18 Nov-5 Dec 2003. Conducted by Fabio Luisi, directed by Graham Vick, with Ramon Vargas, Carlos Alvarez, Svetla Vassileva, Patrizia Ciofi. Rigoletto by Verdi will be on stage at Teatro Comunale in Florence, under the direction of Graham Vick, with scenery and costumes by Paul Brown. This performance comes from Madrids Teatro Real, where it played two years ago and caused no end of uproar, dividing the citys opera-goers. Vicks version of the Mantuan court is dominated by sex in its most vulgar and violent forms, a court that is cynical and cruel and destroys anyone who enters it, even Gilda and Rigoletto. Two companies will alternate in the main roles: Carlos Alvarez and Alberto Gazale as Rigoletto; Ramon Vargas and Tito Beltran as the Duke of Mantua; and Svetla Vassileva and Patrizia Ciofi as Gilda. The conductor will be Fabio Luisi. Paolo di Nicola