The Azerbaijani State Opera and Ballet Theater will stage Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Rigoletto" on February 4, Azernews reports.

The theater invited the soloist of the Kolobov Novaya Opera Theatre, Honored Artist of Tatarstan, Honored Cultural Worker of Kazakhstan Nurlan Bekmukhambetov, to perform the role of the Duke in the opera.

Nurlan Bekmukhambetov will share the same stage with People's Artists of Azerbaijan Ali Askarov, Akram Poladov, Honored Artists Sabina Vahabzada, Tural Agasiyev as well as theater soloists Fahmin Ahmadli, Nina Makarova and Mahir Taghizada.

At the same time, the soloist of the Mannheim National Theater People's Artist of Azerbaijan Avaz Abdulla will perform the part of Rigoletto, while Honored Artist Inara Babayeva will embody Gilda on the stage under the baton of the chief conductor of the Romanian National Opera, Daniel Ginga.

"Rigoletto" is the pinnacle of Giuseppe Verdi's work and one of the most beloved operas by numerous spectators of the State Opera and Ballet Theater.

It is based on the plot of the drama "The King Amuses Himself" by Victor Hugo. This is a romantic drama with a tragic ending, which tells about the dissolute and cynical Duke of Mantua.

The opera is a tragic story revolving around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's daughter Gilda.