Rigoletto

A clown with laughter stuck in his throat, an unscrupulous lover, a contract killer with a warm voice: In Rigoletto, Verdi combines rough farce, abysmal character studies and emotional overwhelming power into a dazzling grotesque about power and vulnerability. Opera is much more than “La donna è mobile”! In his production, Jan Bosse tells the tragedy of a person who fails to separate private life from public action. In his version, the auditorium of the Deutsche Oper Berlin becomes the decadent ducal court of Mantua, the understage a claustrophobic hideaway. There, Rigoletto hides his daughter Gilda from the eyes of the nobles. But in the course of events, the carefully separated roles of the cynical court jester and the meek father waver. In a futile attempt to protect his daughter, Rigoletto suddenly destroys his world — until only an empty stage remains. Kapellmeister Anna Handler, already an audience favorite, conducts her first Verdi production.

Melodrama in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the drama Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo Premiered on March 11, 1851 in Venice Premiere at the Deutsche Oper Berlin on April 21, 2013