Photos: Giuseppe Verdi’s RIGOLETTO at San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Opera opens its 103rd season on Friday, September 5 with Opera Ball, the opening night benefit gala co-presented with San Francisco Opera Guild, and Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto (September 5–27), led by Caroline H. Hume Music Director Eun Sun Kim.

The story of Rigoletto centers around the titular jester who hurls insults at courtiers for the amusement of the Duke of Mantua. At home, Rigoletto is a loving, protective father to a daughter he keeps hidden from the depraved world at court. When one of the targets of Rigoletto’s cruelty curses him, tragic repercussions follow. The fast-paced action of Verdi’s score, filled with turbulent drama and memorable tunes, like the aria “La donna è mobile,” made the opera a breakout hit in 1851. Rigoletto, which remains one of the composer’s most popular works, marks the beginning of Verdi’s “middle period,” a time when he produced a series of classics in rapid succession, including Il Trovatore (1853), La Traviata (1853) and Un Ballo in Maschera (1859).

Jose Maria Condemi directs San Francisco Opera’s acclaimed Rigoletto production, which evokes the surreal perspective paintings of Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico through the work of set designer Michael Yeargan, costume designer Constance Hoffman and original lighting designer Mark McCullough, recreated in this revival by San Francisco Opera’s Lighting Director Justin A. Partier. Company Dance Master Colm Seery is the choreographer, and Chorus Director John Keene prepares the artists of the San Francisco Opera Chorus.