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San Diego Opera's Powerful "Rigoletto"

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  • San Diego Opera's Powerful "Rigoletto"

    SAN DIEGO OPERA'S POWERFUL "RIGOLETTO"
    By Kenneth Herman

    SanDiego.com
    http://www.sandiego.com/index.php?option=com_sdca &target=0fb4c187-86b9-4ce1-9664-105a92f6ce08
    M arch 30 2009
    CA

    Opera plots, especially Verdi opera plots, receive a great deal of
    flack for their incredible situations. At the top of the list is the
    crazy gypsy who immolates her own child by mistake ("Il Trovatore"),
    followed by the near-comatose terminal patient who suddenly revives
    before her final breath to sing a dramatic aria ("La Traviata"), and
    the lovesick youth who chooses to sacrifice her life to save a lover
    whom she has just witnessed in yet another cynical tryst ("Rigoletto").

    But before brushing away these credulity-straining instances as the
    inevitable by-product of an effete, blue-blooded hobby, consider
    the populist counterparts on the commercial musical stage. How about
    the two vicious New York street gangs that sing and dance as if they
    had spent their whole lives training with Martha Graham ("West Side
    Story")? Or the grand giugnol infatuation with a deformed masked
    creature who inhabits a grotto beneath the sewers of Paris ("Phantom
    of the Opera")? Or the gaggle of snotty Austrian siblings who outwit
    Nazi treachery by chirping sappy songs ("The Sound of Music")?

    We are ready to suspend cold, rational analysis, however, if we can
    be taken on a rich emotional journey that provides some psychological
    or ethical insights along the way. San Diego Opera offered such a
    journey Saturday (March 28) with the opening of its production of
    Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto." Under the astute direction of Lotfi
    Mansouri onstage and Eduoardo Mueller in the pit, this "Rigoletto"
    commanded our empathy and rewarded us with a faithful facsimile of
    its many musical treasures.

    Georgian baritone Lado Ataneli tore into the title role without
    apology, emphasizing Rigoletto's abusive pranks as the Duke's court
    jester and balancing this cruel demeanor with a warm, paternal
    tenderness towards his daughter Gilda. San Diego Opera loyalists
    recall Ataneli's success as a more sympathetic Verdi father character
    in his 2005 local debut as the company's Simon Boccanegra. Ataneli's
    large, muscular baritone was rarely challenged by the high tessitura
    of Rigoletto, and, while he does not possess the vocal finesse of a
    Sherrill Milnes, his stylistic authority is beyond question.

    In her San Diego debut, the young Slovakian soprano L'ubica Vargicová
    was a winning Gilda, a gleaming coloratura brightness on top and
    a warm lyrical quality in her mid-range. It is not surprising that
    one of her calling cards has been the Queen of the Night in Mozart's
    "The Magic Flute." Her "Caro Nome" was in turn delicate, supple, and
    ravishing, although when she unleashes the power of her upper range,
    her pitch is at times more approximate than spot-on. In her duets with
    Ataneli she connected magnetically, and their rapport was palpable.

    As the Duke of Mantua, Albanian tenor Giuseppe Gipali's decadence was
    spelled out in lower case letters, his zeal for romantic conquest
    just two steps above perfunctory. His polished, Italianate tenor
    voice and ample attention to beautiful phrasing might have worked in
    a much smaller opera house than San Diego's 3,000-seat Civic Theatre,
    but the modest scale of his voice matched his small-scaled concept
    of his role. In his duets with Vargicová, she frequently brought her
    dynamic level down to match his, and Mueller was equally sympathetic
    in the pit. But in the final scene quartet of principals, including
    mezzo-soprano Kristin Chavéz as Maddelena, he was just audible
    below his compatriots, a disappointing imbalance dramatically and
    emotionally to Verdi's brilliant culmination of the opera.

    Singers in the cast who stood out include baritone Malcom MacKenzie as
    the duplicitous courtier Marullo, who sang incisively and projected
    both voice and character well; Armenian bass Artujun Kotchinian,
    whose dark timbre insinuated malevolence from the first phrase as
    the assassin Sparafucile, and former San Diegan Martha Jane Howe as
    Gilda's maid Giovanna, who sang with her usual creamy contralto. Howe
    has perfected these comprimario roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago,
    and it was a delight to hear her again. Bass-baritone Scott Silkon's
    Count Monterone communicated the requisite gravity and moral outrage
    of his role, but Chavéz's Maddelena had more visual allure than vocal.

    The men of the opera chorus (Verdi gives the female choristers a night
    off in this opera) under the direction of Timothy Todd Simmons outdid
    themselves with virile, vibrant, and well-balanced singing, and their
    playful menace in the abduction scene served the drama well. Mueller,
    a seasoned Verdi maestro, serves as the company's Principal Guest
    Conductor, and under his knowing direction, the orchestra played with
    precison and panache.

    Mansouri, former General Director of San Francisco Opera, maintained
    lively stage action and graceful interaction of the characters, and
    his deftly choreographed crowd scenes suggested the louche life of
    the Mantuan Court. Perhaps his early career staging operas for the
    former Shah of Iran gave him uncommon insight into the daily intrigue
    and manipulations of court life.

    Carl Toms' two-tiered, period stage set from New York City Opera
    facilitated the dramatic action nicely--the grand staircase in
    the opening scene added an elegant touch to counteract the garish,
    over-sized statue of the Duke that foolishly dominated the front of
    the ducal ballroom. The gauzy, see-through walls of the inn's upstairs
    bedroom in the final scene helped provoke both Gilda's insult and
    injury as the Duke cavorted with Maddelena. Toms was also responsible
    for the brightly-hued regalia of the court. Keturah Stickann's modest
    choreography in the ballroom scene gave an apt nod to the customs of
    Renaissance dance.

    Verdi eagerly chose to make an opera of the story of "Rigoletto,"
    based on a play by Victor Hugo, because he saw in its drama a profound
    "Shakespearean depth." This production shed more than a little light
    on the validity of the composer's original decision, no mean feat
    for an opera which is typically recalled for its catchy tunes and
    overwrought melodrama.

    PRESS HERE FOR PROGRAM

    PRESS HERE CAST BIOS

    Dates : March 28, 31; April 3, 5, 8 Organization : San Diego Opera
    Phone : (619) 533-7000 Production Type : Opera Region : Downtown
    URL : www.sdopera.com Venue : San Diego Civic Theatre, 202 C Street,
    San Diego

    About the author: Kenneth Herman began his writing career as a music
    critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune and covered classical music
    for the San Diego Edition of the Los Angeles Times (1982-1992). He
    wrote "A History of the Spreckels Organ." and is currently Music
    Director/Organist for the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San
    Diego and conducts the 60-voice San Diego Youth Choir.
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