Rigoletto

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First part

Act 1
The Duke of Mantua is throwing a fancy dress party. He tells Matteo Borsa, a courtier, about an unknown young girl he has set his sights on after having observed her at church. Meanwhile he enjoys the company of the beautiful ladies at the party. Tonight, he is particularly attracted by the Countess Ceprano. Rigoletto,the duke’s jester, scorns the husband who fiercely tries to prevent the duke from seducing his wife. Marullo bursts in with the news that Rigoletto, the outcast, has a young and good looking lover. After the duke has failed to separate Count Ceprano from his wife, Rigoletto encourages his master to abduct the Countess.

When he bluntly suggestsexiling or even beheading the count, Ceprano appeals to the other courtiers who rally behind him; they all plot to take revenge on Rigoletto that same night by abducting the girl he is hiding away at his home. The festivities are interrupted by the sudden arrival of Count Monterone denouncing the duke as the seducer of his daughter. Taking the place of the duke, Rigoletto confronts him and mocks him cruelly. Monterone calls down a curse on the duke and his jester. Rigoletto recognises that he has struck himself by ridiculing an outraged father. Rigoletto returns home. An unsettling character approaches him, introducing himself as the professional killer Sparafucile. Rigoletto refuses his services for now, but takes note of his proposition.

At his house, Rigoletto meets his beloved daughter Gilda, whom he keeps concealed from the world leaving her in the custody of a woman named Giovanna. Despite Gilda’s pressing questions, Rigoletto does not fully reveal his own identity and profession to her. However, he tells her about her mother who died after her birth. Before leaving, Rigoletto exhorts Giovanna to guard the young girl well and prevent any contact with whomsoever. But thesupposed watchdog has been bribed by the duke who clandestinely sneaks into the house just as Rigoletto is leaving. Giovanna encourages Gilda to overcome the remorse she is feeling because she did not tell her father about the young man she has met at church and with whom she has fallen in love.

She dreams of him as a poor student not knowing that he is in fact the Duke of Mantua. When he approaches, at first she is terrified. But then she gives in to his declaration of love made under a false name and appearance. Footsteps are heard outside, and Giovanna urges the duke to depart. Alone again, Gilda dreams of the young stranger. Marullo, Borsa, Ceprano and other courtiers appear in order to abduct the woman they believe to be the jester’s mistress. When Rigoletto suddenly returns in the darkness he runs into Marullo, who tricks him into believing they have come to abduct Countess Ceprano and suggests he join them. On the pretext that he needs to be masked, he blindfolds him and gets him to hold a ladder. When Rigoletto, alerted by Gilda’s cries, rips off his mask, it is too late: the conspirators have made off with the young girl. Monterone’s curse has struck.  

 

Second part

Act 2
Next morning: in his palace the duke is worried about Gilda’s fate; the previous night he returned to her home to find it empty. He is happy when he learns from the courtiers that they have abducted the young girl. She is brought to him, and he reveals his true identity to her. Rigoletto tries to entertain the courtiers as usual, at the same time desperately searching for his daughter.

A page of the duchess inadvertently transforms his doubts into certainty: Gilda is with the duke. The jester attacks the courtiers and finally begs them to give him back his daughter. Gilda is returned to her father, and they are left alone. Full of shame, she confesses how the duke gained her confidence and with the involuntary help of the courtiers succeeded in making her his mistress. Rigoletto swears vengeance.
 

Act 3
A month has passed, but Gilda is still in love with the duke. In order to make her understand the true nature of his character, Rigoletto has taken her to Sparafucile’s tavern. He urges his daughter to watch the duke making advances to Sparafucile’s sister, Maddalena, who has served as a decoy to lure him into the trap. Rigoletto asks Gilda to put on men’s clothes and travel to Verona, where he will join her the next day.
 

He then hires Sparafucile who promises to murder his guest whom he does not recognise as the duke since he has come incognito. Rigoletto requires that the corpse be delivered to him and they agree to meet again after midnight. While a storm is breaking and the duke has fallen asleep, Maddalena, seduced by the handsome young man, seeks to persuade her brother to spare him. Sparafucile proposes to kill in his stead the first man who shall knock at their door. Gilda, dressed as a man, has come back and overhears this conversation.

She decides to sacrifice her life for the duke. When Rigoletto comes back, he takes the corpse Sparafucile delivers to him for the duke’s. The jester prides himself on having taken deadly revenge on the mighty man when he suddenly hears his master’s voice. Discovering Gilda, he must learn that he has killed his own daughter: the curse has fully been executed.

 

CHARACTERS

The Duke of Mantua: A cynical libertine and womaniser
Rigoletto: The Duke of Mantua’s jester
Gilda: Rigoletto’s daughter
Sparafucile: Hired killer
Maddalena: Sparafucile’s sister
Giovanna: Rigoletto’s servant
The Count of Monterone: Courtier whose daughter has been seduced by the Duke of Mantua
Marullo: Courtier at the Court of Mantua
Matteo Borsa: Courtier at the Court of Mantua
Le comte de Ceprano: Courtier at the Court of Mantua
La comtesse de Ceprano: Count Ceprano’s wife, wooed by the Duke

Program and cast

Melodramma in three acts (1851)

After Victor Hugo, Le roi s'amuse

 

Creative team

Giuseppe Verdi - Music

Francesco Maria Piave - Libretto

Domingo Hindoyan - Conductor1 > 24 déc.

Andrea Battistoni - Conductor10 mai > 12 juin

Claus Guth - Director

Alessandro Di Stefano - Chorus master1 > 24 déc.

Ching-Lien Wu - Chorus master10 mai > 12 juin

Christian Schmidt - Set design and Costume design

Olaf Winter - Lighting design

Andi A. Müller - Video

Teresa Rotemberg - Choreography

Konrad Kuhn - Dramaturgy

 

Cast

Roman Burdenko - Rigoletto1 > 24 Dec.

George Gagnidze - Rigoletto10 May > 12 June

Rosa Feola - Gilda1 > 24 Dec.

Slávka Zámečníková - Gilda10 May > 12 June

Liparit Avetisyan - Il Duca di Mantova1 > 24 Dec.

Dmitry Korchak - Il Duca di Mantova10 May > 12 June

Goderdzi Janelidze - Sparafucile1 > 24 Dec.

Alexander Tsymbalyuk - Sparafucile10 May > 12 June

Aude Extrémo - Maddalena1 > 24 Dec.

Justina Gringytė - Maddalena10 May > 12 June

Marine Chagnon - Giovanna

Blake Denson - Il Conte di Monterone1 > 24 Dec.

Daniel Giulianini - Il Conte di Monterone10 May > 12 June

Florent Mbia - Marullo

Kevin Punnackal - Matteo Borsa

Teona Todua - La Contessa di Ceprano

Amin Ahangaran - Il Conte di Ceprano

Julien Joguet - Usciere di Corte

Fabio Bellenghi - Usciere di Corte

Henri Bernard Guizirian - Double de Rigoletto

 

The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus

 

Language : Italian

Surtitle : French / English

Duration : 2h45 with 1 interval

Opening

First part - 60 min

Intermission - 30 min

Second part - 75 min

End

Paris Opera Bastille

RM Europa Ticket GmbH is an officially accredited ticket reseller of/by Opera National de Paris.

 

Agency number: 4848428

 

Opéra Bastille


A great modern theatre


The Opéra Bastille is the work of the Canadian-Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, who was chosen in November 1983 after an international competition that attracted entries from some 1,700 architects. The theatre was inaugurated on July 13th 1989.
Its architecture is marked by transparent façades and by the use of identical materials for both the interiors and the exteriors.
With its 2,700 acoustically consistent seats, its unique stage facilities, its integrated scenery, costume and accessory workshops, as well as its numerous work areas and rehearsal rooms, the Opera Bastille is a great modern theatre.
Stage facilities

Orchestra pit, mobile and adjustable, can be covered; at its largest it can house 130 musicians
Main stage, 45 m high, 30 m wide, 25 m deep, made up of 9 elevators allowing several levels to be created and supported by three main elevators, which bring scenery up from below stage
Clearing zones, 4 storage areas with the same dimensions as the stage
Backstage area, with its scenery turntable
Circulation area, scenery temporarily stored between the stage, workshops and rehearsal stage
Rehearsal stage, the Salle Gounod, with its orchestra pit and dimensions identical to those of the main stage

 

The building

Area at ground level: 22,000 m²
Floor area: 160,000 m²
Total height: 80 m (including 30 m below street level)

 

The auditoriums
The main auditorium

Area: 1,200 m², 5% of the total for the building
Dimensions: 20 m high, 32 m deep, 40 m wide
Number of seats: 2,703
Materials: blue granite from Lannelin in Brittany, pearwood from China, glass ceiling

 

The amphitheatre

Area: 700 m²
Depth : 21.4 m
Number of seats : 450
Materials: white breccia marble from Verona, staff ceiling

 

The Studio

Area: 280 m²
Depth: 19,5 m
Number of seats: 237
Materials: white breccia marble from Verona and pearwood

 

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