Saturday 16 February 2013 at 18.00 GMT on BBC radio 3
Rigoletto live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York
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Piotr Beczala performs as The Duke during the final dress rehearsal of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto
Photocredit: Mary Altaffer/AP
Radio 3′s Verdi 200 celebrations continue with a live performance from the Met of one of Verdi’s most popular works, Rigoletto.
Verdi and his librettist Piave based the work on a drama by Victor Hugo which had been banned after just one performance. The problem was that it showed a king as immoral and as a womaniser. In Piave’s libretto the king was changed to a duke who ruled over Mantua. This placated the censors and eventually the premiere went ahead at La Fenice in Venice. It was a great success with the Duke’s aria La donna e mobile an immediate hit. It also contains one of the most heartfelt father daughter relationships in all of Verdi’s work, between the court jester Rigoletto and Gilda.
This new production by Michael Mayer sets the action in Las Vegas in 1960 and stars the Serbian baritone Zeljko Lucic in the title role with German soprano Diana Damrau as Gilda and the Polish tenor Piotr Beczala as the Duke.
BBC iPlayer time expired
Rigoletto….. Zeljko Lucic (baritone)
Gilda….. Diana Damrau (soprano)
Duke of Mantua….. Piotr Beczala (tenor)
Sparafucile….. Stefan Kocan (bass)
Maddalena….. Oksana Volkova (mezzo-soprano)
Giovanna…… Edyta Kulczak (mezzo-soprano)
Count Ceprano…..David Crawford (bass)
Countess Ceprano…..Emalie Savoy (mezzo-soprano)
Matteo Borsa…..Alexander Lewis (tenor)
Count Monterone…..Robert Pomakov (baritone)
Marullo…..Jeff Mattsey (baritone)
A Court Usher…..Earle Patriarco (bass)
A Page…..Catherine Choi (mezzo-soprano)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera, New York
Michele Mariotti, conductor.
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- Duration: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- “Briskly entertaining, richly sung” (New York Magazine)
“An entertaining, bold rendition” (Associated Press).
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I saw the HD broadcast and thought the Vegas production was quite effective. I was really shaken up at the end (and I know how it ends!). Also, Diana Damrau was absolutely spellbinding. I was glad I went.
Glad you had a good time – these HD performances are a Really Good Idea. Have you seen the schedule for 2013/14?
Well. I don’t know that it was a “good” time exactly, you know what I mean? It’s a brutal story.
I did indeed see the HD schedule and already have it in my calendar. Renee on Feb 8, hooray!