Rigoletto

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The Greek National Opera concludes the 2024/25 season with Giuseppe Verdi’s dark masterpiece Rigoletto, which will take place at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus on 27, 29, 30, and 31 July 2025. The production will be conducted by Derrick Inouye, with stage direction by Katerina Evangelatos, and revival direction by Ion Kesoulis. The title role will be shared by two renowned Greek baritones, Dimitri Platanias and Tassis Christoyannis.

Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas in the repertoire. In this work, Verdi transitions to a new chapter in his compositional career, presenting a musical composition with a distinct mark and an increased mood for experimentation. The shifts between lyrical and dramatic scenes ensure a continuous flow of the plot at a high speed. The story revolves around the love of Gilda, the daughter of the hunchback jester of the court –Rigoletto–, for the promiscuous Duke of Mantua, who presents himself to her as a poor student. To take revenge for his daughter’s lost honour, Rigoletto plans the Duke’s murder. When Gilda finds out about her father’s plans, she decides to save her beloved by sacrificing herself in his place.

The production, which premiered to great success in the summer of 2022 at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, is staged by Katerina Evangelatos, the artistic director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival. The director chose to shed light upon Rigoletto’s contradictory and dark personality, relocating the storyline to the decadent Italian countryside of the 1980s. As she notes about her directorial approach: “The cycle of violence depicted by Verdi in his Rigoletto is here transferred to a self-contained little world in the Italian provinces during the 1980s, where organised crime reigns supreme. Corruption, criminality, rape – this is the true face of what is a pietistic, conservative, and superstitious society.”

The set is designed by Eva Manidaki, with costumes created by Alan Hranitelj. Patricia Apergi is responsible for the choreography and movement, while Eleftheria Deko handles the lighting design. Ion Kesoulis has revived the stage direction, and Ilias Hatzigeorgiou has brought the choreography and movement back to life.

The GNO Orchestra will be conducted by the internationally renowned Derrick Inouye. The Canada-born conductor has frequently collaborated with the New York Metropolitan Opera, the London Philharmonic, the New Philharmonic of Japan, Opéra de Nice, the Nuremberg Opera, and the Philharmonic of Monte-Carlo, among others.

The title role will be shared by two renowned Greek baritones, Dimitri Platanias (27, 30/7) and Tassis Christoyannis (29, 31/7).

Dimitri Platanias has performed at prestigious theatres and festivals around the world, including the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, the Munich State Opera, the Frankfurt Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels, and the Bregenz and Salzburg festivals. He has also appeared at the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden, London), the Bavarian State Opera, and the Opera di Firenze, among others. In 2026, he is set to make his debut at La Scala in Milan.

Tassis Christoyannis, a distinguished protagonist and Artistic Director of the Olympia City Music Theatre “Maria Callas”, has been performing in productions of the Greek National Opera since 1989. He has also appeared at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres, including, among others, Opéra Comique, Opéra national de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Royal Opera House in London.

The role of the Duke of Mantua will be performed by two world-renowned tenors, Liparit Avetisyan (27, 30/7) and Andrei Danilov (29, 31/7).

Armenian tenor, Liparit Avetisyan, hailed as “one of the most exciting lyric tenors of his generation”, will make his debut at the Greek National Opera as the Duke, a role for which he has received excellent reviews at Europe’s most prestigious opera houses. He has successfully performed at leading theatres worldwide, including the Cologne Opera, the Royal Opera House in London (Covent Garden), the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Zurich Opera House, Opera Australia, the Seattle Opera, and the Bolshoi Theatre.

Born into a family of musicians and singers, Russian tenor Andrei Danilov is also set to make his debut at the GNO. His operatic career started after he graduated from the Fine Arts Institute of the University of Law, Finance, and Management in Siberia. He has won international competitions such as the 5th Éva Marton International Singing Competition, the 55th International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch, the José Carreras Grand Prix, and more. He has performed many leading roles both within Europe and beyond, with his portrayal of the Duke of Mantua regarded as one of his most distinctive performances.

The role of Gilda will be shared by internationally acclaimed soprano Nina Minasyan (27, 30/7) and Greek soprano Christina Poulitsi (29, 31/7).

Armenian soprano Nina Minasyan is coming to Greece for her highly anticipated debut at the Greek National Opera as Gilda, a role she has successfully performed at some of the world’s leading venues, such as the Bolshoi Theatre, Opéra national de Lyon, San Francisco Opera, Vienna State Opera, Arena di Verona, and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Soprano Christina Poulitsi will reprise her role as Gilda following her successful performance at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in 2022. She has also performed this role with renowned conductor Zubin Mehta in Florence.

Sparafucile will be portrayed by the acclaimed bass from the GNO, Petros Magoulas (27, 30/7), and emerging bass Timos Sirlantzis (29, 31/7).

Petros Magoulas has performed internationally at venues such as the Royal Opera House in London, Kiel Opera, Welsh National Opera, Bilbao Opera, and Israeli Opera.

Timos Sirlanztis has been a permanent soloist at the State Theatre on Gärtnerplatz, Munich, since 2018, where he has gained recognition and received excellent reviews for his performances. He has performed at major international venues, including the Opera Daegu in South Korea, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Royal Opera House in London. In 2022, Opera News magazine included him in its list of twenty emerging superstars of world opera.

Maddalena will be portrayed by the distinguished mezzo-soprano Oksana Volkova from Belarus, who is returning to the Greek National Opera after her successful performance in La forza del destino in 2025 at the Stavros Niarchos Hall. Volkova’s international acclaim came in 2013 when she made her highly successful debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Maddalena. She has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious theatres and venues, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, Teatro Real, and the Salzburg Festival.

Joining them on stage will be distinguished and younger soloists, including Chrysanthi Spitadi, Maxim Klonovskiy, Nikos Kotenidis, Yannis Kalyvas, George Mattheakakis, Diamanti Kritsotaki, Ioannis Kontellis, and Emilia Tsimidaki.

Rigoletto at a glance
The composer

Giuseppe Verdi, the most renowned composer of Italian Romanticism, was born in Le Roncole in northern Italy in 1813 and died in Milan in 1901. He studied music in the small town of Busseto and then in Milan. His earliest works were influenced by the revolutionary spirit of the time, echoing the struggle of the many small Italian states to be liberated from Austrian rule and unified into a single sovereign state. Verdi’s involvement with politics elevated the composer to the status of a national symbol –as an acrostic, Viva Verdi meant “Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D’Italia”– and in 1861, he was elected a member of the first Italian Parliament. Verdi’s most significant operas are Nabucco (1842), Rigoletto (1851), Il trovatore (1853), La traviata (1853), La forza del destino (1862), Aida (1871), Otello (1887), and Falstaff (1893). On an aesthetic level, Verdi’s music expressed the spirit of mature Romanticism, and on a political one, his compatriots’ desire to see Italy free and united. He was adored by an especially broad public and enjoyed popularity that remains unfaltering to this day. In the midst of the historical, political, and social changes taking place in the 19th century, Verdi was the composer who experienced that special moment in the history of music when high art became popular art as well.

The opera

Rigoletto, a melodramma in three acts, was inspired by Victor Hugo’s play Le Roi s’amuse (1832). The libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave.

Premieres
Rigoletto received its premiere at the Gran Teatro La Fenice, Venice, on 11 March 1851. In Greece, the first performance of the opera took place in 1852 on Corfu, a British protectorate at the time. On 28 October 1853, the opera was performed in Athens in Italian. The Greek National Opera, founded in 1939, added Rigoletto to its repertoire in January 1948, in a production conducted by Leonidas Zoras and directed by Konstantinos Persis. The cast included Evangelos Magliveras in the title role, Antonis Delendas as the Duke, and Francesca Nikita as Gilda.

Synopsis of the original
Act I / Sixteenth-century Mantua, a hall in the ducal palace. During a celebration in the palace, the Duke of Mantua relates his latest adventures to his courtiers. He talks about a beautiful young woman that he noticed in church and means to pursue. At the same time he flirts with Countess Ceprano. Rigoletto, the hunchback jester of the court, mocks the Countess’s unfortunate husband and encourages the Duke to banish or even execute him. When Marullo, a nobleman, spreads the rumour that Rigoletto has been seen with a mistress, the courtiers decide to take revenge on him by abducting her. Another nobleman, Count Monterone, chastises the Duke for dishonouring his daughter. Rigoletto’s sarcastic reply brings down Monterone’s anathema on both Rigoletto and the Duke.

An alley near Rigoletto’s house. Rigoletto continues to think of the curse as he returns home. On the way, he meets Sparafucile, a hired assassin who offers his services. When he reaches his house, Gilda, his daughter, assures him that while he is away she only leaves the house to go to church. However, when she is left alone with her governess, she apologetically confesses that she did not tell her father about a young man whom she met in church, who is in fact the Duke. Just as she declares her love for him, the Duke, who has been listening to their conversation, emerges from his hiding place to announce his feelings for her, presenting himself in the guise of a poor student. Meanwhile, the courtiers Ceprano, Borsa and Marullo arrive outside the house to abduct the girl that they mistakenly consider Rigoletto’s mistress. When Rigoletto appears, they tell him that they are planning to abduct Countess Ceprano and ask for his help. He accepts, and they succeed in blindfolding him. When he realises the truth, it is too late: the courtiers have already abducted Gilda.

Act II / In the Duke’s Palace. The courtiers inform the Duke that they have abducted Rigoletto’s mistress. Realising that they speak of Gilda, he rushes to his bedchamber in order to stay alone with her. Rigoletto begs them to set her free, and they at last realise that they have abducted his daughter, not his mistress. After the appearance of Gilda, who feels in love but also remorseful, Rigoletto swears vengeance.

Act III / A deserted bank of the river Mincio near Mantua. Rigoletto and Gilda reach Sparafucile’s inn. Rigoletto wants to have the Duke killed and makes arrangements with the assassin, while Gilda watches the Duke flirt with Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister. Maddalena feels attracted to the Duke, and she tries to persuade Sparafucile to spare him. He promises that if someone else comes along before the time allotted, he will kill that person instead of their visitor. Gilda, overhearing this conversation, decides to sacrifice herself. She knocks on the door and, disguised as a man, she enters the inn.

Rigoletto reappears to claim the lifeless body, which has been placed in a sack for easy disposal. He pays Sparafucile and is about to cast the body into the river, when he suddenly hears the Duke’s voice. Bewildered, he opens the sack to find Gilda, on the brink of death. He recalls the curse one last time, and the curtain falls.