Rigoletto

San Diego Opera brings Verdi's Rigoletto to the Civic Theatre for three performances: Friday, Oct 23 and Saturday, Oct 24 at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, Oct 25 at 2:00 PM. It's conducted by Yves Abel and directed by Christopher Mattaliano.

If you've never seen it, Rigoletto is one of the big ones—it ranks among the top ten most-produced operas in the world. It's the first part of what's known as Verdi's trilogy, followed by Il Trovatore and La traviata in 1853. San Diego Opera first staged it back in October 1968, so this is a return to a title they've done before. The story comes from Victor Hugo's 1832 play Le roi s'amuse, which was so incendiary the government banned it for fifty years. Verdi renamed the jester Triboulet 'Rigoletto' and worked under the title La maledizione ('The Curse'). The character was inspired by the real-life court jester Triboulet, born Nicolas Ferrial in 1479, who legend says chose to die of old age rather than be executed. Verdi refused to make him handsome, insisting his outward deformity was essential to the role.

Two of the opera's most famous moments are in the second half. 'La donna è mobile' in Act Three was so catchy that Verdi only handed it to his tenor in the final rehearsals; it's still one of the most recognized tunes in opera, used in films, TV, and ads. Then there's the Act Three quartet 'Bella figlia dell'amore,' which pits four characters and four incompatible emotional states against each other at the same time.

Michael Chioldi takes the title role of Rigoletto, with Madison Leonard as Gilda and José Simerilla Romero as the Duke. The rest of the cast includes Peixin Chen as Sparafucile, Guadalupe Paz as Maddalena, Joel Balzun as Count Monterone, Søren Pedersen as Marullo, Adam Caughey as Matteo Borsa, Travis Sherwood as Count Ceprano, Emily Weinberg as Giovanna, Maya Goell as Countess Ceprano, and Lisa Parente as a Page. The production runs Friday, Oct 23 and Saturday, Oct 24 at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, Oct 25 at 2:00 PM at the Civic Theatre.