Deutsche Oper Berlin
Rigoletto
Opera
Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin
Giuseppe Verdi
Description
In Italian with German and English surtitles
In his opera about the hunchbacked court jester, Verdi took the tension between the improbabilities of the plot and the emotional overwhelming power of musical theatre to extremes. Jan Bosse's production tells the tragedy of a man who fails to separate private life and public action ...
"From a purely theatrical point of view I consider "Rigoletto" to be the best story that I've set to music so far […]. It has really powerful scenes, temperament, pathos, a lot of variety." (Verdi to Antonio Somma, 22.4.1853)
In listing the attributes of his 1851 melodrama, adapted from Victor Hugo's hit play "Le roi s'amuse", Verdi is also describing the challenges that any production of this opera must rise to. RIGOLETTO is a masterpiece whose charm lies precisely in the confrontation between psychological portraiture and the unlikely turns of a fantastical tale, a tale that is half tragedy, half romantic horror story. For better or worse, despite his grotesque physique, the hunchbacked jester-hero has to get his audience laughing. His daughter Gilda seems angelic by contrast - and yet human through and through in her unconditional love and self-sacrifice. This blend of realism and the fantastic makes the RIGOLETTO material a worthy challenge for the great directors. Following on from Hans Neuenfels' successful 20-year run with the work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Jan Bosse is now grasping the nettle. Since turning to musical theatre in recent years [ORFEO, LA CALISTO] the feted theatre director now delivers not only his first Verdi but also his first work for a Berlin opera house.
In his opera about the hunchbacked court jester, Verdi took the tension between the improbabilities of the plot and the emotional overwhelming power of musical theatre to extremes. Jan Bosse's production tells the tragedy of a man who fails to separate private life and public action ...
"From a purely theatrical point of view I consider "Rigoletto" to be the best story that I've set to music so far […]. It has really powerful scenes, temperament, pathos, a lot of variety." (Verdi to Antonio Somma, 22.4.1853)
In listing the attributes of his 1851 melodrama, adapted from Victor Hugo's hit play "Le roi s'amuse", Verdi is also describing the challenges that any production of this opera must rise to. RIGOLETTO is a masterpiece whose charm lies precisely in the confrontation between psychological portraiture and the unlikely turns of a fantastical tale, a tale that is half tragedy, half romantic horror story. For better or worse, despite his grotesque physique, the hunchbacked jester-hero has to get his audience laughing. His daughter Gilda seems angelic by contrast - and yet human through and through in her unconditional love and self-sacrifice. This blend of realism and the fantastic makes the RIGOLETTO material a worthy challenge for the great directors. Following on from Hans Neuenfels' successful 20-year run with the work at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Jan Bosse is now grasping the nettle. Since turning to musical theatre in recent years [ORFEO, LA CALISTO] the feted theatre director now delivers not only his first Verdi but also his first work for a Berlin opera house.
Dates
Deutsche Oper Berlin
Bismarckstraße 35, 10627 Berlin-Charlottenburg
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