Copyright Donald Cooper/PR
My Royal Opera House season got off to a great start with a double whammy of contrasting operas - Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia on Friday evening, rapidly followed by Verdi's dark drama Rigoletto at the matinee performance the next day. If this blog concentrates on the Verdi, that's no slight to Rossini's sparkling comedy which was everything I hoped it would be - hugely enjoyable fun with some fabulous singing to boot. Go see!
It's very easy to take middle-period Verdi for granted at times and among the twittersphere there was a definite sense of ho-hum about Royal Opera's autumn season offerings - a lack of star singers in some cases or just a lack of excitement about the operas scheduled. To a certain extent I can definitely sympathise - on paper certainly there seemed little to get the operatic juices flowing - at least compared to the upcoming Winter season. First night reports of this Rigoletto did not ease misgivings as singers were reported as being out of sorts and the conducting somewhat erratic. One of the reasons why I mainly give first nights a miss!
This David McVicar production from 2001 is no romantic costume drama rather a bleak dystopian nightmare - the first scene especially is stuffed to the gills with debauchery and copulation of all varieties - not a production for your granny or any small children! While not a prude in the slightest (even if the boob count was on the high side) it was all a bit too hectic, with too much going on and I found my attention wandering and not concentrating on the music - toning down the manic element a little wouldn't harm the depiction of the overall licentiousness of the court of Mantua. But overall this is a very dark portrayal of the opera indeed - there is no light at the end of the tunnel and the only truly sympathetic character is Gilda - and look what happens to her!
The set is essentially a huge dark edifice set on a revolve which serves as the set for all acts. It works as most of the opera is set in dark gloom but there were some pauses between scene changes didn't aid the flow of the drama. Luckily the singers compensated for that.
Saimir Pirgu as the Duke is a fine tenor although I'm not really sure that he captured the essential character of the Duke - there seemed to be little differential between his romantic 'Gualtier Malde' interactions with Gilda, and his altogether more nasty alter-ego. Not that I've seen many other tenors get to grip with this conundrum - they all seem rather more keen on the romantic side of the role than the real meat of the character - a reluctance to play nasty perhaps? For me, this character should have the face and voice of an angel...but the morals of a tom-cat. Of the more recent tenors I've seen in this role only Vittorio Grigolo has convinced me as truly despicable....make of that what you will! Vocally Pirgu took a while to warm up and the voice was a little 'one-note' to start with but things improved by the second act and the money notes were all there. I'd just like a bit more acting and more honey in the voice.
Aleksandra Kurzak is a new voice to me although pretty much established at the Royal Opera, having made her debut in 2005. Again, her voice took a while to warm up but when it did I found it extremely beautiful and perhaps with a little more heft to it than most Gilda's - more lyric soprano than true coloratura. She returns to ROH later in the season as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia something I will definitely look forward to. Her acting here was touching and convincing - which can sometimes be difficult in a plot that is, to say the least, far-fetched in places. Her scenes with Simon Keenlyside were especially convincing.
Ah yes, Perhaps I'd better admit that besides my abiding love for Verdi, the main reason for booking this opera is that I was intrigued to see and hear how one of my favorite baritones would fare in this most taxing of Verdi baritone roles. This was a house role debut for Simon so I'm guessing a lot of the critics and regular audience were also wondering how he would fare. Despite dark rumblings after the first night performance, I found his performance mesmerising and in the end deeply touching. Vocally he may not command the typical Verdian heft but I found nothing wanting in the overall tone and technical accomplishment. He managed the transitions from snarling, cynical jester at the Duke's court, to loving, over-protective Father in his duets with Gilda magnificently. Physically too he gives it his all, staggering, crawling and generally heaving himself around on two sticks as the situation demands - I have no idea how you actually sing while doing that! Rigoletto is one of the few operas where I don't actually cry at the end - not sure sure. But on this occasion there was a definite lump in the throat. Just superb.
The smaller roles were none too shabby either with fine contributions from Brindley Sherratt as a cavernous voiced Sparafucile and Justina Gringyte as a wonderfully convincing Maddalena. Now, I've never really had cause to notice Monterone in this opera before but Sebastian Holecek brought a real character to the stage along with a commanding baritone voice. Is this a future Rigoletto perhaps?
So then a dark and interesting start to the season and a useful reminder for me that even when you think you know an opera very well - and this is very familiar music to me - even I can be surprised at Verdi's achievements. The conventions are still there (cabalettas and slightly improbable plots combine for inadvertent amusement) but at the heart of it there is a dark tale to be told and I'm betting that baritones give thanks to Verdi for such an amazing title role to play!
