Musically stunning, visually underwhelming

Daniele Rustioni

Isabel Leonard

Piotr Beczala

Francesco Maria Piave

Victor Hugo

Gary Halvorson

Verdi: Rigoletto

&apos;Rigoletto&apos; is one of my favourite Verdi operas (and for me his first truly &quot;great&quot; opera). Sure the abduction scene is implausible and some people today may gripe at the lyrics of &quot;La Donna E Mobile&quot; (which may be seen by some as sexist) but the opera is compensated by the complex lead character, the tense, moving story and some of the most beautiful and powerful music Verdi (my personal favourite of all the operatic composers) ever wrote.

Am actually an admirer of Bartlett Sher on the whole, especially his &apos;L&apos;Elisir D&apos;Amore&apos;, which has gotten the Metropolitan Opera HD Live treatment twice and to outstanding effect, but to me his &apos;Rigoletto&apos; is something of an uneven experience. The production cannot be faulted musically on the whole, apart from one or two gripes, but visually and in staging the production didn&apos;t quite come together. Of the 2021-2022 season, despite being one of the better ones musically, the production is one of the weaker ones overall.

Starting with the good, the production is stunning musically. With lively, atmospheric and nuanced orchestral playing throughout and the chorus sing beautifully and with strong interpretation. Daniele Rustioni&apos;s conducting is some of the most impressive of the season. Shining in especially the prelude, &quot;Cortigiani&quot; and &quot;Si Vendetta&quot;.

Quinn Kelsey is an authoritative and moving Rigoletto, and sings with a beautiful tone throughout. &quot;Cortigiani&quot; is intense and tear inducing and he wasn&apos;t at all phased by the distracting stage business in &quot;Pari Siamo&quot;. Piotr Bezcala also impresses, especially in some of his finest ever singing in &quot;Parmi Veder Le Lagrime&quot; (my personal favourite actually of Duke of Mantua&apos;s arias). And in &quot;Bella Figlia D&apos;Amore&quot;, where he is every inch the seducer. His chemistry with Rosa Feola is beautiful too. Feola sings in a heartfelt and musical way throughout, her &quot;Caro Nome&quot; is a little too careful but she impresses everywhere else. Particularly in Act 3 where her high notes positively float.

Varduhi Abrahamyan is seductive and vulnerable as Maddalena and Craig Colclaugh is a sinister Monterone.

For all those fine things though, not everything works. Visually, the production is not appealing and is too austere and under-furnished. Sparafucile&apos;s abode is understandable, but not Rigoletto&apos;s not so. There are also some very distracting and over-used staging touches, especially with the turntable (which was actually not needed and served no purpose in solos, not to mention it really jars with the music in particularly dramatic scenes) and it was not a good idea to have stairs and doors being used constantly even in intimate parts, and sometimes they came over as gimmicky.

Was really disappointed with the chemistry between Rigoletto and Gilda. One of the most fascinating and moving father and daughter relationships in all opera, and the source of the character&apos;s one proper redeeming quality, and pretty much lacking in intimacy here. Keeping them apart was a big mistake and at odds with the text. Not everything worked performances-wise too, personally did find Andrea Mastrioni a little too restrained and not sinister enough as Sparafucile and also a little underpowered at first. He is in booming voice though in the Act 3 trio.

In summary, uneven but worth seeing. 6/10.

'Rigoletto' is one of my favourite Verdi operas (and for me his first truly "great" opera). Sure the abduction scene is implausible and some people today may gripe at the lyrics of "La Donna E Mobile" (which may be seen by some as sexist) but the opera is compensated by the complex lead character, the tense, moving story and some of the most beautiful and powerful music Verdi (my personal favourite of all the operatic composers) ever wrote.

Am actually an admirer of Bartlett Sher on the whole, especially his 'L'Elisir D'Amore', which has gotten the Metropolitan Opera HD Live treatment twice and to outstanding effect, but to me his 'Rigoletto' is something of an uneven experience. The production cannot be faulted musically on the whole, apart from one or two gripes, but visually and in staging the production didn't quite come together. Of the 2021-2022 season, despite being one of the better ones musically, the production is one of the weaker ones overall.

Starting with the good, the production is stunning musically. With lively, atmospheric and nuanced orchestral playing throughout and the chorus sing beautifully and with strong interpretation. Daniele Rustioni's conducting is some of the most impressive of the season. Shining in especially the prelude, "Cortigiani" and "Si Vendetta".

Quinn Kelsey is an authoritative and moving Rigoletto, and sings with a beautiful tone throughout. "Cortigiani" is intense and tear inducing and he wasn't at all phased by the distracting stage business in "Pari Siamo". Piotr Bezcala also impresses, especially in some of his finest ever singing in "Parmi Veder Le Lagrime" (my personal favourite actually of Duke of Mantua's arias). And in "Bella Figlia D'Amore", where he is every inch the seducer. His chemistry with Rosa Feola is beautiful too. Feola sings in a heartfelt and musical way throughout, her "Caro Nome" is a little too careful but she impresses everywhere else. Particularly in Act 3 where her high notes positively float.

Varduhi Abrahamyan is seductive and vulnerable as Maddalena and Craig Colclaugh is a sinister Monterone.

For all those fine things though, not everything works. Visually, the production is not appealing and is too austere and under-furnished. Sparafucile's abode is understandable, but not Rigoletto's not so. There are also some very distracting and over-used staging touches, especially with the turntable (which was actually not needed and served no purpose in solos, not to mention it really jars with the music in particularly dramatic scenes) and it was not a good idea to have stairs and doors being used constantly even in intimate parts, and sometimes they came over as gimmicky.

Was really disappointed with the chemistry between Rigoletto and Gilda. One of the most fascinating and moving father and daughter relationships in all opera, and the source of the character's one proper redeeming quality, and pretty much lacking in intimacy here. Keeping them apart was a big mistake and at odds with the text. Not everything worked performances-wise too, personally did find Andrea Mastrioni a little too restrained and not sinister enough as Sparafucile and also a little underpowered at first. He is in booming voice though in the Act 3 trio.

In summary, uneven but worth seeing. 6/10.

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Verdi: Rigoletto

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