Cortigiani, vil razza dannata (Rigoletto)

Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse had been banned in France after a single performance, and the Austrian censors in Venice called Verdi's proposed setting an example of repugnant immorality. The compromise reached in January 1851 moved the action to Mantua and renamed the jester Rigoletto. The premiere at La Fenice followed on 11 March. Verdi withheld La donna è mobile from the tenor until hours before the curtain and made him promise not to whistle it in the street; by the next morning Venice was singing it. The balance of court cynicism, a father's fear and street melody was new, and disquieting.