Skip to main content Skip to footer site map

Grander Than Before, Opera Columbus and Columbus Symphony Bring RIGOLETTO Back to Columbus 

A “dream-like” collaboration between the Columbus Symphony and Opera Columbus allows for the grand return of a favorite Verdi opera.

Grander Than Before, Opera Columbus and Columbus Symphony Bring RIGOLETTO Back to Columbus 

For the first time in nearly a quarter century, Rigoletto will return in grand scale to Columbus thanks to a remarkable collaboration between Opera Columbus and the Columbus Symphony at the Ohio Theatre March 31 and April 1. Sparked by a mutual passion for grand opera, epic staging, and Rigoletto in particular, Opera Columbus' Julia Noulin-Mérat and Columbus Symphony's Rossen Milanov and Daniel Walshaw worked together to bring forward the biggest production Columbus has seen in years.

"Working together has been an absolute dream," said Walshaw, Chief Operating Officer of the Columbus Symphony. "Julia, Rossen, and I shared a vision of bringing grand opera to Columbus, and we are over the moon to see this production come to life."

In addition to the collaboration between their two cultural organizations, Walshaw and Noulin-Merat have also found great support with the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA). Rigoletto will bring the opera from its home base of the Southern Theatre to the Ohio Theatre, with a larger seating capacity and orchestra pit.

"We have a fantastic partner in Rossen, Walshaw, and the Columbus Symphony," said Noulin-Mérat, Opera Columbus' General Director + CEO. "Because of this, we're really able to expand the scale of the work here - everything is bigger, which is such a thrilling way to work. The sets and costumes are more ornate, we're able to bring in singers from The Metropolitan Opera, even the theatre itself is bigger."

A Verdi favorite, Rigoletto is set in the rich and decadent Italian Renaissance and features some of opera's most famous arias. Rigoletto, a cursed court jester of the lustful Duke of Mantua, obsessively protects his daughter, Gilda. But when Gilda falls in love with the man her father loathes, Rigoletto's thirst for vengeance and desperate attempt to stop fate bring about his own tragic undoing.

Milanov serves as musical director for the production, joined by Eve Summer as stage director. Milanov and Summer helm a cast including Aubry Ballaro, a District Winner in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, who makes both her Opera Columbus and role debuts as Gilda; Hyung Yun joins Opera Columbus for the first time singing the title role, which he recently covered at The Metropolitan Opera; and David Blalock, fresh off a run of Dialogues des Carmelites at The Metropolitan Opera, returns to Opera Columbus as the Duke of Mantua. The Columbus Symphony Orchestra plays both performances.

"We are thrilled to bring Eve Summer back as our stage director, following her incredible success and powerful storytelling with our Tosca last season," said Noulin-Mérat, "Our Maria de Buenos Aires was our biggest box office hit in 10 years and our Alice Tierney sold out in two days, this is a record-breaking season for us all in Columbus, making Rigoletto a must-see show of the year."

Rigoletto will be performed in Italian with English supertitles at the Ohio Theatre March 31 and April 1 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with one intermission. Ticket prices range from $9.84 - $88.50. For tickets and additional information, please visit https://cloud.broadwayworld.com/rec/ticketclick.cfm?fromlink=2230912®id=52&articlelink=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.operacolumbus.org%2Frigoletto%2F?utm_source=BWW2022&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article&utm_content=bottombuybutton1.



Review: Botstein and ASO Bring Strauss’s Seldom-Heard DAPHNE to Carnegie Hall Photo
It’s hard to compete with yourself — especially the ‘you’ that was at the height of your powers. I think that’s part of the problem with the place that Richard Strauss’s DAPHNE holds in the composer’s canon. Often referred to as a second- (or even third-) tier work, it has much to offer and enjoy, as the performance by the American Symphony Orchestra under Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall the other night proved quite well.

Cincinnati Opera and CCM to Workshop Two Operas-in-Progress This Spring Photo
Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) have announced the next events in their joint program, Opera Fusion: New Works.

Madison Opera Presents THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO This April Photo
Madison Opera concludes its mainstage season with its first production in over a decade of Mozart's classic The Marriage of Figaro. Performances are Friday, April 28 at 8pm and Sunday, April 30 at 2:30pm in Overture Hall at the Overture Center for the Arts.

VIDEO: Strausss DER ROSENKAVALIER Returns to The Met Opera Photo
Watch video from Lise Davidsen, a leading international soprano who has been lauded for her recent Met performances in Strauss's Elektra and Ariadne auf Naxos and Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, returns to the Met stage for Strauss's grand comedy Der Rosenkavalier, singing the Marschallin for the first time in a seven-performance run from March 27 to April 20.


More Hot Stories For You


THE ARTWORK OF THE FUTURE World Premiere Opera To Run At Fresh Squeezed Opera, May 13-19THE ARTWORK OF THE FUTURE World Premiere Opera To Run At Fresh Squeezed Opera, May 13-19
February 28, 2023

A new opera by composer Eric Moe and librettist Rob Handel, The Artwork of the Future, will have its world premiere in a production by Fresh Squeezed Opera in five performances at HERE Performing Arts Center in SoHo on May 13, 14, 16, 18, and 19, 2023. The 70-minute work, scored for four singers and instrumental septet, is a lighthearted science-fiction opera that looks at the purpose of art in challenging times through the lens of comedy.

OPERA America Awards Opera Grants For Women Stage Directors And ConductorsOPERA America Awards Opera Grants For Women Stage Directors And Conductors
February 22, 2023

OPERA America has announced the first-round recipients of the 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. 

Opera Saratoga Names New General And Artistic Director Mary BirnbaumOpera Saratoga Names New General And Artistic Director Mary Birnbaum
February 13, 2023

Opera Saratoga's board of directors has announced that Mary Birnbaum has been named the company's new general and artistic director. She succeeds former General and Artistic Director Lawrence Edelson, whose eight year tenure concluded at the end of the 2022 season. Birnbaum is the tenth general director in the Opera Saratoga's celebrated history.

OPERA America Awards The 2023 IDEA Opera Residencies To Three New-To-Opera Creators Of ColorOPERA America Awards The 2023 IDEA Opera Residencies To Three New-To-Opera Creators Of Color
February 6, 2023

OPERA America has announced the recipients of the 2023 IDEA Opera Residencies program (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access), an initiative that provides New York City-based composers and librettists of color an opportunity to explore opera as an expressive medium.

Works & Process at The Guggenheim Presents CHAMPION, An Opera By Terence BlanchardWorks & Process at The Guggenheim Presents CHAMPION, An Opera By Terence Blanchard
February 6, 2023

Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents Champion-an opera by Terence Blanchard, with a libretto by Michael Cristofer-featuring performances by members of the cast and a moderated discussion about the work's forthcoming company premiere at the Metropolitan Opera.