This tragic masterpiece marked Verdi's breakthrough in 1851. The hunchbacked jester Rigoletto loves his only daughter Gilda deeply and protects her as well as he can. His patron, the Duke of Mantua, however, is infatuated with the pretty girl and does not hesitate when the opportunity arises to spend a night with Gilda. Rigoletto longs for revenge but is deceived: the assassin Sparafucile does not stab the Duke, but Gilda, the girl he so badly sought to protect.