Rigoletto at Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Moniuszko Auditorium

From the famous triptych Rigoletto — La traviata — Il trovatore, the first opera is without a doubt the most attractive theatrically. It is mostly thanks to what served as a basis for the libretto — Victor Hugo’s 1832 drama Le roi s’amuse. That frenetic accusation thrown by the French Romantic against the feudal system in which the rulers for a caprice would trample the dignity and feelings of their subjects, from a theatrical point of view turns out to be a masterful game of masks, disguises both literal and metaphorical.

The shows is designed mostly for those viewers who are not fans of the contemporary Regietheater known for its indulgence when it comes to letting fantasy run wild. Monumental court scenes are contrasted here with an intimate and gradually intensifying drama of the title jester, whose daughter is hurt by his employer, the Duke of Mantua. The final images, immersed in gloomy darkness, are the most harrowing: Rigoletto, certain that he has just killed the hated aristocrat, is shocked when the first words of Duke of Man-tua’s tune reach his ears — the emblematic for Verdi’s score song about women’s fickleness.