Michael Mayer’s Las Vegas-themed production of Verdi’s Rigoletto returns to the Met April 26

Michael Mayer’s Las Vegas-themed production of Verdi’s Rigoletto returns to the Met April 26

• Rosa Feola makes her anticipated Met debut as Gilda
• Matthew Polenzani and Stephen Costello share the role of the Duke, while George Gagnidze stars as Rigoletto
• Nicola Luisotti leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in one of Verdi’s most famous scores

New York, NY (April 26, 2019)—Michael Mayer’s 2013 production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, returns to the Met on April 26, with conductor Nicola Luisotti leading an all-star cast. Rosa Feola makes her Met debut as Gilda, Matthew Polenzani and Stephen Costello sing the Duke, George Gagnidze returns as Rigoletto, Ramona Zaharia continues in her debut season at the Met as Maddalena, and Dimitry Ivashchenko reprises his portrayal of Sparafucile.

This is Mayer’s third Met production of the 2018–19 season; earlier in the season, he directed the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie and a new production of Verdi’s La Traviata.

Rigoletto Radio Broadcast

The May 1 performance of Rigoletto will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on Sirius XM Channel 75.

Rigoletto Artist Biographies

Italian soprano Rosa Feola makes her Met debut as Gilda, a role she has previously sung at Bavarian State Opera. She has been seen as Lauretta in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at Bavarian State Opera, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasqualeat La Scala, and Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.This season, she sings Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème at Bavarian State Opera, Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore at La Scala, and Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo in Rome.

Romanian mezzo-soprano Ramona Zaharia made her Met debut as Maddalena earlier in the season. She has been seen in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen at Latvian National Opera, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, and Federica in Verdi’s Luisa Miller at Hamburg State Opera.This season, she sings Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo and Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold in Düsseldorf.

American tenor Matthew Polenzani has previously sung the Duke at the Met in the 2012–13 season. He has sung more than 360 performances with the company since his debut in 1997 as Boyar in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Other Met roles include Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo, Ferrando in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte, the title character in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and role debuts as Nadir in the Met new production of Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles and in the title role of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux. Also this season at the Met, he sings Vaudémont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta and the title role of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

American tenor Stephen Costello has previously sung the role of the Duke at the Met in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons. He made his Met debut in 2007 as Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor; other roles for the company include Camille de Rosillon in Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Lord Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, and Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. He has appeared at many of the world’s leading opera houses and music festivals, including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Salzburg Festival. This season, he also sings Alfredo in the Met’s new production of Verdi’s La Traviata.

Georgian baritone George Gagnidze alsoreprises Rigoletto, the role in which he made his Met debut in 2009. His other Met performances have included Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca, the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth, Shaklovity in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina, and Tonio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Earlier this season, he was seen as Michele in Il Tabarro in Puccini’s Il Trittico at the Met.

Russian bass Dimitry Ivashchenko made his Met debut as Sparafucile in 2015, a role he had previously sung at Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Munich State Opera, and Komische Oper Berlin. Recent performances include Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Oroveso in Bellini’s Norma at Canadian Opera Company, and Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and Theater an der Wien.

Italian conductor Nicola Luisotti made his Met debut conducting Puccini’s Tosca in 2006,and since then has conducted Verdi’s La Traviata, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and Puccini’s La Bohème and La Fanciulla del West with the company. This season, he also led performances of Verdi’s Aida and will conduct performances of the Met’s new production of La Traviata. From 2009–2018, he was music director of San Francisco Opera, and he has also conducted at La Scala, Teatro Fenice in Venice, Bavarian State Opera, Dresden State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Seattle Opera, LA Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

For More Information

For further details on Rigoletto, including casting by date, click here.

Rigoletto

Music by Giuseppe Verdi

Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave

Friday, April 26 at 8:00 p.m.

Wednesday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 4 at 11:00 a.m.

Friday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.

*Met debut                                            

Production a gift of the Hermione Foundation, Laura Sloate, Trustee;

and Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Montrone

For prices and ticket information, please call (212) 362-6000 or visit metopera.org. Special rates for groups of 10 or more are available by calling (212) 341-5410 or visiting metopera.org/groups.