Verdi's Rigoletto

Inspired by Victor Hugo's Le Roi s'amuse and based on a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, Verdi's great operatic masterpiece Rigoletto was originally commissioned by Venice's La Fenice and then premiered to enormous success in 1851. Set in long-ago 16th century Mantova, the opera weaves a musical tale of a complex and compelling human tragedy, its timelessness attested to by the work's undying popularity. At the helm of this production are  Alain Guingal and the internationally renowned stage director Charles Roubaud.

Rigoletto, jester to the playboy Duke of Mantua, wants to protect his daughter Gilda from the dangers of a courtly world he knows only too well. But the jester has been cursed for having mockingly disregarded Count Monterone's quest for justice after the Duke's rape of his own daughter. The curse soon begins its work: Rigoletto's daughter has fallen in love with the disguised Duke of Mantua himself, and when Rigoletto discovers the affair, his own quest for vengeance leads to the realization of the curse through his daughter's ultimate sacrifice...

English subtitles will only be available on replay.

Photo: © Philippe Gromelle Orange