Rigoletto is a tragic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (see Verdi, Giuseppe). The libretto (text), in Italian, by the Italian writer Francesco Maria Piave, was based on the play Le Roi s'amuse (The King Is Amused) by the French author Victor Hugo. Rigoletto was first performed at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Italy, on March 11, 1851, and has become one of the most popular works in the entire opera repertoire.