Rigoletto at Circus Maximus – Rigoletto 2020

On Wednesday, October 20, at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the opera-film Rigoletto at the Circus Maximus by Damiano Michieletto, conducted by Gatti, and the documentary Rigoletto 2020 by Enrico Parenti, edited by Andrea Campajola, were premiered as an out-of-competition event at the Rome Film Fest.

RIGOLETTO AT CIRCUS MAXIMUS

In July 2020, Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto became the first live performance staged in Italy after the long months of closures due to the pandemic. The majestic setting of the Circus Maximus hosted a new, grand and spectacular production directed by Damiano Michieletto, who had to face the limitations imposed by the virus, above all the need to maintain social distancing on stage.

 The film Rigoletto at the Circus Maximus, directed by Damiano Michieletto, presents the opera through a cinematic lens, drawing on all the video material from the performance. During the show, the onstage action, set on a 1,500-square-meter stage, interacted with a giant screen that projected footage captured by some steadycams on stage, which were themselves part of the scenography. Through a re-editing that weaves together all the available materials and perspectives, the film offers a new mode of experiencing the work, allowing the viewer to step inside the opera. Rigoletto at the Circus Maximus creates a contamination  between different artistic languages, exploiting their full potential to offer audiences a new kind of artistic experience, one that lies midway between the live representation and the cinematographic one.

 

RIGOLETTO 2020

In June 2020, just after the lockdown ended, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma decided to send a concrete signal of rebirth by produced Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, entrusting the direction to Damiano Michieletto, an acclaimed artist with an extraordinary visionary talent. It would become the first and only new opera production staged by a major European theatre in the summer of 2020.

The documentary reveals the challenges posed by the restrictions of the anti-Covid protocol, Michieletto’s visceral approach to directing actors, an inside view of the construction of his staging, the passion that Daniele Gatti infuses into the orchestra, and the meaning and importance of one of the most beloved and frequently performed operas in the world. It also captures the exhilaration of an entire sector, the one of live shows, which, after three months of paralysis, was coming back to life for the first time.

Rigoletto 2020 by Enrico Parenti tells the story of this adventure.

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