Rigoletto

Teatro Antico di Taormina’s RIGOLETTO
Giuseppe Verdi | Opera in Three Acts
Sung in Italian | Estimated runtime 140 minutes plus two intermissions

The love between a deformed and ridiculed court jester, Rigoletto, and his daughter Gilda, is pushed to
the limit in Verdi’s dark tale of betrayal and vengeance. In honor of Verdi’s bicentennial, director Enrico
Castiglione sends the audience on a dramatic journey of passionate love and sacrifice, set on the
stunningly beautiful open-air stage in Taormina, Sicily. With a score much loved for such arias as ‘La
donna e mobile’ sung by the womanizing Duke and the virtuosic ‘Caro nome’ performed by the innocent
Gilda, Rigoletto is considered one of the greatest operatic masterpieces.

Performed in Taormina, Italy
CAST
Rigoletto: Carlos Almaguer
Duke of Mantua: Gianluca Terranova
Gilda: Rocio Ignacio
Count Monterone: Gianfranco Montresor
Sparafucile: Emanuele Cordaro
Magdalene: Sofi Koberidze
CREATIVE
Director & Set Designer: Enrico Castiglione
Conductor: Gianluigi Martinenghi
Orchestra: Sinfonica Bellini
Chorus Lirico Siciliano
Francesco Costa Choir Master
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata

Synopsis:
During a ball at the palace of the Duke of Mantua, the hunchback jester Rigoletto derides the courtiers
whose women have been seduced by the Duke. When Count Monterone appeals to the Duke for the
return of his daughter, Rigoletto mocks Monterone most severely, whereupon the Count calls down a
curse upon the jester.
On arriving home, the overly protective Rigoletto warns his daughter Gilda to stay inside. Unbeknownst
to him, Gilda has fallen in love with a handsome young man she encountered in the street; she does not
know that the young man, who has told her he is a student, is the Duke in disguise. The scorned courtiers
from the ball arrive; thinking Gilda is Rigoletto’s mistress, they kidnap her. On learning what has
happened, Rigoletto is distraught and remembers Monterone’s curse.

The Duke is delighted to learn that the abducted Gilda has been brought to his bedroom. Rigoletto,
arriving to see that his daughter has been ravished by the Duke, swears vengeance.Lured by the sister of the assassin Sparafucile, in the hire of Rigoletto, the Duke is at a remote inn.

Rigoletto brings Gilda there, hoping to convince her that he is not a man of honor. He sends her home to
change into men’s clothing for her flight to Verona. Infatuated with the Duke, Sparafucile’s sister
Magdalene begs her brother to spare him and, instead, murder Rigoletto.

He refuses, but agrees that if anyone else arrives at the inn, he will murder them instead. Returning in
men’s clothing, Gilda is stabbed and stuffed into a sack, which Rigoletto intends to hurl into the river. As
he prepares to do so, he hears the Duke singing. Wild with terror, he opens the sack to find his daughter,
who with her last breath tells him she will pray for him with her mother in heaven.