Once-risque 'Rigoletto' staged
By Li Anlan |
February 21, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
In commemoration of Verdi's 200th anniversary, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will stage the concert opera "Rigoletto" on Sunday at Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
"Rigoletto" was first staged in 1851 in Venice.
The opera, named after a 16th-century court jester Rigoletto, is based on Victor Hugo's play "Le Roi S'amuse" ("The King Amuses Himself"). Like that king, the cynical Italian duke in Mantua dedicates his life to pleasure and seducing one woman after another.
Rigoletto encourages those dalliances but is terrified when a courtier, whose own daughter was seduced, puts a curse on the abettor Rigoletto and his own daughter Gilda, who too is seduced and sacrifices herself to save the duke from assassins hired by her father.
The opera was controversial and risque at the time. It was enormously popular.
"La Donna è Mobile" ("The Woman Is Fickle") is one of the most memorable areas sung by the duke.
The concert opera, presenting key scenes and areas, will be conducted by Zhang Jiemin, one of China's top female conductors. She once was assistant conductor to Zubin Mehta and Michel Plasson. Today she is a conductor-in-residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Rigoletto will be sung by baritone Yuan Chenye, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music. He has performed in opera houses around the United States, including those in San Francisco, and at the Washington National Opera.
Gilda will be performed by soprano Huang Ying. In 2011, she starred in the premiere production of "Madame White Snake," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Music Center and other opera houses.
The Duke of Mantua will be performed by tenor Shi Yijie, and mezzo-soprano Zhu Huiling will take the role as Maddalena, the sister of the assassin Sparafucile.
The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave.
Date: February 24, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong
Tickets: 60-480 yuan
"Rigoletto" was first staged in 1851 in Venice.
The opera, named after a 16th-century court jester Rigoletto, is based on Victor Hugo's play "Le Roi S'amuse" ("The King Amuses Himself"). Like that king, the cynical Italian duke in Mantua dedicates his life to pleasure and seducing one woman after another.
Rigoletto encourages those dalliances but is terrified when a courtier, whose own daughter was seduced, puts a curse on the abettor Rigoletto and his own daughter Gilda, who too is seduced and sacrifices herself to save the duke from assassins hired by her father.
The opera was controversial and risque at the time. It was enormously popular.
"La Donna è Mobile" ("The Woman Is Fickle") is one of the most memorable areas sung by the duke.
The concert opera, presenting key scenes and areas, will be conducted by Zhang Jiemin, one of China's top female conductors. She once was assistant conductor to Zubin Mehta and Michel Plasson. Today she is a conductor-in-residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Rigoletto will be sung by baritone Yuan Chenye, a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music. He has performed in opera houses around the United States, including those in San Francisco, and at the Washington National Opera.
Gilda will be performed by soprano Huang Ying. In 2011, she starred in the premiere production of "Madame White Snake," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Music Center and other opera houses.
The Duke of Mantua will be performed by tenor Shi Yijie, and mezzo-soprano Zhu Huiling will take the role as Maddalena, the sister of the assassin Sparafucile.
The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave.
Date: February 24, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong
Tickets: 60-480 yuan
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