In Detail

The story, based on a controversial play by Victor Hugo, tells of an outsider, a hunchbacked jester, who struggles to balance the dual elements of beauty and evil that exist in his life. Written during the most fertile period of Verdi’s artistic life, the opera resonates with a Shakespearean universality.

Tony Award–winning director Bartlett Sher’s bold new staging on Verdi’s timeless tragedy resets the opera’s action in 1920s Europe, with Art Deco sets by Michael Yeargan and elegant costumes by Catherine Zuber. Baritone Quinn Kelsey, a commanding artist at the height of his powers, brings his searing portrayal of the title role to the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczała as the Duke of Mantua, with leading maestro Daniele Rustioni on the podium.

205m one interval