Rigoletto by Verdi, So. 26 Feb. 2023, Ab (2023/2023), Unter der Regie von Yuri Alexandrov, Natalya Chernikova, Tatyana Karpacheva, Dirigat Alexander Goikhman, Maxim Valkov, Hermitage Theatre, Sankt Petersburg, Russland

Verdi considered the plot of "Rigoletto", borrowed from Hugo's drama "The King Amuses", the best of all he put to music. For the first time in the history of the genre, the hero of the opera was an old hunchback - a court jester, a hypocrite, embittered at the whole world. He ruthlessly takes revenge on everyone who does not have a hump on his back. The director offered the public a new version of the psychological drama, according to which the court jester is not at all a hunchback, but a caustic, intelligent, evil and not at all an old man. The hump and mask are just a jester's guise, which he puts on only at the duke's court. However, moral ugliness cannot be thrown off like a mask. An extraordinary person, forced to endure constant humiliation, he entertains himself with intrigues, willingly takes part in the dirty amusements of his master and his entourage. Fate punishes Rigoletto for cruelty, turning his daughter Gilda into a murderer. Luxurious, exquisite costumes seem to immerse the viewer in a historical atmosphere. It seems that the characters of the performance, dressed in expensive fabrics and whimsical masks, seem to have descended from the canvases of old masters. The performance is very solid, with details thought out to the smallest detail, and simply beautiful. And the acting and excellent musical performance correspond to the idea of ​​the composer himself - the creator of the genre of musical drama.