Zurich Opera House tickets 26 April 2025 - Rigoletto | GoComGo.com

Rigoletto

Zurich Opera House, Zurich, Switzerland
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Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 40min
Sung in: Italian
Titles in: German,English
Cast
Performers
Conductor: Andrea Sanguineti
Soprano: Brenda Rae (Gilda)
Bass: Brent Michael Smith (Sparafucile)
Tenor: Liparit Avetisyan (Duke of Mantua)
Orchestra: Philharmonia Zürich
Baritone: Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto)
Choir: Zürich Opera Chorus
Creators
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Librettist: Francesco Maria Piave
Director: Tatjana Gürbaca
Overview

Tatjana Gürbaca’s staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s classic Rigoletto is one of the most successful productions to originate under Andreas Homoki’s artistic directorship.

Gürbaca needs only a long table to tell the story of Rigoletto, the court jester, and his locked-away daughter Gilda, complete in all its facets and depths, accentuating the sharp social criticism central to the work. Mantua’s court is a depraved, masculine society, interested only in humiliation and amusement. It’s a world that’s morally broken and void of any sense of values. Here, having fun means debasing and degrading others – and Rigoletto is the most cynical participant of them all. The only ray of light in this darkness is his daughter Gilda, a beacon of meaningful love, who would rather sacrifice herself than let go of her ideals. Her longing for freedom and self-determination is greater than her father’s oppressive authority, or society’s dishonesty.

Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey has portrayed Rigoletto on the world’s great operatic stages. He started that run of international success here in Zurich, ten years ago, with this very production. He’s returned many times to sing this, and many other Verdi roles. At his side as Gilda is ensemble member Sandra Hamaoui.

History
Premiere of this production: 11 March 1851, Teatro La Fenice, Venice

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had control over northern Italian theatres at the time, the opera had a triumphant premiere at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851.

Venue Info

Zurich Opera House - Zurich
Location   Sechseläutenplatz 1

Zürich Opera House is a main opera house in Zürich and Switzerland. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. It is also home to the Zürich Ballet. The Opera House also holds concerts by its Philharmonia orchestra, matinees, Lieder evenings and events for children. The Zürich Opera Ball is organised every year in March, and is usually attended by prominent names.

The first permanent theatre, the Aktientheater, was built in 1834 and it became the focus of Richard Wagner’s activities during his period of exile from Germany.

The Aktientheater burnt down in 1890. The new Stadttheater Zürich (municipal theatre) was built by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer, who changed their previous design for the theatre in Wiesbaden only slightly. It was opened in 1891. It was the city's main performance space for drama, opera, and musical events until 1925, when it was renamed Opernhaus Zürich and a separate theatre for plays was built: The Bernhard Theater opened in 1941, in May 1981 the Esplanada building was demolished, and the present adjoint building opened on 27/28 December 1984 after three years of transition in the Kaufhaus building nearby Schanzengraben.

By the 1970s, the opera house was badly in need of major renovations; when some considered it not worth restoring, a new theatre was proposed for the site. However, between 1982 and 1984, rebuilding took place but not without huge local opposition which was expressed in street riots. The rebuilt theatre was inaugurated with Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the world première of Rudolf Kelterborn’s Chekhov opera Der Kirschgarten.

As restored, the theatre is an ornate building with a neo-classical façade of white and grey stone adorned with busts of Weber, Wagner, and Mozart. Additionally, busts of Schiller, Shakespeare, and Goethe are to be found. The auditorium is built in the neo-rococo style and seats approximately 1200 people. During the refurbishment, the issue of sightlines was not adequately addressed. As a result, the theatre has a high number of seats with a limited view, or no view, of the stage. This is unusual in international comparison, where sightlines in historic opera houses have been typically enhanced over time.

Corporate archives and historical library collections are held at the music department of the Predigerkirche Zürich.

The Zürich Opera House is also home of the International Opera Studio (in German: Internationales Opernstudio IOS) which is a educational program for young singers and pianists. The studio was created in 1961 and has renowned artists currently teaching such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Hedwig Fassbender, Andreas Homocki, Rosemary Joshua, Adrian Kelly, Fabio Luisi, Jetske Mijnssen, Ann Murray, Eytan Pessen or Edith Wiens.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Starts at: 19:00
Acts: 3
Intervals: 1
Duration: 2h 40min
Sung in: Italian
Titles in: German,English
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