Rigoletto returns to the Arena. Premiere Friday 8 August 2025

The fifth and final opera to debut on the bill of the 102nd Opera Festival, Rigoletto will conquer the Arena stage from Friday 8 August. For Verdi, this was his most courageous and controversial masterpiece – "his best work”, he felt. Eight years after the final performance, the historic staging is back with large painted canvases inspired by the sketches of Ettore Fagiuoli, the first Arena set designer. And to give a voice and face to Verdi’s characters, we have some first-timers and long-awaited comebacks, with some of the world’s greatest performance alternating between each of the four evenings. Performances will take place on 22 and 30 August, and 6 September – the final evening of the Festival.

Rigoletto defied theatrical conventions, especially the censorship of the time, immediately conquering half of Europe, including Victor Hugo, author of the scandalous original play Le Roi s’amuse, translated into music by Verdi with verses by his trusted collaborator Francesco Maria Piave Piave. Irresistible plots, powerful emotions encompassing paternal love, seductions, kidnappings, curses, obsessions, premeditated murders and, above all, complex and three-dimensional characters, both human and yet epic: Rigoletto marked Verdi's complete maturity as a composer, confirming his status as the Italian Shakespeare.

For this all-time operatic masterpiece, which has never disappeared from the repertoire since its premiere in Venice in 1851, the Fondazione Arena is hosting some of the greatest performers in the world today. On August 8, the title role will be played by the exceptional Ludovic Tézier, alongside the Samoan, Pene Pati, making his long-awaited debut in the Arena as the Duke of Mantua, villain and seducer, with some of the most beautiful pieces Verdi ever wrote for a tenor. Nina Minasyan, who thrilled audiences as Violetta in 2022, is coming back to the Arena as Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter. The role of the hitman par excellence, Sparafucile, will be taken by bass Gianluca Buratto, with his sister Maddalena performed by Martina Belli, a mezzo-soprano making her Arena debut. The rest of the cast features stars from recent seasons in Verona, such as Agostina Smimmero, Francesca Maionchi, Elisabetta Zizzo, Matteo Macchioni, Nicolò Ceriani, Abramo Rosalen, Hidenori Inoue and Ramaz Chikviladze. The male Chorus (the only time one appears in Verdi’s entire body of work) has been prepared by Roberto Gabbiani, conducted, with the Fondazione Arena Orchestra, by the young Maestro Michele Spotti, returning after a successful 2024 in the Arena, with the sell-out performances of Turandot and Carmina Burana.

The Arena technical crew are recreating the scenic staging on which the Fondazione Arena produced the first Rigoletto under the stars, 98 years ago, under the watchful gaze of the architect Ettore Fagiuoli: large scenes painted by Raffaele Del Savio in the noblest tradition of Italian opera, representing glimpses of Mantua under the House of Gonzaga, the banks of the Mincio from the Castle of Saint George to the fortress that now bears the name of Sparafucile, and the frescoed rooms of Palazzo Te faithfully reproduced thanks to the collaboration with the Civic Museums of Mantua. The sumptuous historical costumes and lighting by Claudio Schmid complete the directorial vision of Ivo Guerra, creating a libertine court full of parties and intrigue. After the premiere on 8 August, great artists will appear in each of the three remaining performances: Amartuvshin Enkhbat (22 August), Luca Salsi (30 August) and Youngjun Park (6 September, performing the title role for the first time in Arena). As the Duke, Pene Pati will star in the first three performances, with the baton then taken up by Galeano Salas (on 6 September). Rosa Feola will play Gilda for just one performance (22 August), with Erin Morley making her Arena debut for the final two performances.

An ideal opera for baritones, tenors, sopranos and basses alike, Rigoletto in the Arena has featured a century of iconic stars, including Lauri Volpi, Baccaloni, Carosio, Lugo, Tagliabue, Zeani, Raimondi, Poggi, Savarese, Neri, Scotto, Aragall, Cappuccilli, Vinco, Cotrubas, Milnes, Manuguerra, Ferrarini, Nucci (the most frequent), Devia, Vargas, Serra, Alvarez, Mula and Mosuc. The seventh most-performed opera in the history of the Festival, there have been 106 performance (and counting!) of Rigoletto on eleven different sets over sixteen summers until 2023. For the first time, it will also mark the finale of the Festival, on 6 September.

Tickets for all dates are already on sale at arena.it, on the Arena di Verona social media channels and on Ticketone. There are special reductions for under-30s and over-65s.

The 2025 Arena di Verona Opera Festival is supported by numerous sponsors, first and foremost UniCredit, whose partnership with the Festival goes back over 25 years. Other sponsors include Calzedonia, Pastificio Rana, Volkswagen Group Italia, DB Bahn, Forno Bonomi, Numia, RTL 102.5, Genny - providers of the uniforms worn by the staff that welcome the public - and Müller, which supports accessibility projects for people with disabilities. Official partners include historic brands such as Veronafiere, Air Dolomiti, A4 Holding, Metinvest, SABA Italia, SDG Group, Sartori di Verona, Palazzo Maffei and Mantova Village. Also on board are Caviar Service, ManPower Group, Consorzio di Tutela dell’Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP and Ferroli. In addition to companies and private individuals, the partners also include the professional associations that form part of 67 Colonne per l'Arena di Verona, founded by Gianluca Rana of the pasta company of the same name and Sandro Veronesi, patron of the Oniverse Group, with Gruppo Editoriale Athesis as media partner.