Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto” as a true crime format

In June, the miniseries “For the Drama” accompanied the rehearsal work at the Bavarian State Opera with a fictional story. Now ARD Kultur is reviving Verdi’s famous opera “Rigoletto” as a true crime format. Michael Kessler plays a controversial social media comedian.

The opera “Rigoletto” is considered the first masterpiece of the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). It tells the story of the eponymous court jester who speaks badly about other courtiers on behalf of the Duke of Mantua. When the Duke woos Rigoletto’s one true love, his daughter Gilda, Rigoletto decides to have him killed. But by an unfortunate coincidence, Gilda dies instead. 173 years after its premiere at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the story is now being brought to the present by ARD Kultur.

“The Rigo Case” (from September 25th in the ARD Mediathek and on ardkultur.de) prepared the opera as a true crime format: Rigo Triboulet (Michael Kessler) is a controversial social media comedian. When his beloved daughter Gilda (Lea Zoë Voss) is found one morning in the bed of Rigo’s manager Mantua (Anton Rubtsov), the interest of reporter Franziska Helmholz (Viktoria Ngotsé) is aroused. Together with her colleague Roman (Denis “Marshall” Ölmez), she wants to find out the background to the crime. To do this, they look through articles from a tabloid magazine about the case and question Rigo’s companions (played by “Bachelor” Niko Griesert and Deichkind musician Sascha Reimann alias Ferris MC, among others).

Rigo (Michael Kessler) has had to cope with a lot in his life.. (Image: © MDR/ARD Kultur/Hawkins & Cross Media)

Opera meets contemporary trends

“With this project, ARD Kultur shows that it is possible to present ‘Old Masters’ in a modern guise and offer a profound interpretation of a classic subject, while at the same time honoring the original,” says Kristian Costa-Zahn, program director and head of content at ARD Kultur, describing the intention behind “The Rigo Case”. In fact, the short film directed by Matthias Bollwerk (script: Floris Asche) used trends known from social media and at the same time criticizes overly sensationalist media coverage. Excerpts from Verdi’s opera can be heard again and again in the background.

“The Rigo Case” is not ARD Kultur’s first attempt to make high culture accessible to a broader and younger audience: Just in June, the miniseries “For the Drama” told a fictional love story against the backdrop of the real rehearsals for “Die Fledermaus” at the Bavarian State Opera. Another project is planned for autumn 2024.