Music Director: Arvo Volmer Conductor: Arvo Volmer/ Jüri Alperten Stage Director: Neeme Kuningas Designer: Kustav-Agu Püüman Lighting Designer: Neeme Jõe
Sung in Italian with subtitles in Estonian and English Approx. running time 2 h 20 min, one intermission
Verdi’s opera is based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse. The opera retells of the court jester Rigoletto who is disliked for his scornful wit. Inside, Rigoletto is a loving father, who tries to bring up his daughter Gilda by protecting her from all evil of the world.
In Rigoletto two opera traditions meet – the traditional world of arias and the new world of continuous flow of music that leads to Wagner’s idea of music drama. The latter is supported by the fact that Verdi wrote an opera, which is almost entirely composed of duets and that lacks the accustomed grand finales, letting the dramatic action develop without interruption. The opera is composed at a very difficult time for Verdi. In a few years he lost his two children and his wife. Due to his tragic experience, the plot of the opera moved him thoroughly and gave the opera exceptional musical depth. Since its premiere in 1851, the opera has been followed by great success and it is the first of his famous "popular triad" – Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853) and La Traviata (1853). It has been 40 years since Rigoletto was staged in the Estonian National Opera. The title role was sung by the unforgettable Georg Ots and Tiit Kuusik.
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