Par Alma Torretta
In Bastille two series of performances of Rigoletto, this December and next May-June. The debut at the Paris Opera for the soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and for the Italian conductor Andrea Battistoni.
Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi returns to the Opéra Bastille for a first series of performances from December 1 to 24, 2024 and a second series from May 10 to June 12, 2025 with a different cast of artists. The production is that of German director Claus Guth, created in April 2016, which presents the action as a long flashback during which Rigoletto relives the tragic events which led to the death of his daughter Gilda, to which he contributed quite unintentionally. An expedient which reinforces the tragedy and melancholy of the story, inspired by the play Le Roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo.
A paradoxical character, Rigoletto is both a deformed jester, serving the Duke of Mantua in his attempts of seduction, and the incarnation of paternal love towards his daughter Gilda. Through the richness of its contrasts, the theme of the curse and its unforgettable arias, the opera created at La Fenice in Venice in 1851 became the first of Verdi's great popular successes alongside Trouvère and La Traviata.
In December, the Orchestra will be led by Swiss-Venezuelan conductor Domingo Hindoyan, principal director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021, who will make his debut at the Paris Opera, just like the Italian soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and the Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan as the Duke of Mantua. Rigoletto will be performed by Russian baritone Roman Burdenko, Sparafucile by Low Georgian Goderdzi Janelidze and Maddalena by mezzo-soprano Aude Extrémo
The second series of Rigoletto performances will see the pit debut of Italian conductor Andrea Battistoni, recently appointed artistic director of the Teatro Regio in Turin. On stage the title role will be performed by the Georgian baritone George Gagnidze, Gilda by the Slovak soprano Slávka Zamecníková, the Duke of Mantua by the Russian tenor Dmitry Korchak, Sparafucile by Alexander Tsymbalyuk. Maddalena by Justina Gringyté.
MELODRAMA IN THREE ACTS AND FOUR TABLES (1851) Music: Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave after Victor Hugo, Le roi s'amuse
Direction Claus Guth Sets and costumes Christian Schmidt Lights Olaf Winter Video Andi A. Müller Choreography Teresa Rotemberg Dramaturgy Konrad Kuhn Orchestra and Choir of the Paris National Opera
