Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi

Experience Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto" in an exceptionally intense chamber version that offers a fresh perspective on opera. In close proximity to the performers, legendary arias and duets like "La donna è mobile" unfold with captivating power. This intimacy creates a palpable exchange of energy – direct, emotional, and profoundly moving.

The deliberately reduced, dramatically sharpened version allows characters and relationships to emerge more clearly and reveals new, fascinating facets of this masterpiece.

With Leah Manning, shooting star of the Salzburg Festival 2021 (live broadcast on 3Sat), as well as the Viennese audience favorites Eli Our, Florian Pejrimovsky, Sergio Tallo-Torres and Max Sahliger, a top-class ensemble is on stage. 

Accompanied by an exquisite, original piano arrangement, "Rigoletto" sounds as Verdi originally presented his work: pure, immediate, and of great emotional power. The centuries-old vaults of the crypt provide a unique, atmospherically rich setting.

As Austria's smallest opera house, OPER in der KRYPTA stands for exceptional intensity and the highest quality. Deep beneath St. Peter's Church in Vienna, you'll experience opera as personally, intimately, and powerfully as in almost no other place. An operatic experience that gets under your skin.

The crypt is pleasantly cool at any time of year.

Action: 

Act 1

The Duke of Mantua has fallen in love with a beautiful stranger in the church. To pass the time, he tries to seduce Countess Ceprano, whereupon Rigoletto, his court jester, mocks her husband. The husband swears revenge. Rigoletto suggests to the Duke that he get rid of the Count to have free access to the Countess. At this, the courtiers also swear revenge on Rigoletto. 

When Count Monterone, whose daughter was dishonored by the Duke, demands an accounting, he is rebuffed and mocked by Rigoletto. Monterone curses them both and is arrested. 

Worried, Rigoletto hurries home to see his beautiful daughter Gilda. On the way, he encounters the murderer Sparafucile, who offers him his services. Just in case, he asks Sparafucile where he can find him. 

Upon arriving, Gilda again questions him about her origins. But he doesn't even give his name; "Father" must suffice. Rigoletto forbids her from leaving the house except to attend church and returns to the Duke's palace. 

However, he had followed him and recognized Gilda as the unknown beauty from the church. Disguised, he introduced himself as a student and declared his love for her. Meanwhile, the courtiers, seeking revenge, prepared to abduct Gilda in front of the house. When they were discovered, the Duke disappeared. 

The courtiers, mistaking Gilda for Rigoletto's lover, are already prepared to abduct her with a ladder. When Rigoletto returns, driven by unease, they explain that they intend to abduct Countess Ceprano. They blindfold Rigoletto as he helps them hold the ladder, which, however, is leaning against his own house. When he hears Gilda's cries for help, he finally understands what is happening, but it is too late.

Act 2

At first, the Duke reacts angrily to the abduction of his lover, but when the courtiers explain to him that she is already in his bedchamber, he hurries to her. 

Rigoletto demands Gilda back from the courtiers, but is only mocked, even after they learn that she is his daughter. When they refuse him entry to the Duke's chambers, he curses them in a fit of rage. 

Gilda emerges from the bedroom and embraces her father. When he realizes that she is not only kidnapped but also disgraced and in love with the Duke, he swears revenge on him. 

Act 3

To prove the Duke's infidelity to Gilda, he takes her to Sparafucile's hideout, an inn. There, the disguised Duke seeks out Sparafucile's sister, Maddalena. He sends his daughter, disguised as a man, to Verona for her safety and, without revealing his name, commissions Sparafucile to murder the Duke and deliver the body to him in a sack at midnight. 

Maddalena, however, stands in her brother's way and begs for her lover's life. Sparafucile intends to grant his sister's wish and plans to murder the first man who enters the room. After all, he has already received part of the payment. 

Gilda, who overheard everything, decides to sacrifice herself for the beloved Duke. Disguised as a man, she enters the tavern and is stabbed by Sparafucile at the height of a violent thunderstorm. 

Precisely at midnight, Rigoletto receives the sack containing the supposed corpse of the Duke. When he hears the Duke's voice in the distance, he opens the sack and recognizes his dying daughter. Monterone's curse had struck not the Duke, but himself.

Program and cast

Chamber version 

Starring

Rigoletto:  Florian Pejrimovsky , bass-baritone

Gilda:  Leah Manning , soprano 

Duke of Mantua: Sergio Tallo-Torres , tenor 

Maddalena Eli Our , mezzo-soprano                       

Sparafucile: Max Sahliger , bass-baritone

Musical direction -   Ekaterina Nokkert

Production & Moderation     - Dorothée Stanglmayr