RIGOLETTO, ONE of Verdi’s most popular operas, is being performed at The Royal Opera House Live, in Covent Garden, London, and is being broadcast live to The Eye Cinema, Wellpark, next week.
Giuseppe Verdi based Rigoletto on Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amuse. He had to overcome state censorship to stage it – there were objections to its depiction of an immoral ruler – but he was vindicated by the première’s huge success in 1851.
David McVicar’s production highlights the cruelty at the heart of the court of Mantua. Richly dressed courtiers engage in orgies and revelries to Verdi’s heady, spirited, dances. The opera’s many musical highlights include the ebullient ‘La donna è mobile’, in which the Duke boasts of his disregard for women, and Gilda’s duets with Rigoletto and the Duke.
Rigoletto is at The Eye on Tuesday January 16 at 7.15pm. For bookings see www.eyecinema.ie or call 091 - 780078.
