Rigoletto returns to the Bolshoi Theater

Verdi's opera Rigoletto after a 25-year break returns to the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater. The production on the new stage was carried out by Canadian director Robert Karsen.

A series of premiere shows will be held on December 14, 16–21, TASS reports. The theater’s press service reported that tickets for the entire premiere cycle were completely sold out.

In 1859, the Bolshoi Theater was the first in Russia to present the opera Rigoletto on his stage. Since then, it has been placed there 11 times and remained in the repertoire until 1989.

The new production became the fruit of the collective efforts of the opera festival in ex-en-provence and four large European opera houses-the Rhine opera in Strasbourg, the de la Montne Theater in Brussels, the Bolshoi Theater of Geneva and the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.

Robert Karsen worked in many European theaters, made more than ten performances in the Paris National Opera. His debut at the Bolshoi Theater will be Rigoletto.

The director said that he “occurred to him to transfer the action to the circus, the atmosphere of which will allow the main character - the jester (or clown) of Rigoletto to always be in the center of events. <...> Besides, the circus is just the place where we meet with a grotesque, with frightening things, with oddities, irony, so the decision to put the "Rigoletto" in the circus seemed faithful to me. "

Evelino Pido became the conductor of the performance, theatrical artists of Mirun and Ray Boruzescu worked on the design of Rigoletto.

The invited soloists of the Bolshoi Theater Dimitrios Tilyakos and Valery Alekseev will perform in the title party. In the party of the Duke - young singers Fabrizio Paesano (Italy), Sergey Romanovsky and artist of the youth opera program of Gabta Pavel Valuzhin. Gimadeeva, the invited soloist Nina Minasyan, as well as those who are studying in the youth opera program of Bolshoi, Kristina Mkhitaryan and Ann-Katrin Zhille, sing to Gilda.