A free Rigoletto on New Year’s Day

On the first day of 2023 Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, will broadcast  Rigoletto.   The production by Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie of Verdi’s opera confronts the two faces of Rigoletto: that of the loving father-monster who locks up his daughter from the very first scene, and his alter ego, the modern-day buffoon. While the latter, like a comedian alone on stage, sneers at power and the elite, the former reveals his darkest fears and persecution complex. You are invited to witness the public entertainer’s last laugh in this lyrical masterpiece where fiction and reality end up merging. Marie-Eve Signeyrole directs the irresistible threesome of the court jester, his daughter and the duke. Roderick Cox, winner of the 2018 Georg Solti Conducting Prize, presides over the Chorus and Orchestra national Montpellier Occitanie.  Singers are Gezim Myshketa as Rigoletto, Julia Muzychenko as Gilda, Rame Lahaj as Duke of Mantua.

The Plot:  When a sharp-tongued court jester Rigoletto is cursed for his spiteful words, he is forced to hide his unworldly daughter Gilda from his own licentious master the Duke. For Verdi’s wonderful ambivalent hunchback, paradise is the peaceful home and family that he struggles to protect.