Here's what you need to know about RIGOLETTO, running at Lyric Opera of Chicago, October 7 - November 3:

- There's no role in opera more powerfully dramatic than the court jester Rigoletto, whose acid tongue and all-consuming desire for revenge lead to catastrophe for himself and his sweet, love-struck daughter Gilda. Rigoletto is one of Verdi's greatest characterizations-a complex and tragic figure, pitiful and ferocious, with stupendous music to match.