Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House

Rigoletto - Royal Opera House, 30 March 2012

Numerous revivals down the line, David McVicar's Rigoletto (original director nowhere to be seen) is looking as flaccid as the solitary blink-and-you'll-miss-it todger that crowns its opening orgy scene. (An orgy which, incidentally, strikes me as considerably more heterosexual than on previous outings - anyone watching closely enough to confirm?).

Whenever John Eliot Gardiner got a bit of pace and excitement going (far more frequently than HIP-bashers might assume), we had to wait interminable minutes while the scrapyard scenery made its creaking way around the revolve.

Greek baritone Dimitri Platanias made his Covent Garden debut as the hunchback with the hump. A fine and subtle actor whose rufty-tufty physique belies the elegance and accuracy of his singing, his internalised interpretation may well communicate more strongly in the 17 April live cinema broadcast than it did in the house.

At the opposite end of the scale was Vittorio Grigolo, whose excesses cannot be entirely excused on the grounds that the Duke is a vulgar and preening character. Even if you'd scored a back row seat and forgotten both your glasses and your hearing aid, Grigolo's windmilling paws and stentorian delivery would leave you in no doubt what he was up to. For those a little closer, his interpolated swoops and gasps (inhalation as a dramatic device?) were an additional burden.

The great shame is that somewhere beneath the chest-clutching histrionics lies a singer with a keen understanding of the character, and the technical wherewithal to put it into practice. His firm and pleasant voice is in no need of extra-musical embellishment or unhealthy XXL volume, and beneath the ham lies instinctive dramatic insight. He may not be the new Pavarotti his PRs claim, but he's way more than the new Alfie Boe.

Pitted against the classical rigour of Gardiner's radically clean-limbed accompaniment, Grigolo's posturing often bordered on jaw-dropping absurdity.

Ekaterina Siurina's Gilda was a much more conventional interpretation. This is a signature role for her, ideally suited to her silvery tones, and a return to a production she knows well. But the very security of her delivery lacked the sparkle of freshness and innocence, not to mention pathos. Even her top notes, no longer easily accessed, were so artfully placed that any vulnerability was concealed. At times she even seemed more sophisticated than her rough-hewn father - which has to be wrong.

Of course no-one goes to Rigoletto purely for the Maddalena and Sparafucile, but Christine Rice and Matthew Rose were a near-perfect compensation for any reservations elsewhere in the cast. Elizabeth Sikora's devious Giovanna and ZhengZhong Zhou's confident Marullo were other standouts. A pity though that the Royal Opera House couldn't rustle up a more powerful Monterone than Gianfranco Montresor, whose ghastly curse carried the weight of a playground taunt. 

Production photos (above) - Johan Persson/Royal Opera House

Curtain call photos (below) - intermezzo.typepad.com

 Thanks to Kyoko for the curtain call video:

Comments

[SJT]

Well, there seemed on the opening night to be some bending over and kneeling going on between gentlemen in the top right window of the hideous Perspex set. Oddly enough, tonight, I think it was male/female activity going on upstairs. Perhaps, like all the best orgies, it's all down to the mood of the moment, and who fancies whom.

It only finally occurred to me tonight, after 11 years of this ugly, unfocussed staging, that the girl who is the recipient of the Prologue's flaccid member is supposed to be Monterone's daughter: then seen mooning around madly ever after, including hanging on to the Duke at the start of Act II. It would help of course if either she or her father showed some signs of mutual recognition when they're onstage together.

Sigh.

SJT

[Manou]

Well - I saw McVicar at the Rigoletto rehearsal, so he is fully implicated in this creaky old production.

The sets are horribly annoying (all that corrugated iron and chicken wire), and completely inappropriate if Rigoletto lives across the road from Ceprano who presumably has no truck with slums - the (disappointing) TV production showed the wonderful stone buildings of Mantua to splendid effect.

I completely agree with SJT about the Signorina Monterone, especially about her frankly otiose appearance during Ella Mi Fu Rapita, and I was minded to shout "she is under the stairs!!" afterwards.

Having seen Leo Nucci as Rigoletto in Orange, I also think that the costume Platanias is imprisoned in (crustacean, insect, whatever) plus the two walking sticks considerably reduce his mobility and I think do not allow him enough scope to express himself. The first time I saw the production, I liked it a lot, but now I think it is a mistake.

Last beef - during Cortigiani, when Rigoletto tells them that Gilda is his daughter, he says "Si, e mia figlia - adesso non ridete!", which should prompt all the courtiers to stop laughing, although I would concede that you could take it as an injunction not to laugh (you could translate it as "you're not laughing now!" - but also "now stop laughing!"), and I think they should be stunned and stop the jesting, if only for a moment. Here, they just carry on teasing him. In fairness Marullo, who has taken the walking stick from Rigoletto, does seem a bit regretful and about to hand it over, but takes a look at the others and throws it on the floor - nicely judged esprit de corps moment.

I liked Surina a lot - she has a lovely personality and I think this comes across very well. And she could well be more sophisticated than her father, who has sent her away to be educated elsewhere (OK - probably not in a finishing school in Switzerland) - she says she has only been in Mantua three months.

I absolutely refuse to even name the tenorino who played the Duke.
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Intermezzo replies - the ROH have credited Leah Hausman as the revival director, so if McVicar is involved, he's not owning up to it.

[Mr Bear]

I think it was too heterosexual for the family with little kid (8 ish) watching mid-stalls last night! They did not return after the interval. Wonder if they've booked for Salome?

[Deborah]

Mr Bear, I've been to performances of Wozzeck where people have taken their young children. Did they realise what they were booking?

[Gi]

OMG. I have tickets for later in the month. I had hoped that someone would have reined Griggolo in. I still hope someone does - perhaps he would stumble over your post?

I saw Dimitri Platanias as Posa in Lisbon in October, and thought he had a fine voice which however didn't carry over the orchestra; also he didn't seem much of an actor. I am curious to see him again on a different stage.

[Su Traditor]

David McVicar was around for most of the stage and orchestra rehearsals but I think even he was at a loss what to do with the "tenorino". Perhaps someone could enlighten us why VG was shouted at by a chorister in rehearsals?! I think the absence of homosexuals at the orgy has more to do with who is off on a particular night as there are several male couplings in the production.
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Intermezzo replies - Ah, that explains it. The first night orgy was dominated by a lady eating fruit in a saucy manner.

[Ivy violet]

Having received a sort of warning email that two of the three ballets about to debut under the heading 'Polyphonia' contain nudity and strong language, I do think that the Royal Opera should also be advising us that this Rigolletto is not suitable for children. There is justification for making the opening into an orgy because of the plot, but there is no justification in taking the punters' money and allowing a child to sit through it.
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Intermezzo replies - There's a clear warning on the booking page (and on the cinema ads) that it contains nudity. It's up to parents to decide whether that means it's suitable for their children.

[Andres]

As much as I love Rigoletto, tonight's show was a muted, tired affair, and VG wasn't performing for our amusement either. The best of the night was to find a tuxedoed Jonas Kaufmann posing in a boxing ring on the cover of the summer programme. A nice detail from da House.

[john]

Saw it tonight (11 April).

Platanias' singing was sensational. Not close enough to the stage to see the facial acting (or lack thereof per most reviews) but his singing was a real wow. A bit muffled at the low end, but middle and top and overall effect were up there with Gavannelli.

Lucy Crowe stood in as Gilda and was also sensational. A tad underpowered on the odd occassion, but a real wow.

VG for the most part he sang really, really well. I was pleasantly surprised (not a big fan). I will leave his acting and curtain call demeanour to others to critique !

I agree the supporting singers were excellent. (albeit also agree the Monterone curse really has to be a decibel blast, and was not)

Gardiner? At the beginning I thought he was not "getting it" right in terms of overall effect, albeit he did bring out some unusual detail which was a big bonus. But I felt he and the orchestra did "get it" after the first half of Act I, and enjoyed the interpretation.

Don't miss it.

[Hugh Kerr]

saw the live transmission tonight at the Cameo Edinburgh it was a technical disaster the surtitles didnt work, the sound was out of sync and often unbalanced on the stage and there frequent trasmission glitches.The Cameo management were so emberassed they offered the audience their money back at the interval however most chose to stay for the fine singing of all the principals despite the crap production.Ironically in the cinema next door they were showing the encore transmission of the Met's Traviata which I saw on Saturday this shows what live opera transmission should be like Covent Garden clearly have much to learn!

[Miriam]

I saw it at the Gulbenkian Cinema in Canterbury. We did not have all the problems Hugh reports and certainly nothing to interfere with enjoyment of the fine performance, titles were OK and also sound good apart from a very small number of momentary breaks. However with this being a very dark production I often noticed that the picture had horizontal banding of lighter and darker areas in the dark background, I was not sure whether this was the fault of the transmission or the reception/equipment at the cinema.