Organization

Singer

Tenor

Benjamin Bernheim

The Duke of Mantua

Saimir Pirgu

José Bros

Baritone

Christopher Maltman

Rigoletto

Markus Brück

Soprano

Olga Peretyatko

Gilda

Aigul Khismatullina

Bass

Grigory Shkarupa

Sparafucile

Liang Li

Contralto

Rinat Shaham

Maddalena

Nino Surguladze

Mezzo-soprano

Laura Vila

Giovanna

Mattia Denti

The Count of Monterone

Michal Partyka

Marullo

Moisés Marín

Matteo Borsa

Stefano Palatchi

The Count of Ceprano

Sara Bañeras

The Countess of Ceprano

Stage director

Monique Wagemakers

Conductor

Daniele Callegari

Lighting designer

Reinier Tweebeeke

Costume designer

Sandy Powell

Set designer

Michael Levine

Chorus master

Conxita Garcia

Dramaturge

Klaus Bertisch

Gran Teatre del Liceu

Teatro Real de Madrid

Others

Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu

Orchestra

Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Chorus of the Lyceum Opera House

Italian

Barcelona

Spain

The opera Rigoletto composed by Giuseppe Verdi and performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu.

When a sharp-tongued court jester Rigoletto is cursed for his spiteful words, he is forced to hide his unworldly daughter Gilda from his own licentious master the Duke. For Verdi’s wonderful ambivalent hunchback, paradise is the peaceful home and family that he struggles to protect.

“Oh! Victor Hugo's Le Roi s’amuse deals with the greatest of themes and is perhaps the most important play of modern times. It's worthy of Shakespeare!” Verdi enthused to his librettist Francesco Maria Piave. The irresistible threesome of the court jester, his daughter and the duke came as a flash of inspiration to the composer. Monique Wagemakers' exuberant production from the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, with its delightful Venetian red costumes, focusses on the themes of ill-treatment, the quest for identity, and the abuse of power over the defenceless, as shown by the Duke's domination of Rigoletto and Rigoletto's domination of his daughter. Precisely the contradictions and conflicts on which the whole extraordinary score rests.

Streamed on OperaVision on 11 March 2022 at 19:00 CET and available until 11 September March 2022: https://operavision.eu/en/library/per...

CAST

Duke of Mantua: Saimir Pirgu
Rigoletto: Markus Brück
Gilda: Aigul Khismatullina
Sparafucile: Liang Li
Maddalena: Nino Surguladze
Giovanna: Laura Vila
Count Monterone: Mattia Denti
Marullo: Michal Partyka
Matteo Borsa: Moisés Marín
Count Ceprano: Stefano Palatchi
Countess Ceprano: Sara Bañeras
Page boy: Marta Polo
Chorus: Chorus of Gran Teatre del Liceu
Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra of Gran Teatre del Liceu
 
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Text: Francesco Maria Piave, based on the play 'Le roi s'amuse' by Victor Hugo
Conductor: Daniele Callegari
Director: Monique Wagemakers
Set Designer: Michael Levine
Costume Designer: Sandy Powell
Lighting Designer: Reinier Tweebeeke, revival: Cor van den Brink
Chorus Master: Pablo Assante
Dramaturg: Klaus Bertisch
Stage director assistants: Silke Meier, Salva Bolta
Musical director assistant: Rodrigo de Vera

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Production booklet

Further reading