Rigoletto by Verdi, Sun 13 Oct 2024, From (2024/2024), Directed by Hendrik Müller, Conductor Giuseppe Mentuccia, Simone Di Felice, Opernhaus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Court jester Rigoletto, his daughter Gilda and his master, the Duke of Mantua, inhabit a gloomy world: Protagonists in a story about wounded souls, trying to avoid a tragic end. Rigoletto humiliates people, winding them up against each other and keeping his daughter prisoner in an artificial world. It only took Gilda and the Duke exchanging one glance, to make her guess what love could be. She identifies herself with deceptive freedom and sacrifices her life to save the Duke’s. Based on works by Victor Hugo and dark romantic romanticism, Verdi composed an unbelievably tight, revolutionary score. Director Hendrik Müller didn’t shy away from strong visual and harsh effects in his production, without losing sight of the title figure’s tragic self-destruction.