Rigoletto
May 5, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.
May 7, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.
H-E-B PERFORMANCE HALL
TOBIN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Overview
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Premiere Date: Teatro La Fenice, Venice, May 1851
Librettist: Francesco Piave after Victor Hugo’s play “Le roi s’amuse”
Verdi's Rigoletto has often been called the greatest of all operas. Filled with famous arias, it is also a powerful drama about a flawed father's love. Rigoletto, the Duke's joker, has always willingly gone along with the Duke's abuses of power--until his own daughter falls victim to the Duke's charms.
Performed in Italian with English supertitles.
This production of Rigoletto is a co-production of Boston Lyric Opera, The Atlanta Opera, and Opera Omaha.
Synopsis
The Duke of Mantua is a menace.
Rigoletto believes he has kept his daughter Gilda from harm, but the Duke finds a way (in disguise) to seduce her. The court has no sympathy, and Rigoletto feels powerless, unable to protect his daughter’s virtue. However, his angry quest for revenge has tragic consequences: Gilda truly loves her seducer and is willing to die in his place.