Rigoletto
Nina Brazier, Director of our 2025 production of Rigoletto, shares her inspiration and aspirations for our headline opera…
What should our audience expect from your production of Rigoletto?
They should look forward to a visually rich and dramatically heightened take on Verdi’s classic opera, full of sumptuous Tudor aesthetics - on one hand lavish, on the other dark, oppressive - and deadly. We’ll be conjuring the wealth and power of a Tudor court, rife with corruption, betrayal, and shifting alliances.
What was the inspiration behind the setting, and how does that setting and design affect the story?
It was important for us to find a setting in which the Duke realistically holds absolute power over his subjects, and this, to me, fits naturally with a Tudor environment where a powerful, womanising ruler and his whims dictates the fates of those around him.
We will conjure a period marked by intrigue, executions and strict social hierarchies, and where women are controlled, used and rejected. By grounding the opera in a world that genuinely parallels the original story, we will find a way to further intensify the already poignant themes of jealousy, vengeance and sacrifice.
What moments in the opera are you most looking forward to bringing to the stage?
The Act 2 duet, Piangi, fanciulla, where Gilda is reunited with her father for the first time after her seduction and kidnapping is absolutely astonishing. The intertwining of emotions – sadness, shame, regret, on one side, and sorrow and despair building into fury on the other, leading into Rigoletto’s call to vengeance in his aria Si vendetta will - I think - be one of the most exciting and emotionally charged parts to stage.
Then later on, the trio during the storm in Act 3 as the assassin Sparafucile argues with his sister Maddalena about whether to kill the Duke and Gilda prepares to sacrifice herself, is extraordinary. Their three contrasting viewpoints collide as the storm rages, coming to a climax as Gilda throws herself at her assassins. I have a feeling it will be one of the most difficult and challenging parts of the opera to bring to life, and one of the most thrilling and devastating to witness.
Why should audiences see Rigoletto, and what do you hope they take away after the curtain falls?
Rigoletto is truly one of Verdi’s most gripping and emotionally charged operas, and it is genuinely as compelling as any modern-day political thriller. I plan to deliver a feast for the senses; from the sumptuous costumes to the sensitive and poignant portrayal of the characters - their love, their loyalty, their anger and their despair - in a way that stays with our audience long after the curtain falls.