Calendar   |   Special Packages  |   Products  |   Donations & Membership  |   Gift Cards  |   My Account  |   Shopping Cart
Cannot access this performance because it occurred in the past: 5/27/16, 7:30 PM.
The selected performance is NOT available for sale.
Please Select Tickets
You have selected:
Amore Opera: Rigoletto
Friday, May 27, 2016 at 7:30PM

Loreto Theater
18 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012


Rigoletto, composed by Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, is a tragic tale of a deformed court jester who wants nothing more than to protect his virtuous daughter from a licentious duke who seduces her. Verdi’s famous masterwork leads us on a chilling whirlwind of revenge that has entranced audiences since its first performance. Premiered in 1851, Giuseppe Verdi‘s Rigoletto is based on Victor Hugo‘s Le roi s’amuse (The King amuses himself) which was immediately forbidden following its world premiere in 1832 in Paris. Verdi was mindful that this choice of topic for a new opera was destined to be censured, but completed his composition with hardly an alternation to Victor Hugo’s original drama with the exception of changning the names and the locale.

Rigoletto’s tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester, Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter, Gilda. The opera's original title, La Maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices her life to save him from the assassins hired by her father.

Special "Opera-In Brief" performances on May 21 and May 28 for children and families.