CAMBA, Andrea Melisa R.OPERA 1: RIGOLETTO

PLOT SUMMARY

Rigoletto is the right-hand man of the Duke of Mantua. Although not blessed with good physique—hunchbacked and not too attractive—he is good in humiliating the courtiers for his master’s amusement. The Duke on the other had is a lady’s man and is not satisfied until he gets the women he desires. At a night in his casino, the Duke woos the Countess Ceprano while his sidekick Rigoletto mocks the countess’ husband, Count Ceprano. Meanwhile, Marullo, one of the Duke’s entourage, rumors that Rigoletto is keeping a young mistress in his home. Rigoletto, unaware of this, continues to insult Ceprano who now plans of vengeance. Count Monterone appeals to the Duke for seducing his daughter but is cruelly mocked by Rigoletto. Maddened, Monterone casts a father’s curse on Rigolettto.

On his way home, Rigoletto encounters Sparafucile, an assassin, but declines his services. Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter is warned by her father to stay hidden in their home—not revealing that she has fallen in love with a man at church. The Duke appears as the soon as Rigoletto left and bribes Giovanna, the housekeeper, to let him in. He then declares his love for Gilda and immediately left the house. Unexpectedly, the courtiers abduct Gilda believing that she is her father’s mistress. Rigoletto was fooled into assisting them, assuring him that their target was Countess Ceprano. When he realizes what happened he is flustered and remembers the curse.

The courtiers tell their abduction of Gilda to the Duke. He is of course filed with delight knowing that she now waits for him in his room. Rigoletto storms in faking indifference but dreadfully seeks signs of his daughter. He pleads for his daughter’s return but was rejected. Gilda appears dishabille which triggers Rigoletto swear vengeance on the Duke.

Rigoletto makes a deal with Sparafucile to kill the Duke and deliver his body back to him. The Duke was lured in by Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister. Rigoletto brings Gilda with him to spy on the inn trying to convince her daughter about the Duke’s indecent façade. Gilda is unimpressed and tries to fight for her love but Rigoletto sends him home to change into men’s clothing for their travel to Verona. As she journeys home, she hears Maddalena persuading his brother to spare the Duke’s life and kill another man instead. They both decided to kill the next person who shows up at the inn so that Sparafucile will be able to produce a dead body to his client. Gilda, determined to save her love, bravely walks in and was immediately stabbed and stuffed in a sack by the assassin. The body is delivered to Rigoletto. As he is checking the sack, he hears the Duke still singing and is surprised to see that it is his daughter who was murdered. Horrified, Rigoletto recalls Monterone’s curse.

REVIEW/CRITIQ

An internationally acclaimed conductor, a commended director, world-class singers and the country’s leading orchestra—these factors raised people’s expectations to a high level and I must say the production did not disappoint me at all.

DIRECTION

Floy Quintos’ reputation in this business had been very solid ever since and I have been, somehow, a witness to his credibility as a stage director. It amazes me that he never set his standards at a mediocre level, thus giving him a consistent portfolio. In this production, Quintos focused on his actors’ connection to their respective roles. Each artist gave a very genuine approach to his interpretation which made the acting very believable. As a musician, I was really drawn to the arias, especially Gilda’s Caro Nome and Rigoletto’s aria during the death of his daughter where I was already in the verge of tears. I saw truth in every song, movement and interaction.

COSTUME AND STAGE DESIGN

The stage design of the opera was very interesting. Even with just the use of long flowy curtains and wooden platforms, the set was able to match the opera’s grandeur. I liked how the production opted for ease and simplicity. The costumes on the other hand matched Verdi’s splendor in terms of music. The costumes and styling helped in bringing out distinctive personalities of each character. Gilda’s white dress with red stains was my favorite. I loved how the costume illuminated the tragic incident that the character went through (was raped by the Duke’s entourage).

STAGING/ CHOREOGRAPHY

One of the things that fascinated me is the staging. I loved how the actors were blocked in every scene. Probably my favorites were the parts of the Duke’s entourage. Their basic choreography and movements had a very strong impact which made the scenes more effective. Their presence exuded tension and triggered the emotional weight of the musical passages.

The way the quartet was staged also fascinated me. I loved how balanced it was—Maddalena and the Duke on one side, feeding on each other’s energies; and Rigoletto and Gilda on the other, both being wretched and miserable about their struggle. You’ll really notice that this blocking choice was emphasized by the composer to show both balance and contrast among the actors (in terms of characters and emotions).

ORCHESTRA

There was no question that the orchestra did a great job that evening. Jae Joon Lee took the lead in the opera’s one night journey and in I think he did a fantastic job in doing so. He really took good care of the material and made good choices in his musical interpretation. It was shown in the arias and ensemble numbers that he had great consideration to the singers. The most difficult thing, I think, in being a conductor is attaining that equilibrium between the voices and the orchestral instruments, and Jae Joon Lee, being the great conductor that he is, leaped to this aim.

ARTISTS

More than the colorful visuals and stage aesthetics, the real attraction of the opera are the singers. They are the ones who have the most pressure during shows—the singers’ performance will define weather the production was a hit or a miss. It might be quite unfair but it is the truth; the entire opera is on their shoulders.

Rigoletto featured baritone Daesan No in the title role, together with soprano Yun Kyoung Yi and tenor Jae Wook Lee. All delivered in their respective roles and made genuine interpretations of their characters. Daesan No was indeed the star of the show. His rich baritone voice filled every space of the theater. The way he projected his songs and enunciated his words were good enough evidences that he gave justice to the title role. Yun Kyoung Yi on the other hand complemented No’s deep tone and soared in her beautiful arias. Gilda’s Caro Nome is one of the opera’s hooks and I think that she did a fairly good job in singing it. Jae Wook Lee also made sure that he made an impression to the stage. His dramatic tone was very fit to the Duke’s “dramatic” character.

This may sound biased but I think that the opera won’t be a full success without the country’s very own Nenen Espina (Maddalena), Ronan Ferrer (Borsa), Jun Francis Jaranilla (Sparafucile) and Noel Azcona (Count Monterone). They all gave tasteful interpretations on the portrayals of their roles and as expected, they did not disappoint in terms of vocal prowess and musicality.

Coro Tomasino was also highly commendable for being such a solid ensemble. They radiated such great energy which definitely helped the lead actors carry a dynamic performance.

CONCLUSION

This ‘Rigoletto’ was indeed another gem of the classical music industry. It brings me joy that despite the lack of popularity of this art form in the Philippines, CCP still pushed through with this project. But hopefully next time, they could feature more Filipino artists in their productions—not that I’m against foreign artists but it’ll also be nice to promote the amazing talents that our country has to offer.