OPENING CEREMONY
53 MAY OPERA EVENINGS
PREMIERE
Giuseppe Verdi
“RIGOLETTO”
9.5.2025, 8:00 PM
Conductor: Gianluca Martinenghi – Italy
Director: Pier Francesco Maestrini – Italy
Assistant director: Trajko Jordanovski, Ljupka Jakimovska
Scenographer: Guillermo Nova – Spain
Costume designer: Cristina Aceti – Italy
Assistant costume designer: Angela Bogevska
Concertmaster: Kliment Todoroski
Choirmaster: Jasmina Gjorgeska, Gjurgica Dashikj
Choreographer: Sasha Evtimova
Accompanist: Elena Siljanoska, Janinka Nevceva,
Andreja Naunov
Stage managers: Dragan Kostadinovikj, Marko Pavlevski, Katerina Boshkovska
Prompter: Nevena Georgieva
PERFORMING
Rigoletto: Marco Caria – Italy
Gilda: Ana Durlovski
The Duke of Mantua: Mario Bagh – South Korea
Sparafucile: Igor Durlovski
Madalena: Nikolina Janevska
Monterone: Vladimir Sazdovski/ Borko Bidzovski
Marullo: Dragan Ampov
Borsa: Jane Dunimagloski
Countess Ceprano: Aleksandra Lazarovska Vasilevski
Count Ceprano: Dime Petrov
Giovanna: Marika Popovikj
Page: Desanka Gligorijevikj
Officer: Dime Petrov
Choir and Orchestra of the National Opera and Ballet
RIGOLETTO
Synopsis
In the house of the Duke of Mantua a ball takes place. The Duke romances the countess Cheprano, while Rigoletto, the clown of the court makes fun of her husband- Count Cheprano. Marullo tells everyone that he has seen Rigoletto with a young lover so they make a pact to abduct her. Count Monterone arrives at the ball and everyone mocks him for his daughter who has fallen for the Duke’s sweet talk. Rigoletto doesn’t spare him of his jokes. Montereone is angry and curses the Duke and Rigoletto.
Rigoletto leaves the court and is seriously distraught by Monterone’s curse. He meets Sparafucille who offres him his professional assassination services.
At home and at peace, Rigoletto talks to his daughter Gilda and tells the maid Giovanna not to let anyone in the house as he leaves. The Duke comes in disguise and bribes Giovanna to let him in. He expresses his love and infatuation to Gilda as Marullo and his friends gather close to the house to abduct Gilda. Rigoletto accompanies them, blindfolded and fooled that he is helping them to kidnap Countess Cheprano. He holds the ladder as the man abduct his daughter. Once he takes the blindfold off and realizes what has happened he is devastated and sees the event as a fulfillment of Monterone’s curse.
At the Duke’s house the men find out that Gilda is Rigoletto’s daughter. He bursts into the room and Gilda, ashamed runs in her father’s arms. She begs him to forgive the Duke. In a seedy pub in the suburbs Rigoletto requests Sparafucile to kill the Duke for a large sum of money. He sends Gilda away in men’s clothes but she is decisive in meeting the Duke whom she has fallen in love with. She overhears Maddalena begging her brother Sparafucile not to kill the Duke because she too has also fallen in love with him. Sparafucile tells her that he has already received money, so he needs a substitute. Gilda has heard this talk between Sparafucile and Maddalena and at the door of the pub she becomes the victim of a murder. Rigoletto wants to see the Duke’s body wrapped in a body sack. In horror he sees it is his daughter who spends her last hour begging her father for forgiveness. Rigoletto remembers Monterone’s curse, as Gilda dies in his arms.