The rising Italian conductor Speranza Scappucci makes her Metropolitan Opera debut with Verdi’s own favorite opera—a happy choice, for she’s a Verdian of distinction, as responsive to his masterful musical refinements as to his Shakespearean dramatic powers. Scappucci inherits two of the stars of last season’s new Bartlett Sher production: Quinn Kelsey in the title role as the deformed court jester, and Rosa Feola as his convent-bred daughter Gilda. Benjamin Bernheim, another Met newcomer with sterling credentials, joins as Rigoletto’s boss, a serial seducer with many willing victims, including the self-sacrificing Gilda. How long can it be before the PC mafia takes aim at this opera? Catch it while we can. —Matthew Gurewitsch