Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi

opera in three acts

libretto Francesco Maria Piave
based on a play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo
sung in Italian with Polish surtitles
conductor GABRIEL CHMURA
director MARCIN BORTKIEWICZ
set designer, light designer PAWEŁ DOBRZYCKI
costume designer DOROTA ROQUEPLO
choreographer IWONA RUNOWSKA
chorus master MARIUSZ OTTO
assistant conductor ADI BAR
assistant director ANDRZEJ OGÓRKIEWICZ

“The curse!” – the last words of Rigoletto, the court jester and an affectionate father, whose affair with power ends in a loss of his beloved daughter – are the best summary of Verdi’s hit. Although the critics doubted the success of the piece, the composer was convinced that it was his best opera, where musical advantages harmonize with the dramatic course of action.

Poznań’s production brought together renowned opera artists: Dorota Roqueplo (costume design), Paweł Dobrzycki (set design), and director Marcin Bortkiewicz. Bortkiewicz’s passport to Rigoletto was his film Walpurgis Night with the phenomenal role of Małgorzata Zajączkowska as an opera diva at the end of her career. Bortkiewicz enriched his production with elements of film noir, connecting the frivolity of court games with the hidden life of the Duke’s castle, buzzing with intrigue.