Rigoletto san francisco opera1/6/2023 If “Caro nome,” Rigoletto’s great soprano showcase for Rigoletto’s naïve daughter Gilda (Idaho-born Madison Leonard), didn’t contain the last iota of flexibility, that was due to Montanaro’s careful attention to the soprano’s strengths. For a short while, you could almost believe that there was a tender heart beneath the Duke’s despicable public persona. Vocally, he went from strength to strength his “Parmi veder le lagrime” (“I can almost see her tears”) was as beautiful as his “La donna è mobile” was thrillingly repulsive. Carlo Montanaro conducts Rigoletto | Credit: Philip NewtonĪvetisyan’s acting was exceptional, with body language that projected “arrogant bastard” far beyond the footlights. As much as Montanaro and his cast honored the letter of Verdi’s score, they also acknowledged that great theater requires expressive freedom. He allowed Avetisyan to bend and extend phrases, and to linger on important notes that included a thrillingly interpolated, extended B natural at the end of “La donna è mobile.” Even the pacing of the beloved quartet, “Bella figlia dell’amore,” bore more similarities to the old Caruso recordings than to some of the strict metronomic readings of the late 20th century. Hers is an extremely attractive, unified, and unforced update that makes the opera more real and emotionally impactful than any production of Rigoletto I’ve witnessed.įrequent Seattle Opera conductor Carlo Montanaro brought a flexibility of tempo to opening night that harkened back to the golden age at the start of the recording era. Hume’s Rigoletto, in which the interior of the Duke’s palace (designed by Richard Roberts and effectively lit by Jason Morphett) looms over many of the opera’s scenes, proved an ideal fit for the musical drama. Lester Lynch (Rigoletto) and Liparit Avetisyan (The Duke of Mantua) with the Seattle Opera Chorus | Credit: Sunny Martini With a “bad boy” Duke of Mantua (debuting Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan) inspired by Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian prime minister whose tenure was marked by what Hume describes as sexual scandal, political incorrectness, immaculate tailoring, and cosmetically enhanced smiles, her production centers on a court that reeks of toxic masculine arrogance.
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