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
CAST
Rigoletto JERZY MECHLIŃSKI, DARIO SOLARI
Książę Mantui PIOTR FRIEBE, MARCO KIM
Gilda ALEKSANDRA KUBAS-KRUK, MAŁGORZATA OLEJNICZAK-WOROBIEJ
Sparafucile SZYMON KOBYLIŃSKI, RAFAŁ KORPIK
Maddalena ADA BER, MAGDALENA WILCZYŃSKA-GOŚ
Monterone DAMIAN KONIECZEK
Marullo TOMASZ MAZUR, JAROMIR TRAFANKOWSKI
Borsa KAROL BOCHAŃSKI, BARTŁOMIEJ SZCZESZEK
Hrabia Ceprano MARCIN HUTEK
Hrabina Cepreno BARBARA GUTAJ-MONOWID, NATALIA PUCZNIEWSKA-BRAUN
Giovana OLGA MAROSZEK
Paź KATARZYNA JABŁOŃSKA
Strażnik PIOTR BRÓŹDZIAK, ROMUALD PIECHOCKI
Poznan Opera House choir, ballet and orchestra
“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.
