Miami performances are at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami.

Fort Lauderdale performances are at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, 201 SW 5th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale.

Children must be at least six years old to attend.

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Rigoletto [COVID Cancel]

Presenting opera is our passion, and the safety of our patrons, artists, and staff is our top priority. Florida Grand Opera is closely monitoring the situation regarding COVID-19 (coronavirus). We are staying up to date with the recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and local public officials, including Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and the Florida Department of Health.

Florida Grand Opera has suspended all performances for the remaining 2019/20 season, including:

• Rigoletto, March 28 – April 5 at the Adrienne Arsht Center, and April 30 and May 2 at the Broward Center, will be postponed and rescheduled in the 2021/22 season;
• El Matrimonio Secreto (The Secret Marriage), April 18 – 26 at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, will be postponed and rescheduled in the 2020/21 season.

The postponement of performances will have an enormous financial impact on our non-profit organization. We are asking patrons to please keep your tickets. All tickets will be honored on the new performance date, seat, and price. We understand that you may not be able to attend, and additional options will be available when the new dates are announced. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube, and join the conversation with #FGOpera. For more information, call 800.741.1010 or email tickets@fgo.org.

Watch a 2-minute preview of Rigoletto with Justin Moss

By GIUSEPPE VERDI

The grand master of opera, Giuseppe Verdi, ramps up his musical and dramatic intensity in this masterpiece. A jester makes cruel sport of courtiers whose wives and daughters are seduced by the Duke until his own young daughter falls victim. The dishonored jester plots a savage revenge, but he loses everything when he is double-crossed, and his plan goes fatally awry. One of Verdi’s most powerful scores brings this intensely moving drama to life—and death.

Synopsis

Act I, Scene 1: The court of the Duke of Mantua, evening

As the Duke boasts of his conquests, his jester, Rigoletto, irritates the courtiers with his insults. One courtier, Marullo, tells the others that Rigoletto has a secret mistress, and they decide to avenge themselves by kidnapping her. They are interrupted by Count Monterone, who accuses the Duke of violating his daughter. Rigoletto makes fun of Monterone, leading the man to place a curse on the jester, horrifying him. The Duke orders Monterone’s arrest.

Scene 2: The garden of Rigoletto’s house and the street outside the walls later that night

In the street, Sparafucile approaches Rigoletto to offer his services as an assassin. Rigoletto declines, but Sparafucile assures him that if Rigoletto changes his mind, he is available. Rigoletto muses on his similarity to Sparafucile, who kills with a knife while he wounds with words.

Rigoletto greets his daughter Gilda and warns her never to leave the house except for church. When he is distracted, the Duke sneaks in by bribing Giovanna, the servant. After Rigoletto leaves, Gilda tells Giovanna that she has noticed a young man at church.

The Duke emerges from hiding, declaring that is a poor student named Gualtier Maldé, and he loves her. Meanwhile, outside, the courtiers gather. The Duke leaves, promising to return. Gilda rhapsodizes over the name of her first love.

Rigoletto’s return surprises the courtiers, but they tell him that they are abducting the Countess Ceprano, who lives nearby. They have him hold the ladder, blindfolding him under the pretense of disguising him, and they carry off Gilda. When Rigoletto discovers he has been duped, he calls Gilda’s name, realizing the effect of Monterone’s curse.

Act II: The Duke’s palace the next morning

The Duke is upset by Gilda’s disappearance. The courtiers gleefully describe their abduction of Rigoletto’s mistress. Realizing that it is Gilda and that she is now locked inside his bedroom, the Duke rushes off.

Rigoletto arrives looking for clues to his daughter’s fate. When the Duchess’s page asks for the Duke and the couriers are evasive, Rigoletto realizes that Gilda is with the Duke. He lashes out at the courtiers for their cruelty and then begs them for mercy as a father. The courtiers are stunned to realize that Gilda is Rigoletto’s daughter, but they remain adamant. Suddenly, Gilda rushes to her father and begs him to hide her shame. Rigoletto orders the courtiers away. After hearing her story, Rigoletto comforts her.

Monterone, on his way to prison, laments that the Duke has escaped his wrath. Rigoletto swears that he will ensure vengeance. Gilda begs him to reconsider.

Act III: Sparafucile’s inn near the river one month later

Sparafucile and his sister Maddalena await the Duke. After he arrives, he seduces Maddalena. Rigoletto brings Gilda to the outside of the lodging so that she can see the Duke’s true character. Heartbroken, Gilda agrees to leave Mantua later that night. He sends her home to prepare. Rigoletto meets with Sparafucile to finalize the details of the assassination, insisting on returning to collect the body.

Maddalena tries to persuade her brother to kill Rigoletto instead of the Duke. An honest businessman, Sparafucile declines. A storm breaks out as Gilda returns. She overhears the argument. Maddalena persuades Sparafucile to spare the Duke by killing the next person who comes to the inn. At the height of the storm, Gilda enters and is stabbed. At midnight, Rigoletto returns and receives a body sewn into a sack. He is dragging the sack to the river when he hears the Duke in the distance. Suddenly frightened, he tears open the sack, recognizing his daughter. She begs his forgiveness as she dies. Rigoletto cries out, “The curse!”