弄臣 沒聽過「女人皆善變」？這首無人不曉的詠歎調正是出自《弄臣》。歌劇講述好色成性的曼都瓦公爵，在他駝背弄臣的慫恿下，玷污了一位朝臣的愛女。這位父親對公爵主僕發下毒咒，而詛咒最終實現：弄臣美麗的女兒吉爾達愛上了公爵，為救心上人，甘做替死鬼，最後死在父親派出的刺客刀下。《弄臣》原名《詛咒》，由皮亞威根據雨果《國王的弄臣》改編，1851年3月18日在威尼斯鳳凰劇院首演。它是威爾第三大傑作中的第一部，其他兩部分別是《遊吟詩人》和《茶花女》。觀眾可以在本電影系列中觀賞到前者，而後者將由拿波里聖卡洛歌劇院在2013年香港藝術節演出。 所有影片均為意語對白，附中英文字幕。 Step into the world of Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) – of kings　and jesters, of murderous vendettas and unrequited love. In a life that spanned 88 years, Verdi composed no less than 26 operas, beginning with Oberto and ending with Falstaff. 2013 being the bicentennial of Verdi’s birth, Hong Kong Arts Festival’s Festival PLUS brings you a marathon of High Definition and Surround Sound cinematic experience, featuring for the first time in Asia eight opera films from the 26 Tutto Verdi collection captured live by Italy’s Teatro Regio di Parma. All guaranteed to appeal to Verdi fans and novices alike. Rigoletto Who has not heard of La donna e mobile, probably the most recognisable of all opera arias? Rigoletto with libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse, was first performed on 18 March 1851 at Teatro La Fenice, Venice. Its tragic story revolves around the womanising Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and his beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera’s original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto’s encouragement. The curse comes to bear fruit when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke and eventually sacrifices her life to save him from the assassins hired by her father. Rigoletto is the first of a trio of great operas by Verdi, the others are Il trovatore (also part of this film series) and La traviata which is performed by San Carlo Theatre, Naples at the 2013 Hong Kong Arts Festival. All films are in Italian with English and Chinese subtitles.