Thrilling new production of Verdi's Rigoletto

Director Oliver Mears makes his Royal Opera debut with a ‘thrilling new production’ (The Times ★★★★), with Antonio Pappano conducting an outstanding cast.

Verdi’s epic masterpiece shines in this new production from The Royal Opera. Rigoletto is the sharp-tongued jester to the serial womaniser, the Duke of Mantua. But when the Duke turns his seductive ways towards Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda, the jester learns that he is powerless to protect her. What follows is an epic tale of deceit, revenge and, above all, love.

Director Oliver Mears makes his Royal Opera debut with his ‘thrilling new production’ (The Times ★★★★), which frames Verdi’s masterpiece as a modern morality play, pitting power against innocence in a decadent world of corruption and social decay. Antonio Pappano conducts an outstanding cast that includes an ‘utterly compelling’ Carlos Álvarez in the title role, Lisette Oropesa as ‘a matchless Gilda’ (The Guardian ★★★★) and tenor Liparit Avetisyan as the Duke of Mantua.

“Oropesa is a matchless Gilda in powerful new take on Verdi’s tragedy... a powerful piece of theatre, strong on Shakespearean resonances and irony: we’re reminded more than once that Rigoletto is the closest we get to the King Lear that Verdi always said he wanted to write but never did…” (The Guardian ★★★★)

Recording location The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Production year 2021
Stage Director Oliver Mears
Camera Peter Jones
Audio format Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 + DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (DVD) / LPCM 2.0 + DTS-HD Master Audio Surround (Blu-ray)
Sets Simon Lima Holdsworth
Light Design Fabiana Piccoli
Distribution DVD Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd
Distribution VOD Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd
Soloist Carlos Álvarez
Soloist Liparit Avetisyan
Soloist Lisette Oropesa
Soloist Brindley Sherratt
Conductor Antonio Pappano