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Rigoletto -
Rigoletto: Opera in the Crypt
Rigoletto: Opera in the Crypt
Vienna, Peterskirche — Krypta
About the Event
Verdi's Rigoletto in an intense chamber version: the great solos and duets, such as “La donna e mobile”, fascinate with their close proximity to the artists. The result is an exchange of energy that has a lasting effect. The characters and contexts become clearer in this slightly more stripped‐back version and reveal intense facets.
Leah Manning was the shooting star of the 2021 Salzburg Festival with live broadcast on 3Sat. Florian Pejrimovsky, Sergio Tallo‐Torres and Max Sahliger have been Viennese audience favorites for years. New to the team is Eli Our with her fascinating full mezzo‐soprano.
With exquisite, original piano accompaniment, “Rigoletto” sounds as Giuseppe Verdi himself first presented his work — pure and direct. The old vaults of the crypt provide the ideal setting.
Established as the smallest opera theater in Austria, the performances in the KRYPTA captivate with their intensity and high quality. Located deep beneath Vienna's St. Peter's Church, the historic hall offers a personal experience like no other theater.
The KRYPTA is pleasantly warm at any time of year.
Plot
Act 1
The Duke of Mantua has fallen in love with a beautiful stranger in church. To pass the time, he tries to seduce the Countess Ceprano, whereupon Rigoletto, his court jester, mocks her husband. He swears revenge. Rigoletto suggests to the Duke that he should get rid of the Count in order to have a clear path to the Countess. The courtiers also swear revenge on Rigoletto.
When the Count of Monterone, whose daughter has been dishonored by the Duke, demands an account from him, he is rejected and mocked by Rigoletto. Monterone curses them both and is imprisoned.
Disturbed by the curse, Rigoletto hurries home to look after his beautiful daughter Gilda. On the way, he meets the murderer Sparafucile, who offers him his services. Just in case, he asks where he can find him.
When he arrives, Gilda asks him about her origins. But he does not even mention his name, saying that “father” will have to suffice. Rigoletto forbids her to leave the house except to go to church and returns to the Duke's palace.
The Duke, however, had followed him and recognizes Gilda as the unknown beauty from the church. Disguised as a student, he introduces himself to her and declares his love. Meanwhile, the courtiers prepare to kidnap Gilda in front of the house in revenge on Rigoletto.
The courtiers, who believe Gilda to be Rigoletto's mistress, are already ready to kidnap her with a ladder. When Rigoletto returns, driven by bad feelings, they tell him that they are planning to kidnap Countess Ceprano. Rigoletto agrees to help and is even blindfolded while holding the ladder, which is leaning against his own house. When he hears Gilda's cries for help, he finally understands, but it is too late.
Act 2
At first the Duke reacts angrily to the abduction of his beloved, but when the courtiers tell him that she is already in his bedchamber, he hurries to her.
Rigoletto demands Gilda back from the courtiers, but is only mocked, even when they learn that she is his daughter. When they refuse him access to the duke's chambers, he insults them in a rage.
Gilda then appears from the bedroom and embraces her father. When he realizes that she has not only been abducted, but also dishonoured and fallen in love with the Duke, he swears revenge on the Duke.
Act 3
To prove the Duke's infidelity to Gilda, he takes her to Sparafucile's hideout, a tavern. There, the disguised Duke seeks out Sparafucile's sister Maddalena. Rigoletto sends his daughter, disguised as a man, to Verona to keep her safe and, without giving his name, instructs Sparafucile to murder the Duke and deliver the body to him in a sack at midnight.
Maddalena, however, stands in her brother's way and pleads for her lover's life. Sparafucile wants to fulfill his sister's wish and plans to murder the next man who walks through the door. After all, he has already received part of the payment.
Gilda, who has overheard everything, decides to sacrifice herself for her beloved duke. Disguised as a man, she enters the tavern and is stabbed to death by Sparafucile at the height of a violent thunderstorm.
At midnight on the dot, Rigoletto receives the sack containing the Duke's supposed corpse. But when he hears his voice from afar, he opens the sack and recognizes his dying daughter. Monterone's curse was not on the Duke, but on himself.
Program
- Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto
Cast / Production
Rigoletto Florian Pejrimovsky
Gilda Leah Manning
Herzog von Mantua Sergio Tallo‐Torres
Maddalena Eli Our
SparafucileMax Sahliger
Musical direction Ekaterina Nokkert
Production & Presentation Dorothee Stanglmayr
Address
Peterskirche, Petersplatz, Vienna, Austria — Google Maps
