RIGOLETTO

The production of Verdi’s masterpiece goes on stage at the Teatro del Maggio, with direction by Davide Livermore, set design by Giò Forma and visuals by D-Wok.

In April 1850, Verdi signed a contract with the Teatro La Fenice in Venice for a new opera. The subject he proposed to librettist Francesco Maria Piave was Le Roi s’amuse, the historical drama by Victor Hugo, performed at the Comédie-Française in 1832 and censored for portraying the monarchy in its worst vices. The choice was risky, and Verdi knew it. In fact, the Venetian censors initially rejected the maestro’s proposal, deeming the subject “repugnantly immoral and obscurely trivial.” What particularly troubled them was the theme of the curse, which for Verdi was the driving force of the entire action and even the first title he had in mind for the opera. After a long debate, a compromise was reached: the setting was changed in both time and place, the King of France was downgraded to the Duke of Mantua, and the opera was named after its protagonist: Rigoletto.

The first title in the so-called “popular trilogy,” Rigoletto premiered successfully on March 11, 1851, marking a decisive turning point in the operatic landscape of the time. For the first time, the lead role was given to a character of humble origins, unhappy and deformed. A man of a tormented personality, Rigoletto was as cynical and ruthless in his role as a jester as he was loving and passionate as a father. Inevitably marked by the curse that haunted him from the opera’s beginning, Rigoletto would lose everything, even his dearest treasure, crushed by the weight of a fate he could not escape.

Conductor: Riccardo Frizza

Chorus Master: Lorenzo Fratini

Director: Davide Livermore

Set Design: Giò Forma

Costumes: Gianluca Falaschi

Lighting: Antonio Castro

Video: D-Wok