Rigoletto - Royal Opera House London
Longueur: 2h 45 min
RIGOLETTO OPERA IN THREE ACTS
DAVID MCVICAR’S ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF VERDI’S POTENT AND TRAGIC OPERA IS CONDUCTED BY LEXANDER JOEL, WITH AN EXCELLENT CAST LED BY DIMITRI PLATANIAS, LUCY CROWE AND MICHAEL FABIANO
APPROXIMATE RUNNING TIME: 2 HOURS 45 MINUTES, INCLUDING ONE INTERVAL | SUNG IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES
MUSIC GIUSEPPE VERDI DIRECTOR DAVID MCVICAR CONDUCTOR ALEXANDER JOEL RIGOLETTO DIMITRI LATANIAS GILDA LUCY CROWE DUKE OF MANTUA MICHAEL FABIANO
The corruption of innocence is at the heart of Verdi’s potent tragedy in David McVicar’s production for The Royal Opera.
Rigoletto, court jester to the libertine Duke of Mantua, is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims for his irreverent laughter.
When the Duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, it seems the curse is taking effect…
David McVicar’s production highlights the cruelty at the heart of the court of Mantua. Richly dressed courtiers engage in orgies and revelries to Verdi’s heady, spirited dances. The opera’s many musical highlights include the ebullient ‘La donna è mobile’, in which the Duke boasts of his disregard for women; Gilda’s exquisite, plangent duets with Rigoletto and the Duke; and the gorgeous Act III quartet that beautifully weaves the voices together as the story quickens to its shattering conclusion.
Giuseppe Verdi wrote in 1855 that Rigoletto was his ‘best opera’. He had had to overcome state censorship to stage it – the censors objected to its depiction of an immoral ruler – but he was vindicated by the premiere’s huge success in 1851. Rigoletto was performed 250 times in the next 10 years and has remained one of the most popular of all operas.