THE next live satellite broadcast from the Metropolitan Opera in New York will be Verdi’s Rigoletto.

The opera, which was first performed in Venice in 1851, will be shown on the big screen at the Regent Centre in Christchurch on Saturday at 5.55pm.

Director Michael Mayer has placed his new production of Verdi’s towering tragedy in Las Vegas in 1960. Piotr Beczala is the womanising Duke, Zeljko Lucic is his tragic sidekick, Rigoletto and Diana Damrau is Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda.

The duke’s escapades come back to haunt him when a courtier, whose daughter he has seduced, places a curse on him and his court. When Rigoletto’s daughter, Gilda, falls in love with the duke, the curse begins to come true.

Tickets, at £23, concessions £21, are available from 01202 499199.