Verdi's Rigoletto Quartet

Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto Quartet (Bella figlia dell’amore; Beautiful daughter of love) is a scene from the final act of his opera Rigoletto. It involves the four main characters of the opera. Franz Liszt composed a piano version called Rigoletto Paraphrase (S.434).

The Italian libretto for Rigoletto was written by Francesco Maria Piave, and is based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. First performed in 1851, Rigoletto is the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career.

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer known primarily for his operas. With Richard Wagner, Verdi is considered by many to be the most influential opera-composer of the nineteenth century. Some of his themes have taken root in popular culture: La donna è mobile from Rigoletto, Libiamo ne' lieti calici (The Drinking Song) from La traviata, Va, pensiero (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, Coro di zingari from Il trovatore, and the Grand March from Aida. Many of his operas, especially the ones from 1851 onwards, are staples of the standard repertoire. With the possible exception of Giacomo Puccini, no composer of Italian opera has matched Verdi's popularity. His funeral-mass Messa da Requiem is a powerful, and sometimes terrifying, masterpiece.