Michael Mayer's Las Vegas-Themed RIGOLETTO Returns To The Met February 12

Michael Mayer's 2013 production of Verdi's Rigoletto, set in a 1960s Las Vegas casino, returns to the Met on February 12, with conductor Nicola Luisotti leading an all-star cast. Initial performances star Nadine Sierra as Gilda, Vittorio Grigolo as the Duke, Roberto Frontali as Rigoletto, Štefan Kocán as Sparafucile, and Ramona Zaharia in her Met debut as Maddalena. In later performances, Rosa Feola makes her Met debut as Gilda, Bryan Hymel sings the Duke for the first time at the Met, George Gagnidze returns as Rigoletto, 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 and Online Broadcasts

The February 12, February 23, March 20, and May 1 performances of Rigoletto will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 75, while the February 23 performance will also be broadcast over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. Additionally, the February 12 and March 20 performances will be streamed live on the Met's web site, metopera.org.

Rigoletto Artist Biographies

American soprano Nadine Sierra reprises her portrayal of Gilda, the role in which she made her Met debut in 2015. She has also sung three Mozart roles at the Met: Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Ilia in Idomeneo. Other roles this season include Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale at Paris Opera and Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. She is the youngest winner to date of both the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition. She also won the Richard Tucker Award in 2017, and in 2018 was awarded the Met's Beverly Sills Artist Award.

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 Pasquale at 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 makes her Met debut as Maddalena. 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.

Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo returns to the role of the Duke, which he previously sang at the Met in 2013. Earlier this season, he reprised his portrayal of Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème at the Met. He was seen last season in his role debut as Cavaradossi in the Met's new production of Puccini's Tosca, which was broadcast live around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD series. Other Met performances include Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, the title role in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, des Grieux in Massenet's Manon, Roméo in a new production of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, and the title role in Massenet's Werther.

American tenor Bryan Hymel makes his Met role debut as the Duke. He made his company debut in 2012 as Aeneas in Berlioz's Les Troyens, and that same year he received the Met's Beverly Sills Artist Award. Other roles with the company include Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Rodolfo in La Bohème. Other performances this season include Don José in Bizet's Carmen at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Italian baritone Roberto Frontali reprises the title role of Rigoletto. He has undertaken many major baritone parts at the Met since his 1992 debut as Belcore in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, half of them by Verdi: Germont in La Traviata, Miller in Luisa Miller, Ford in Falstaff, and Count di Luna in Il Trovatore. This season at the Met, he also sings Amonasro in Verdi's Aida.

Georgian baritone George Gagnidze also reprises 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.

Slovakian bass Štefan Kocán previously sang the role of Sparafucile at the Met in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. He made his Met debut in 2009 as the King in Verdi's Aida. Other roles at the Met include the Grand Inquisitor in Verdi's Don Carlo, Khan Konchak in Borodin's Prince Igor, Gremin in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore, and the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

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.

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