Verdi's RIGOLETTO

Showings

Cinema Arts Centre - Cinema 3 Sun, Feb 18, 2018 12:00 PM

Description

The Royal Opera House

Verdi’s RIGOLETTO
Sunday, February 18 at 12 noon
Members $11 | Public $16


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 …

Alexander Joel conducts two excellent casts led by Dimitri Platanias in David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Verdi’s potent and tragic opera. Giuseppe Verdi wrote in 1855 that Rigoletto, based on Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amuse, 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. 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. About 2 hours 58 minutes, including one interval. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.