The revival of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto now on stage at Lyric Opera of Chicago features several noteworthy debuts and a significant interpretation of the title character. The Duke of Mantua is sung by Javier Camarena, and Gilda – object of the Duke’s desires – is portrayed by Mané Galoyan. Rigoletto, the court jester and father of Gilda, is performed by Igor Golovatenko. The assassin Sparafucile and his sister Maddalena are sung by Soloman Howard and Zoie Reams. Monterone is Andrew Manea. The roles of the Count and Countess Ceprano, Marullo, Borsa, and Gilda’s attendant Giovanna are portrayed by Christopher Humbert, Jr., Adia Evans, Sankara Harouna, Travon D. Walker, and Maire Therese Carmack. The director of the current revival of Rigoletto is Mary Birnbaum. The set, costume, and lighting designers of the original production are Robert Innes Hopkins, Jane Greenwood, and Duane Schuler. The Lyric Opera Orchesrea is led in these performances by Enrique Mazzola and the Lyric Opera Chorus is prepared by Michael Black. Making debuts at Lyric Opera in these performances are Mmes. Galoyan, Evans, Carmack, and Birnbaum as well as Messrs. Camarena, Manea, Walker, and Humbert.
In keeping with the director’s stated intentions to reflect on the persona and dramatic position of the character Gilda, the audience is shown the young woman in supplementary settings and gestures. During the overture, for example, Gilda appears alone through a scrim, dimly lit, while sifting through papers in a container of seeming memorabilia. When the crashing chords of the brief overture conclude, attention shifts to the brightly lit interior of the Duke’s palace capturing the jovial spirit of a festivity in progress. When the Duke enters, he communicates to the courtier Borsa his obsession with an unnamed maiden whom he has seen at church. In this role Mr. Camarena leaves no doubt that his focused energies are matched by a refusal to remain committed physically. He sings with smooth lyricism while incorporating dramatic touches to emphasize the character’s self-assured personality. Camarena’s voice rises comfortably to top notes in “Questa e quella,” yet he does not linger as if to indicate an unwilling attitude toward constancy. When Count Ceprano appears and reacts angrily to the Duke’s attentions paid to the Countss, Rigoletto’s public role commences. Mr. Golovatenko has his character relish in jest, while he describes the Count as cuckold. Golovatenko sings his role here with a sample of the broad range he draws on throughout the performance. At the thundering entrance of Count Monterone Mr. Manea’s chilling words cause the courtiers’ joviality to halt for only a moment. Manea’s imprecations snarled at the Duke and the “serpente,” as he addresses Rigoletto, are intended to avenge the breached honor of his family. Monterone’s words in the closing measures of the scene could be an effectively threatening imprecation, but the chorus at this point becomes overly dominant.
Still, the effect on Golovatenko’s Rigoletto remains palpable. In the brief scene during which he encounters the assassin Sparafucile this Rigoletto shows himself to be confused, frightened, and thoughtful. This scene proves to be a nucleus of both the characters and dramatic development in the present production. Mr. Howard, who describes himself with deep ominous pitches as “un uom di spada” [“swordsman”], functions here to repel and to attract Rigoletto. Golovatenko modulates his voice to each of the emotional states in this trajectory, finally shaking off his musing with a dramatic, sustained top note on “Ah no, è follia!”
The scene between Gilda and Rigoletto is appropriately touching, as Ms. Galoyan unfolds her approach to Gilda’s character. She emphasizes her middle register here and in subsequent passages to good effect. At the same time she touches on top pitches to suggest emotional independence. Logically, the following duet with the Duke captures a considerably more demonstrative Gilda, during which Camarena and Galoyan blend in forte passages. Before the Duke’s departure this Gilda’s enthusiasm prompts her to toss herself onto the Duke with apparent willingness. The solo showpiece “Caro nome” emphasizes here, at first, an introspective Glda, as Galoyan lingers on pitches to consider her feelings. As she grows again more excited emotionally, the final notes with an extended trill on the feigned name Gualtier Maldè indicate her increasing commitment. After the abduction and Rigoletto’s realization of having been duped, Golovatenko invests his calls of Gilda’s name with near cries of desperation and unexpected betrayal.
The musical and dramatic structures of the next two acts allow the present cast and production to enhance their development of character, motivation, and relationships. At the return to the ducal palace the presumed loss of the maiden is lamented by the nobleman. Camarena’s legato phrasing and genuine fervor in “Ella mi fu rapita” suggest an attraction that permits the possibility now of constancy. Upon learning from his courtiers that Gilda has been brought to the court, Camarena’s rapid reprise with coloratura accents illustrates how the Duke has fallen back into his wonted lechery. The performance of “Cortigiani” by Golovatenko is sung with pleading yet dignified anguish and with shimmering timbre on the final “pietate.” The concluding duet between father and daughter, each arguing for fulfillment or vengeance, is performed with dramatic intensity and with the expectation of resolution in the final act.
Camarena’s lusty and accurate “La donna è mobile” is followed by his lead in the quartet of Gilda, Maddalena, the Duke, and Rigoletto. Here the voices are well balanced with rubato used to emphasize individual lines. When Gilda returns disguised as a young man, she knocks, as expected on the door of Sparafucile’s lair. Rather than the blow of a dagger a brief swordplay ensues, this motif apparently in keeping with Sparafucile’s self-definition from the second scene of the opera. The final heart-wrenching moments between Gilda and Rigoletto are accompanied by an angelic figure at stage left beckoning Gilda heavenward. Yet the ultimate attention belongs here to Rigoletto, as he understands the full tragedy of the curse.
Salvatore Calomino
Top image: Igor Golovatenko (Rigoletto) and Mané Galoyan (Gilda). Photo by Todd Rosenberg Photography.