Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"...The happy result is, to my mind, as good an encapsulation of the former Lyric general director Anthony Freud’s artistic philosophy as anything: make clear you are moving interpretively with the sensibilities of the times but don’t waste everyone’s time by so undermining the pleasures of the traditional repertoire that you’re engaging in a bait-and-switch with the audience. (Freud is now gone but he carefully curated this production; his successor, John Mangum, is not yet at Lyric full-time and did not appear on stage on opening night Saturday.)"
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...This propulsive, fast-action work, coursing with Verdi's compelling, often instantly recognizable music, is filled with twists and turns, ups and downs and a final act of deadly vengeance that goes horribly, gut-wrenchingly wrong."
Stage and Cinema
- Recommended
"...Verdi’s sixteenth opera, Rigoletto has been much performed in its nearly two-hundred year history, including a dozen productions at Lyric Opera. Although the current production uses traditionally-styled sets and costumes from nineteen years ago, it boasts a fresh roster of outstanding musical and directorial talent, including some long-awaited debuts. Ideal in scale for a season opener, Rigoletto lasts a reasonably full two and a half hours, including one intermission."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Giuseppe Verdi’s 1851 Rigoletto has some of the world’s best-known and beloved music. The aria “La donna è mobile,” may be the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of opera, and Rigoletto is performed very frequently around the world. However, that doesn’t mean it can be trotted out with no artistic inspiration and run itself. Looking past that it’s a costume drama set in renaissance Italy, that it’s based on a play by Victor Hugo that makes use of plot contrivances to achieve some extremely overt ironic images, and that its titular character is a hunchbacked court jester who expresses himself through baritone declamations, and you’ll find that it’s a character-driven drama with a small central cast. "
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...There has been a lot of discourse on the survival of opera companies in America. Even the revered Met has met criticisms for everything from the artistic direction and performance choices to dwindling audiences. I must state clearly that the Lyric Opera of Chicago is setting a course that other opera companies should follow. The 2024-2025 season opener is Guiseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, and everything about it is astonishing."
Chicago Theater and Arts
- Highly Recommended
"...Conducted by Music Director Enrique Mazzola with superb insight and shading, the Lyric Orchestra skillfully brought out Verdi’s perfectly colored contrasts in mood during the story’s fateful progress. Kudos also to the entire company."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Rigoletto, Giuseppe Verdi's celebrated opera, never fails to pierce the soul with its rich emotional intensity and musical brilliance. The production I attended, staged by the Chicago Lyric Opera, running from now until October 6 is an extraordinary embodiment of this 19th-century classic, full of power, passion, and pathos. With its unforgettable arias, memorable, if one-dimensional characters, and timeless themes of fate, vengeance, and love, this production of Rigoletto captivates from start to finish."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Thanks to director Mary Birnbaum, also making her Lyric debut, the characters are well-developed and their interaction credible and clear. It’s rare and wonderful to have a familiar opera be so beautifully sung and well acted."
