La donna è mobile
"La donna è mobile" ("Woman is fickle") is the cynical Duke of Mantua's canzone from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1851). The inherent irony, of course, is that it is the callous playboy Duke himself who is mobile. Its reprise in the last act is chilling, as Rigoletto realizes from the sound of the Duke's lively voice coming from within the tavern (offstage), that the body in the sack over which he has grimly triumphed is not that of the Duke after all: Rigoletto had paid Sparafucile, an assassin, to kill the Duke but Sparafucile deceived him by killing Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter, instead. The aria is famous as a showcase for tenors. It has been recorded by Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Diego Flórez, Jussi Björling and hundreds of others. The song can be found on many record labels, including ASV, Naxos Records, Nimbus Records, Parlophone, and Victor.
Before this song's first public performance (in Venice), it was rehearsed under very tight secrecy: a necessary precaution, because it proved to be very catchy and within a day or two after its first public performance every gondolier in Venice was singing it.
The music
The almost comical-sounding theme of La donna è mobile is introduced immediately, and runs as illustrated (transposed from the original key of B major). The theme is repeated several times in the approximately two minutes it takes to perform the aria, but with the important -- and obvious -- omission of the last measure. This has the effect of driving the music forward as it creates the impression of being incomplete and unresolved, which it is, having left off not on the tonic or dominant but on the submediant. Once the Duke has finished singing, however, the theme is once again repeated; but this time including the last, and conclusive, measure and finally resolving to the tonic.
Libretto
Original Italian
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English translation
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Alternative translation
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La donna è mobile Refrain È sempre misero Refrain |
Woman is flighty Refrain Always miserable Refrain |
Woman is flighty, (or fickle or erratic) Always miserable, (or wretched) |
Media
In Popular Culture
- In the 2000 film The Family Man, Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) gets dressed and heads out to work while singing this song.
- In an episode of M*A*S*H, BJ Hunnicutt sings his own version of the song while in the shower.
- In the 2004 movie The Punisher, a fight scene between Thomas Jane (the Punisher) and "The Russian" occurs while the song plays and his apartment neighbors sing and dance to the song.
- The first verse of the song is featured in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.
- In the South Park episode "Quintuplets 2000", Kenny sings the canzone while making money for his singing training in Europe.
- In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy", the holographic doctor sings the first verse while daydreaming that he is in recital for the crew. He "improvises" humorous lyrics to the canzone to trick Tuvok, who is experiencing pon farr, into receiving a medicinal sedative.
- In Chekhov's 'Three Sisters' Doctor Chebutykin sings snippets throughout.
- In the video game Grand Theft Auto III this song can be heard on the Double Cleff FM radio station.
- In the Futurama episode " The 30% Iron Chef", Elzar makes a working pastry replica of downtown Venice. In the model a shrimp rows a gondola down a canal singing the song.
- In the The Simpsons episode The Last of the Red Hat Mamas Lisa sings the song with new lyrics.
- In the Disney animated feature Aristocats, the elderly lawyer, Georges, dances at the beginning while humming the song's tune.
- In the 1999 remake of "My Favorite Martian," Martin the Martian sings the song while in a hot tub.
- West Ham United F.C.: one of the supporters' songs praising striker Paulo di Canio was set to the song's tune.
- Aston Villa F.C.: one of the supporters' songs praising Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is set to the song's tune.
- Heart of Midlothian F.C.: one of the supporters' songs praising owner Vladimir Romanov is set to the song's tune.
- The Hall Song of Chancellor Hall, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Jamaica, is set to the song's tune.
- Elaine sings the song in an episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Maestro".
- In an episode of "Figure it Out — Family Style" (1998–1999), a contestant with the secret "Self Taught Opera Soloist," sings the song as his featured song upon the panel figuring his secret out, while his father helped him out.
- In "Queer as Folk", Season 3, Ted gets a job as a singing waiter and is embarrassed when his friends show up at the restaurant as he is singing this song.
- In an episode of Dark Angel, a tall prisoner sings this song in the yard to distract the guards while Max escapes.
- In the film Hannibal Brooks, Oliver Reed (Brooks) distracts German soldiers by drunkenly singing 'Der Schnapps ist gut, mein Herr' to this melody, in order to make his escape.