# Regie comes to Toronto - Rigoletto at the Canadian Opera Company



## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

Christopher Alden's new production of _Rigoletto_ in Toronto managed to be both spectacular and ridiculous at the same time. For every moment of beauty there was another that gave a reaction ranging from a giggle to a "Huh?".

First of all, what I call the "CD quality" of the performance was excellent. The COC orchestra, conductor Jonathan Debus, chorus, and the leads were in peak form. Kudos to Rigoletto (Quinn Kelsey), Gilda (Ekaterina Sadovnikova) and the Duke (Dmitri Pittas).

The sets were stunning - in fact, they led to our first problem. Alden decided to set the entire opera - including Rigoletto's house and Sparafucile's room, in the games room of a men's club in the mid 1800's. This set, including the various men in it who were drinking, playing cards, etc., were visible during about 95% of the opera. So when Gilda is singing "Cara nome", some guy in a dinner jacket is wandering over to refill his drink. I'm sure the distraction was designed to show the low value of women in the 19th century... of course. We need to be reminded of it constantly, including at the most touching parts of the opera.

Then there were the things we couldn't see. When Gilda is abducted, it happens behind the curtain. Rigoletto is in front of it, madly tearing at the curtain while the abduction is happening. It had all the touching beauty of Fred Flintstone pounding on the door after he was locked out of his house.

The end of the opera featured the Duke, not singing his reprise of "La Donna e mobile" faintly offstage - no, he draws the curtain shut to cover the murder of Gilda and sings his aria out loud so that we have no doubt that he's still alive and well. Why? Rigoletto himself removes our doubt about this, if there ever was one. Rigoletto then has to reopen the curtain to find Gilda's body. Why? Wouldn't it have been easier and more sensible to leave the curtain alone?

I wouldn't have been surprised to see this Rigoletto in Stuttgart or Leipzig, designed to shock a jaded audience that has seen this opera twenty times. I wish, like soccer hooligans and the Eurovision song contest, it would never have crossed the Atlantic.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

waldvogel said:


> I wouldn't have been surprised to see this Rigoletto in Stuttgart or Leipzig, designed to shock a jaded audience that has seen this opera twenty times. I wish, like soccer hooligans and the Eurovision song contest, it would never have crossed the Atlantic.


Pfffft. It's nothing.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

waldvogel said:


> Then there were the things we couldn't see. When Gilda is abducted, it happens behind the curtain. Rigoletto is in front of it, madly tearing at the curtain while the abduction is happening. It had all the touching beauty of Fred Flintstone pounding on the door after he was locked out of his house.


:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

This production sounds pretty tame compared to the truly lunatic productions so common in Europe. By the way, the conductor's name is Johannes Debus, not Jonanthan.
He's an up-and-coming young German conductor who may be one of the next big names in conducting.


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

To be honest, i have never seen a Rigoletto that i actually liked. Non of the DVDs of this opera cut-it! Not sure why that is? Also, it is fairly unrepresented on the DVD front i would say.

I think it has faired better on cd where i especially liked the Chandos English cd -the immediacy and use of English makes for a thrilling listen.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Go see Quinn Kelsey in this, cause it'll be one of those experiences that you'll look back on and think, "I heard him when he just started out doing Rigoletto." Mark my words, he will be a huge, huge star. I saw him in it three times in Oslo, and I *never* see a production more than once. He sings through his soul and it's spectacular.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Does the COC ever plan to reattempt Wagner's Ring? I would literally move to Toronto if there was some kind of stated commitment.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

"...The pity is that Kelsey could be a Rigoletto for the ages. His richly modulated voice, musical intelligence and dramatic physicality are exactly what the role demands. He gave a stupendous performance within the dire limits imposed, but we could have had even more." - Review from The Globe & Mail News, Toronto


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