{"id":50610,"date":"2018-01-22T14:25:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T19:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=50610"},"modified":"2018-01-24T08:28:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T13:28:55","slug":"scrutiny-cocs-rigoletto-offers-spectacular-singing-but-problematic-staging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2018\/01\/22\/scrutiny-cocs-rigoletto-offers-spectacular-singing-but-problematic-staging\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | COC\u2019s Rigoletto Offers Spectacular Singing But Problematic Staging"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Roland
Roland Wood as Rigoletto in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Rigoletto, 2018, (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Canadian Opera Company: Verdi’s\u00a0<\/em>Rigoletto<\/strong>. Directed by Christopher Alden. Stephen Lord, conductor. At the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts through\u00a0Feb. 23.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>coc.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Based on statistics of opera performances the last five seasons worldwide, Rigoletto <\/em>is ranked No. 10 in popularity as measured by the number of performances (2,285). It\u2019s Verdi\u2019s second most popular opera by the same criterion, with La traviata<\/em> taking top spot. Incidentally, Rigoletto<\/em> was the very first opera staged in the history of the Canadian Opera Company, in its first season, on Feb. 3, 1950!<\/p>\n

Since then, the COC has revived the Verdi warhorse some twelve times, roughly every six seasons, making it one of the most frequently performed opera at the COC. It\u2019s easy to see why. An archetypal Italian grand opera, with a plot of love, lust, filial piety, revenge and death, not to mention a sublime Verdi score with the composer at his most melodically inspired \u2013 that pretty much sums it up. And when you have great voices for the principals, this piece is virtually an audience magnet.<\/p>\n

The Christopher Alden production in its original form was built and staged at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2000. The current version is a COC co-production with English National Opera, it was premiered locally in the fall of 2011, and this revival is its second outing. Toronto opera audiences should be very familiar with the works of the Alden Brothers. They are on the forefront of the new wave of dramaturgy, one that re-thinks and re-imagines the standard repertoire.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t done a systematic count, but there are likely a half-dozen productions directed by them at the COC over the years.\u00a0 Some were more successful than others, at least from the audience\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

\"A
A scene from the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Rigoletto, 2018, (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For some reason, Rigoletto<\/em> is prime fodder for the Regieoper<\/em> treatment. The Jonathan Miller production for the ENO relocated it to a Mafioso-ridden Little Italy in New York. It caused quite a sensation in its premiere in the \u201880s. The current Met production, by Michael Mayer and premiered in 2013, is set in Las Vegas. But most infamous of all was the Doris Dorrie production for Munich Opera a dozen years ago, with characters straight out of Planet of the Apes<\/em>! It didn\u2019t last long, by the way. Compared to this, the COC co-production is tame.<\/p>\n

Alden has time and place-shifted it from the Renaissance to 19th<\/sup> century Victorian England. The single-unit set, sumptuous if immovable, is a Victorian gentlemen\u2019s club, more specifically \u201cthe gaming room\u201d where the men retire after dinner to drink, smoke, and play their games of dominance and subjugation of women. In Alden\u2019s vision, Rigoletto<\/em> is a powerful social and political commentary on class, privilege, and inequality.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t disagree with Alden\u2019s take on the piece, on the sins of a patriarchal society. As Anna Christy said in her interview, it\u2019s a society where women are used as currency. Rigoletto<\/em> is a work with a dark soul \u2013 there are no likable characters in the whole opera, and you can even argue that Gilda\u2019s included. \u00a0What I do have problems with is the storytelling of this production, particularly the technical execution of it, hampered by the rigid, immovable, single-unit set used for all scenes, as designed by Michael Levine.<\/p>\n

This approach in stage design is the trend, especially in Europe. Projections and turntables are less commonly used. The Munich Pelleas<\/em> I saw is set in a hotel lobby. Similarly, Stuttgart Opera\u2019s Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito place their Un ballo in maschera<\/em> in a hotel lounge\/lobby\/bar, a show imported by the COC to very mixed reviews. The Tchernikov Don Giovanni<\/em> from Madrid, also seen in Toronto, is set in the Commendatore\u2019s study. These inflexible designs obfuscate the story-telling.<\/p>\n

\"Anna
Anna Christy as Gilda and Roland Wood as Rigoletto in the Canadian Opera Company\u2019s production of Rigoletto, 2018, (Photo: Michael Cooper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Given that Rigoletto<\/em> requires major scene changes as dictated by the story, a \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach, even if it\u2019s clever, is problematic. The stage is so full of people\u00a0it\u2019s hard to tell who is singing at any given moment. The use of a ladder, the hanging of Monterone, the use of a curtain (pulled mostly by Giovanna), taped sounds of thunderclaps\u00a0to disguise stage noise during scene changes are imperfect solutions. A lot of the time, the characters are alone even when they are singing a duet, very far from each other, perhaps deliberately to signify their isolation.<\/p>\n

The saving grace of this revival is musical. Seen on opening night, top honours were shared by American tenor Stephen Costello (Duke) and British baritone Roland Wood (Rigoletto). \u00a0Costello sounded great, an impressive display of rich tone and resplendent top. He does tend to \u201cscoop\u201d a lot, it\u2019s arguably not a major issue. \u00a0Less ideal was the difference in the sizes of his voice and that of American soprano Anna Christy. In their duet, he overpowered her.\u00a0 Christy was reportedly suffering from a cold.\u00a0 She sang nicely, but was rather careful at the top, where the extreme high notes were produced with noticeable effort. Her soft, warm girlish soprano and diminutive size underscores the vulnerability of Gilda,<\/p>\n

Roland Wood, a memorable Renato in the COC Ballo<\/em> a few years ago, was a remarkable Rigoletto. His rich and imposing Verdi baritone is born to sing Rigoletto and he sounded great, after the initial minutes of warming up. Canadian mezzo Carolyn Sproule made an auspicious COC debut as Maddalena. Georgian bass Goderdzi Janelidze, also making his Company debut, has just the perfectly dark, menacing sound for a scary Sparafucile. Canadian bass Robert Pomakov repeated his excellent Monterone, breathing fire and brimstone in his few moments to shine.<\/p>\n

The COC Chorus and supernumeraries, particularly the men, are very important in this show due to its complicated staging, and they did an outstanding job. American conductor Stephen Lord returned to the Company and led the orchestra in an idiomatic, no-nonsense if somewhat loud reading of the score. At the end of the day, Rigoletto<\/em> stands or falls by its musical values, and this one is a winner.<\/p>\n

Note: In an earlier version of this article, it incorrectly stated that the production originated in the English National Opera.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

LUDWIG VAN TORONTO<\/i>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\n

Want more updates on Toronto-centric classical music news and reviews before anyone else finds out? Follow us on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>or\u00a0<\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/u><\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for all the latest.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the end of the day, Rigoletto stands or falls by its musical values, and this one is a winner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":50611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14761,43,52,63],"tags":[628,1427,2843],"yst_prominent_words":[16018,16014,6885,6871,8540,8545,16016,16011,16086,8550,16012,6911,16020,16017,16013,16019,16015,16010,16021,16022],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/01\/17-18-03-MC-D-0010.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-dai","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50610"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50651,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50610\/revisions\/50651"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50610"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=50610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}