The tragic tale of a headstrong child and an overprotective father who angers the wrong people is the subject of this week’s Sunday Opera (10/12 3:00 p.m.) in the LA Opera’s production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”
Based on Victor Hugo’s tragic play “Le roi s’amuse” (“The King’s Amusement”), the libretto focuses on the Duke of Mantua’s (Rene Barbera) jester, Rigoletto (Quinn Kelsey), who angers the men of the Duke’s court by mocking the husbands of the women the lascivious Duke is bedding.He even goes so far as to mock Count Monterone (Blake Denson) who has come to the court to avenge his daughter who has been ruined by the Duke, a fate that awaits Rigoletto himself when his daughter Gilda (Lisette Oropesa) disobeys him and falls into the clutches of the ruinous duke with tragic consequences.
Also featured in this cast are Peixin Chen as the hired assassin Sparafucile and Sara Saturnino as his treacherous sister, Maddalena.The cast is rounded out by Madeleine Lyon as Giovanna, Gabrielle Turgeon as Countess Ceprano, Nathan Bowles as Borsa, Hyungjin Son as Marullo, and Vinicius Costa as Count Ceprano.James Conlon leads the LA Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
After the opera, stay tuned for two more pieces about a Jester and a fool.We’ll begin with Eric Coates orchestral “ballet” (that was never staged as such) entitled “The Jester at the Wedding” to be followed Gustav Holst’s one-act opera, “The Perfect Fool” with Richard Golding and Pamela Bowden heading the cast.
