# MET's RIGOLETTO January 29  I Recommend!!!



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

I saw the Met's new Rigoletto last night and wholeheartedly recommend watching this weekends performance showing in the movie theaters. After the fact, I'd eagerly compare notes with anyone but for now I'll just say that I thought the three principals, and indeed all of the performers, brought something worth while and I would not be surprised at all to hear that some of you were very taken with parts of the show! At its best I thought it was terrific!


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Looking forward to the Wednesday matinee next week. I am interested in comparing it to the Rat Pack version which I figured I would close my eyes throughout the whole damned thing and ... voila! came out loving it. So who knew? LOL


----------



## DeGustibus (Aug 7, 2020)

Thanks for the endorsement. I will certainly be listening, although probably won't get to the theater this time. I had heard promising things from some folks in NYC that had seen some rehearsals. Once the current season's HD broadcasts begin to show up on the streaming service, I will renew my membership, which I just realized lapsed at the end of the year, so hopefully will catch it there before too long.
(I will say that even though we have been in Central time for almost 6 years now, I still can't get used to a noon start--for the Met of the NFL!)


----------



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Now that there has been a little time I will put in my full review!

I only learned from the friend I was attending the opera with, that night, about the placing of the opera in the Weimar Republic, post World War I. I have some sense of the period but not alot and it did not really affect my take on the opera. I thought it looked attractive. But aside from the period placement, the things I felt were drawbacks in the show came entirely from the stage direction! These mostly had to do with what I believe to be one of the simple and, for me, close to inarguable tenets of stage direction that the director refused to follow....move on your own line!

I had no problems in Act I and was raving about the show at intermission. For some reason in Act II, characters began to roam the stage while another character was singing important and at times potentially moving music. In Act I Gilda and Rigoletto sang their famous music directly to each other and each seemed to be listening to the other and pieces I have heard hundreds of times felt meaningful and touching. In Act II, for some reason, while Gilda sang Tutte Le Feste, Rigoletto wandered around upstage, splitting focus to no dramatic purpose that I could see and robbing her important music of weight. In Cortigianni, as Rigoletto enters the final, potentially heart rending section, the director brings Gilda on upstage. He had an idea,I'm sure, that this would add. For me, it subtracted greatly, messing with the focus as one of operas greatest characters was reaching the climax of his greatest solo musical expression. There were others. This was my only real problem and it subtracted from my enjoyment noticeably.

The performers were terrific!!! My first time hearing Beczala live and he's the Duke all over....handsome,easy of manner and confident. Vocally he's very close to top level. He's got all the notes and sings with abandon. I think its just not quite a real star level sound.

Rosa feola was a wonderful Gilda, investing every coloratura line of Caro Nome with a real emotional reason for doing it...really impressive. Her annoyance at Rigoletto's over protection caught me off guard and seemed un-affectionate until I got the idea and then it seemd so real and brilliant.

Kelsey has a real character for Rigoletto embodied in his walk. The middle and upper middle are beautiful and strong and expressive and he sings with beautiful soft tones often. He doesn't seem to have the Verdian top notes and omitted or made quick work of some of the famous ones and that is a bit of a drawback, not for showy reasons but for the build to emotional climaxes. But he's a wonderful Rigoletto.

Andrea Mastroni was the best Sparafucile I've ever heard, easily!


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Sorry Scott to burst your bubble but my take is rather on the negative side I am afraid. Please be kind when you boil me in that Rachel oil.

Oh Lordy. Here we go. I will be Rachel-boiled-in-oil for my nasty criticisms but go ahead and have at me -- I couldn't stand it. To me it was another Sher disaster (excluding the Rat Pack version which trumped this one by a mile).
Nothing to me made sense except the fine singing which saved me from walking.
Where do I start?
So many things were unrealistic or just not thought out by someone who didn't seem to know what the libretto really conveyed.
And what was that stupid bit about Gilda standing there watching her father during the Cortigiani and ruining his one important scene by distracting us? How dumb can you get? And if she does come in (at that wrong time) why does she just stand there and watch his pain instead of immediately interrupting him and saving him? Her usual running in at the end makes much more sense than that.

My first glance at Gilda left me in shock. The costume they decided upon looked so dowdy I thought I was looking at a 35 year old matron and not a delicate, innocent flower which I perceived her to be, and which is inferred in so many words in the libretto. This was a strong "today woman" not a church-going "girl". She never ceased to look like she could take good care of herself. Even Feola herself admitted that she played her as a strong character.

And what about that knock on the inn door by (supposedly) her? Who DID do those knocks? She was simply standing there in the rain. Her hand never moved to bang the door. Also the staging of her being placed in the bag was clumsily done at best.

And (just as an aside), we kept thinking that there was something going on between Feola and Kelsey. Did they have words? They certainly didn't seem like a beloved daughter-father pairing. She avoided him as much as possible. And at the end of the act, as we watched backstage, he looked absolutely furious as he stormed stage left. Wonder what that was all about. Even his curtain call at the end looked dour.

The important stuff -- the singing: 
Feola has a beautiful voice but is bereft of a true trill which should be an important part of that aria. I also didn't recognize some of the ways in which she changed the usual melody. I just thought her casting made zero sense. I couldn't put her together with a Gilda.

Beczala: I went fully prepared to hear forced highs and problems after all the negative posts of his prima performance and found him to have been totally charming and singing beautifully. He looked good too.

Kelsey: Yay for us! We've got a truly superb baritone in our midst. Long may he last. His reaction to her death was gut-wrenching.

But that Sparafucile totally knocked me out. Mastroni is another great find. What a bass voice. He was another pleasure to listen to.

The entire cast performed admirably and saved the day but this had to be the worst conceived production I have ever seen. Even in the rehearsal room segment with Gelb, what did Sher talk about? The characters? The voices? No way. He delighted in discussing the staging and the sets. Go back to Broadway Sher. You understand that milieu much better. 
Sorry to be such a curmudgeon but I think Verdi would have been shaking his head in awe too.


----------



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

nina foresti said:


> Sorry Scott to burst your bubble but my take is rather on the negative side I am afraid. Please be kind when you boil me in that Rachel oil.
> 
> Oh Lordy. Here we go. I will be Rachel-boiled-in-oil for my nasty criticisms but go ahead and have at me -- I couldn't stand it. To me it was another Sher disaster (excluding the Rat Pack version which trumped this one by a mile).
> Nothing to me made sense except the fine singing which saved me from walking.
> ...


Nina, I think you and I line up more than your opening line to me would seem to indicate.

Without enumerating our various positions we simply saw yet another stage director ruin an opera.....never heard that complaint in todays opera world have you??!! I guess I was a little more okay with Act I than you, but by Act II you and I are railing about alot of the same things and YES....the handling of the end of Cortiganni was criminal!! I'm okay with the spunkier Gilda, once I realized that was what she was doing. I'll defer to you on coloratura singing but I did think she found a way to make alot of the runs sound dramatically valid.

A Rigoletto with that much good singing will always be glass half full ( at least) for me. But would someone send the directors back to stage direction 101 ???!!!!

PS No Rachel oil


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Scott:
Now that I think about it, you are so right that our writings about the Rigoletto production seem to align much more than I had realized. I guess it was because of the original title of the thread, which threw me off.
Please pass that olive oil and join me for a nice tossed salad.


----------



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

nina foresti said:


> Scott:
> Now that I think about it, you are so right that our writings about the Rigoletto production seem to align much more than I had realized. I guess it was because of the original title of the thread, which threw me off.
> Please pass that olive oil and join me for a nice tossed salad.


:lol::lol::lol:


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

I was very interested in hearing how Kelsey's Rigoletto went and I'm glad to hear that some of you enjoyed it. After watching this video I came away thinking he doesn't have the voice for the role, but I trust those of you who heard him in the house:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Bonetan said:


> I was very interested in hearing how Kelsey's Rigoletto went and I'm glad to hear that some of you enjoyed it. After watching this video I came away thinking he doesn't have the voice for the role, but I trust those of you who heard him in the house:


I feel afraid for him here. He sounds as if he's pushing his voice to make it seem bigger than it is. Parlando effects, unvibrated notes and aspirates abound, and there's not much squillo in the tone. This seems a clear case of a singer drawing on his vocal capital rather than his interest. Intrinsically, it's a very attractive instrument. Be careful, Quinn!


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> I feel afraid for him here. He sounds as if he's pushing his voice to make it seem bigger than it is. Parlando effects, unvibrated notes and aspirates abound, and there's not much squillo in the tone. This seems a clear case of a singer drawing on his vocal capital rather than his interest. Intrinsically, it's a very attractive instrument. Be careful, Quinn!


My thoughts exactly. Unless this is an off night, he may want to consider dropping this role for the sake of his voice. He's simply over-parted here imo


----------



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Bonetan said:


> My thoughts exactly. Unless this is an off night, he may want to consider dropping this role for the sake of his voice. He's simply over-parted here imo


This is to you and Wooduck. I heard it in the house. BUT...my friend's friend got us house seats...for $50 I was 4th row center. I'm not gloating, I'm trying to put into perspective what I was hearing. Tons of places upstairs have a better sound balance than those seats but, of course, I could easily hear everything.

First time hearing him and my take is, even if you both did hear some pushing (and I'm not doubting you) he is primarily one of those singers who will "do it with HIS voice", let the chips fall as they may. I'd be surprised if he ends up being a forcing casualty.

My take was very positive but I'm not saying it was a young Macneil voice. Middle and upper middle, beautiful, full and sensitively used. Lucic and Gagnidze have been the "stars" in these roles for awhile and he was, to me, well above them. And there's artistry there.

The trouble is the top. Not just the absence of those great moments but the way he has to treat all of the phrases that approach. Thats alot of important real estate in Rigoletto.

It will be interesting to see.

PS Mr. Bonetan, you may find BalaikaBoys Male Chest voice thread interesting!


----------



## ScottK (Dec 23, 2021)

Woodduck said:


> I feel afraid for him here. He sounds as if he's pushing his voice to make it seem bigger than it is. Parlando effects, unvibrated notes and aspirates abound, and there's not much squillo in the tone. This seems a clear case of a singer drawing on his vocal capital rather than his interest. Intrinsically, it's a very attractive instrument. Be careful, Quinn![/QUOTE.
> 
> All right I just finally listened to this cut of him singing and if this was all I heard I would be right where you two were. Lots of constricted tone in here and lack of resonance . Not what I felt I heard in the house at all. I can't account for the difference whether it's different nights or different place in the house but definitely a different experience.


----------

