Verdi's Rigoletto: First Love, Wrong Love
b'You\\u2019ve probably been there: in love for the first time and enchanted by the very sound of your sweetheart\\u2019s name. The problem for Gilda in Verdi\\u2019s Rigoletto is that her new love isn\\u2019t who he says he is. The worst will come (it\\u2019s opera), but for a few brief moments in Act I, Gilda\\u2019s innocence sweeps you away. She\\u2019s young and head over heels and obsessing over the \\u201ccaro nome,\\u201d the \\u201cdear name\\u201d of her new love.\\xa0 \\nIn this episode, host Rhiannon Giddens is joined by soprano Nadine Sierra, writer Paul Thomason and psychologist Carl Pickhardt. Together they consider the dizzying thrill of your first love, Verdi\\u2019s brilliant powers of orchestration and why Gilda\\u2019s infatuation rings so true even today. You\\u2019ll hear Nadine Sierra reminisce about her own formative experiences and then fall in love with the so-called \\u201cGualtier Mald\\xe8\\u201d onstage at the Metropolitan Opera.'