NEW PRODUCTION

MUSIC
Rigoletto contains a wealth of melody, including one that is among the world’s
most famous: “La donna è mobile.” All the opera’s solos are rich with character
insight and dramatic development. The famous Act III quartet, “Bella figlia
dell’amore,” is an ingenious musical analysis of the diverging reactions of the
four principals in the same moment: the Duke’s music rises with urgency and
impatience, Gilda’s droops with disappointment, Rigoletto’s remains measured
and paternal, while the promiscuous Maddalena is literally all over the place.
In the context of the opera, the merely lovely music becomes inspired drama.

CAST
CONDUCTOR CONDUCTOR

DANIELE KAREL MARK

RUSTIONI CHICHON

GILDA MADDALENA

ROSA VARDUHI
FEOLA ABRAHAMYAN

MADDALENA DUKE OF MANTUA

YULIA PIOTR
MATOCHKINA BECZAŁA

DUKE OF MANTUA TITLE ROLE

STEPHEN QUINN
COSTELLO KELSEY

Rigoletto
SPARAFUCILE SPARAFUCILE

ANDREA ANTE
MASTRONI JERKUNICA

PRODUCTION SET DESIGNER

MAR 31 - JUN 30
BARTLETT SHER MICHAEL YEARGAN

COSTUME DESIGNER LIGHTING DESIGNER

CATHERINE ZUBER DONALD HOLDER Every Sunday at 1pm

647-777-8888 www.theontarioopera.com 243 Opera Street, Toronto, ON M2M 5Z5

Rigoletto
OVERVIEW
T he TOO rings in the new year with
the gala premiere of a bold new
take on Verdi’s timeless tragedy from
Bartlett Sher. The Tony Award­–win-
ning director resets the opera’s action
in 1920s Europe, with Art Deco sets by
Michael Yeargan and elegant costumes
by Catherine Zuber, themselves boasting
a combined eight Tony Awards. Bari-
tone Quinn Kelsey, a commanding artist
at the height of his powers, brings his
searing portrayal of the title role to the
Met for the first time, starring alongside
soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor
Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua,
with leading maestro Daniele Rustioni
on the podium. A second run of perfor-
mances in the spring features soprano
Erin Morley, and tenor Stephen Costello,
conducted by Karel Mark Chichon.
SETTING
WRITER
VICTOR HUGO
V ictor Hugo’s 1832 play
Le Roi s’Amuse, set at
the court of King François I
of France (circa 1520), is a
blatant depiction of depraved
authority.
In adapting it, Verdi and
Piave fought with the Italian
censors and eventually settled
on moving the story to the
non-royal Renaissance court
of Mantua, while holding
firm on the core issues of the
drama. In Bartlett Sher’s new
Met production, the action
unfolds in Weimar Germany
in the 1920s, a time and place
with surprising parallels to the
decadent—and dangerous—
world of the original setting.
CREATORS
COMPOSER
GIUSEPPE VERDI
I n a remarkable career
spanning six decades in
the theater, Giuseppe Verdi
(1813–1901) composed 26
operas, at least half of which
are at the core of today’s
repertoire. His role in
Italy’s cultural and political
development has made him
an icon in his native coun-
try. Francesco Maria Piave
(1810–76), Verdi’s librettist
for Rigoletto, collaborated
with him on ten works, in-
cluding Ernani, La Traviata,
La Forza del Destino, and
the original versions of Mac-
beth and Simon Boccanegra.
PREMIERE
Teatro La Fenice
Venice, 1851
A dramatic journey of
undeniable force,
Rigoletto was immensely
popular from its premiere
and remains fresh and pow-
erful to this day. The story,
based on a controversial
play by Victor Hugo, tells
of an outsider—a hunch-
backed jester—who strug-
gles to balance the dueling
elements of beauty and evil
that exist in his life. Written
during the most fertile
period of Verdi’s artistic
life, the opera resonates
with a universality that is
frequently called Shake-
spearean.