Questa o quella

LIVE CINEMA RELAY TUESDAY 17 APRIL 2012

In Rigoletto, Verdi charts the fate of his larger-than-life characters -- the tormented jester trying to avenge himself on his heartless playboy employer the Duke of Mantua, who has carelessly seduced Rigoletto's innocent daughter Gilda -- in music of immense theatrical punch and instant memorability. Based on Victor Hugo's controversial play, Le Roi s'amuse, Verdi's 1851 tragedy caused one of his many rows with the censors before its Venetian premiere. Following a few minor compromises, the work triumphed locally, then internationally. The score's most celebrated highlights -- the Duke's 'Questa o quella' and 'La donna e mobile', Gilda's 'Caro nome', and the famous quartet (which Hugo believed actually improved on his play at that point in the action) -- are among the best known set-pieces in all opera. First seen in 2001, David McVicar's production teems with life and colour and, with Tanya McCallin's period costumes and Michael Vale's starkly effective sets, it provides an ideal frame for Verdi's exploration of love, emotional betrayal and the darkest revenge.

Rigoletto: Dimitri Platanias
Marullo: ZhengZhong Zhou
Gilda: Ekaterina Siurina
Count Monterone: Gianfranco Montresor
Duke of Mantua: Vittorio Grigolo
Giovanna: Elizabeth Sikora
Matteo Borsa: Pablo Bemsch
Page: Andrea Hazell
Count Ceprano: Jihoon Kim
Court Usher: Nigel Cliffe
Countess Ceprano: Susana Gaspar
Maddalena: Christine Rice

Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Set design: Michael Vale
Stage Director: David McVicar
Costume designs: Tanya McCallin

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