Verdi's seventeenth opera belongs to a Romantic current that can be called 'mask enchantment'. The 'philosophy of the mask' as set out in Rigoletto (and its dramatic prototype, Hugo's The King Plays) can be reduced to the assumption that the mask is an attribute endowed with extraordinary powers and that an individual who can use it with finesse can provide invaluable benefits.

The fact that the title character, a court jester, is defeated at the end is no inconsistency. The clown who hides his identity is simply unlucky, because on his way he simply encountered someone (the Duke of Mantua) who wielded the same weapon even more skillfully.

Director: Gilbert Deflo

Cast: Ho-Yoon Chung as the Duke of Mantua, Jorge Lagunes as Rigoletto, Aleksandra Kubas-Kruk as Gilda, Łukasz Konieczny as Sparafucile, Anna Bernacka as Maddalena, Iurie Maimescu as Count Monterone, Krzysztof Szmyt as Borsa, Bożena Bujnicka as Countess Ceprano.

Author: Francesco Maria Piave
Translation: Jan Chęcinski
Date of release: 1997-03-12
Genre: opera
Set design: Ezio Frigerio
Music: Andriy Yurkevych
Light: Stanisław Zięba
Choreography: Zofia Rudnicka
Costumes: Franca Squarciapino
Duration: 180 min