Rigoletto

• Opera

The hunchbacked court jester Rigoletto, never at a loss for a joke at the expense of others, is in the service of the Duke of Mantua. His only happiness in life is his daughter Gilda. When Rigoletto has to witness how she succumbs to the calculating vows of love of the unscrupulous Duke, he seeks revenge: the assassin Sparafucile is to kill the seducer. But Gilda sacrifices herself for her lover. Rigoletto realizes that he has driven his daughter to her death and destroyed his own life.

Since Rigoletto first appeared on the opera stage in Venice in 1851, his fate has moved audiences at opera houses. Giuseppe Verdi, however, brought the piece, with its melodies that are still omnipresent today, to world fame - a piece without any heroes: And so Rigoletto, a cynic and lovesick father, joins the broad range of Verdi characters who are on the fringes of society and who previously had no voice in the art of opera.

Directed by: Andreas Homoki
Set design and costumes: Wolfgang Gussmann
Light: Manfred Voss

premiere on October 16, 1994