one European culture easily translate from one country or culture to another. In other words, even though this opera was based on a French book and sung in Italian, it still exhibited an experience that people from many cultures could understand.