Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901) Rigoletto

Melodramma in three acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria-Piave, after The Prince’s Play by Victor Hugo
Created on 11 March 1851 at the Teatro La Fenice

Musical direction	Gianandrea Noseda
Stage direction	Robert Carsen
Dramaturgy	Ian Burton
Stage design	Radu Boruzescu
Costumes	Miruna Boruzescu
Light design	Robert Carsen and Peter van Praet
Choreography	Philippe Giraudeau

Rigoletto	George Gagnidze
Gilda	Irina Lungu
Il Duca di Mantova	Arturo Chacon Cruz
Sparafucile	Gábor Bretz
Maddalena	Jose Maria Lo Monaco
Giovanna	Michèle Lagrange
Il Conte di Monterone	Arutjun Kotchinian
Borsa	Julien Dran
Marullo	Jean-Luc Ballestra
Il Conte di Ceprano	Maurizio Lo Piccolo*
La Contessa di Ceprano / Paggio	Valeria Tornatore

Chorus	Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir

Orchestra	London Symphony Orchestra

Production / Coproduction
Festival d’Aix-en-Provence new production
In coproduction with the Opéra national du Rhin, La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels, The Moscow Bolshoi Theater and the Grand Théâtre de Genève

Triboulet :
Cursed. Damned. Nature and society combined
Have shaped me with a warped and grudging mind.
Comedy and crippledom have made me bitter.
I’m tired of making titled dim-wits titter.
Even in dreams when I escape
Out of my world I still wake up this shape.
All I’m good for, all my life and worth
Depends on moving men I loathe to mirth.
It’s so humiliating.
Victor Hugo, The Prince’s Play, trans. by Tony Harrison (London: Faber and Faber, 1996)

«What a curse!» It is because court jesters know that life is tragic that they are able to take up this profession. As soon as he is cursed by his outraged father, Rigoletto understands that this malediction will soon or later wreak havoc, whereas his master, the carefree Duke of Mantova, remains totally oblivious to it. It is precisely by trying to avert catastrophe that Rigoletto provokes it. By overprotecting his beloved daughter Gilda from life’s turmoil, he ends up loosing her. Adapting Victor Hugo’s colourful melodrama, Giuseppe Verdi composed one of his greatest masterpieces. Rather than lingering complacently on dark and violent situations, the Italian composer has livened it up with unbridled parties, passionate love declarations and elated duets between father and daughter. Eagerly awaited, Robert Carsen returns this summer to the Festival to stage an opera full of biting humour on which he has never worked before. He will be collaborating with conductor Gianandrea Noseda, one of the torchbearers of the great tradition of Italian maestri devoted to Verdi’s passionate music.

*Former artist of the Académie européenne de musique

Videos

Présentation de Rigoletto

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Information

Venue

Théâtre de l'Archevêché

Dates

On 4, 6, 9, 12, 16, 19, 21, 24 and 26 July 2013 at 9:30pm and on 14 July at 10pm

Prices

Prices: 240€, 190€, 110€, 55€ and 30€

Youth price: 15€

Performance available within the package

Children discovery offer on 21 and 24 July

More prices details

Subscriptions

Benefit from a reduction when choosing one of our value packages: 3 performances on fixed dates.

Value packages can be purchased via internet, telephone and at the box office, subject to availability. This offer cannot be purchased via third-party distributors.

“Découverte enfants”: discovery offer for children

Why not offer the world of opera to a child aged 8 to 18. Receive one free kids’ ticket for the purchase of a regular ticket. This offer is valid for the following performances (subject to availability) :

L’Enfant et les sortilèges every date except the Premiere
Le Nozze di Figaro on July 17 and 25, 2012
David and Jonathas on July 16 and 19, 2012
Written on Skin on July 9 and 11, 2012
La Finta Giardiniera on July 18 and 24, 2012

The reserved tickets are to be collected in presence of the child at the latest 15 minutes before the start of the performance. Tickets can only be collected on presentation of a valid ID. This offer is available only via telephone and at La Boutique.

Offers for people under 30

Operas 15 €, concerts 10 €.

The tickets have to be collected before the start of the performance on presentation of a valid ID.

This offer is only available via telephone or at the box office and is subject to availability. Free Pass for the Académie européenne de musique

Pass for the Académie européenne de musique

The Pass gives free access to all Académie events and entitles to a certain number of reductions. Price: 15 € - Free for people under 30.

Further information: La Boutique du Festival.

Dining at the Grand Saint-Jean

Festival goers have the possibility to dine at the Grand Saint-Jean before the performances. The caterer Potel et Chabot offers a choice of set menus, at a price of 35 €.

Changes may occur. Advance reservation recommended.

Bookings for visitors with restricted mobility

Please let us know about restricted mobility when booking the tickets, and we will do our possible to facilitate your access to the venue.

Contact : cyril.eyriey@festival-aix.com

Tel : 08 20 922 923 (12 cts €/min)

Bookings for visually impaired visitors

With the participation of the non-profit organization Accès Culture, the performance of Le Nozze di Figaro on July 17 2012, offers a simultaneous description of the visual elements via wireless headset. Furthermore, we offer a -25% reduction to the accompanying person (except on 30 € tickets).

Bookings subject to availability.

Contact : cyril.eyriey@festival-aix.com

More information on the packages

2h30 interval included

Performance with an audiodescription on 16 July

Performance in Italian with French and English surtitles