A notorious womanizer, he sings of how all women are the same, and that he can have any woman he wants. He briefly turns his attentions to chorus member Irene Chaplin, before settling on the most beautiful woman in the room, the Countess Ceprano (Sara DiGirolamo, centre). She attempts to resist his advances (her husband is watching), but the Duke soon leads her away. Another courtier, Marullo (Stephen Targett, centre right) astonishes the court with the news that the Duke’s jester, Rigoletto, seems to have a mistress.



Rigoletto (Yevgeny Yablonovsky) mocks Count Ceprano as a cuckold. Furious, Ceprano (Gerald Hannon, at right, centre) calls Borsa, Marullo and the other courtiers to vengeance. Rigoletto has mocked them all.





He is interrupted when Count Monterone (David Lasker, above, left) appears to denounce the Duke for seducing his daughter. Rigoletto mocks the old man (above, right), but is horrified when Monterone lays a father’s curse on him.