Singer

The court of the Duke of Mantua is host to lavish parties. But in this society, having fun means humiliating and degrading others, and the most cynical joker of all is Rigoletto. He wants to protect his daughter Gilda from the corrupt world, so he locks her away. But the young woman goes her own way. Together with «Il trovatore» and «La traviata», «Rigoletto» cemented Verdi’s international fame as an opera composer. The opera is gripping theater in which all roles are ideally cast: from the king to the avenger, from the lover to the murderer.

Rigoletto

Zurich Opera House

YSP Closing Concert — Mozarteum Orchestra · Cimento

House for Mozart

In his libretto for Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier, Luigi Illica gave the character of Carlo Gérard—once a lackey, now a revolutionary hero—a phrase taken from the Girondist Vergniaud, who was executed in 1793: "The revolution devours its own children." This prominent quote reflects the core of the opera's plot, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1896: In a powerful historical narrative, it demonstrates how the French Revolution, in the course of its radicalization, also turned against people who had shared its ideals. Among them is the poet André Chénier (1762-1794), who is introduced in the opera as a guest at a nobleman's feast in 1789. In this decadent atmosphere, musically evoked by Rococo allusions, Chénier dares to denounce the social injustices of the Ancien Régime, provoking outrage but impressing the hostess's daughter, Maddalena, and the rebellious servant Carlo Gérard. After a leap in time of five years, we meet these three characters again under completely different circumstances. In her famous aria "La mamma morta," Maddalena describes how her family and possessions were taken from her, and how only her faith in love, to which Chénier once opened her eyes, kept her alive. However, Chénier cannot offer her the protection she seeks from him; as a critic of Robespierre's Reign of Terror, he, too, is acutely threatened. Even Gérard appears to be a victim of the political situation: after shying away at the last moment from exploiting his current position of power to subjugate the passionately desired Maddalena, he remorsefully tries to save the imprisoned Chénier from the guillotine - in vain.

Andrea Chénier

Great Festival House

Oedipus confronts the secrets of the oracle, Macbeth confronts the prophecies of the witches: a sudden utterance from another world—and a few words change an entire life. The moira is revealed. While Oedipus seeks to flee the tragic fate promised to him, a twofold process is triggered in Macbeth. First, he reacts to the announcement that he will soon become king by attempting to ascend to the promised heights and acts accordingly: He kills. Having attained dominion and power, he then defies the second part of the prophecy: He kills again. Afterward, he becomes the plaything of his madness, his fear, his moral fall: He kills again and again.

Macbeth

EPSG:4326

Isabella Egawa, Violin

The Juilliard School

This program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New York.

Baritone

Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha

Events

Past events

Dec 20, 2025 - Jan 4, 2026

Rigoletto · Opernhaus Zürich

Aug 28, 2025

YSP Closing Concert — Mozarteum Orchestra · Cimento · Salzburger Festspiele

Future and recently performed repertoire

servant of Macbeth in Macbeth by Verdi

Salzburger Festspiele

Dumas in Andrea Chénier by Giordano

Salzburger Festspiele

Il Conte di Monterone in Rigoletto by

Opernhaus Zürich

About

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