Jean-Pierre Ponnelle: Rigoletto

Year: 1982
Country: West Germany
Director: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly
Set designer: Gianni Quaranta
Costume designer: Martin Schlumpf
Cast: Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberová, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Fedora Barbieri
Genre: opera
Runtime: 118 min.
Age: 18+
Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, "whose stage and television work has brought a new and grandly colorful vitality to opera interpretation" (The New York Times), acclaimed Italian cameraman Pasqualino de Santis (Death in Venice) and architect Gianni Quaranta have created a spellbindingly unique atmosphere. The drama unfolds with a powerful authenticity highlighted by the historic locations in which it was filmed: Parma's Teatro Farnese of 1628, Mantua's Palazzo Te, famed for its frescoes by Giulio Romano, and the Palladian-style Teatro Olimpico in Sabbioneta. 

Riccardo Chailly's vibrant interpretation of Verdi's score, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra responding magnificently to his conducting, is a perfect complement to Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's high-intensity retelling of the drama.