If you like your nineteenth century operas staged in a Las Vegas Casino or a spaceship, this is not that opera. Amusingly, I found it almost shocking to see an opera staged today in the time period it was written for, the 1500s. Verdi’s Rigoletto is a great Italian opera, perhaps the finest example of classic Italian opera. It has maintained its enormous popularity since its premier in 1851, regardless of how it is staged. Worldwide, the current average is two productions of Rigoletto every week of the year and was, for many years, my favorite opera. Opera Baltimore’s stellar, classically staged performance on Sunday afternoon reminded me why I love it. Let me count the ways…and why it bothers me.
Rigoletto (Grant Youngblood) surrounded by masked courtiers. Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
There are three main characters in Rigoletto (Warning – spoilers ahead): The Duke of Mantua, a one dimensional womanizer who wields enormous power due to his position; Rigoletto, his sharp-tongued court jester, a more complex character who while sympathetic is no innocent, venting his wrath on an unfair world; and Gilda, the sheltered daughter that Rigoletto has raised alone and maintained in a secluded apartment, innocent, unaware of the deception and evil lurking in the world. The Duke spots a beautiful young woman and follows her home, not knowing who she is, and plots her seduction, pretending to be a poor college student (note: at the beginning of the opera, he is seducing the wife of a courtier and at the end, he is attempting to bed a tavern wench, Maddelena). Protected by the Duke’s patronage, Rigoletto frequently mocks members of court, incurring their anger. He continues to ridicule Count Monterone, whose daughter was defiled by the Duke, and Monterone places a curse upon him, “…you who ridicule a father’s grief, my curse upon you!”. Rigoletto is frozen with fear. Ultimately, with the help of the courtiers who then laugh at Rigoletto, the Duke succeeds with Gilda, and the enraged Rigoletto hires the assassin Sparafucile to kill the Duke. Rigoletto leads Gilda to witness the Duke’s attempt to seduce the tavern wench Maddelena and orders her away. But no, her purity and her love for the Duke cause her to remain and sacrifice her life “for the Duke to lead a happy life”. In the final scene, Rigoletto discovers it is Gilda and not the Duke who has been killed. The curse has been realized.
Gilda (Rachel Blaustein) sits alone, isolated in her upstairs room. Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
The opera was adapted by Verdi and his librettist Maria Francesca Piave from a Victor Hugo play that was banned after one performance for political and moral reasons. Mr. Hugo’s play, and thus the opera, was mostly based on real people but the storyline is fiction. A story this powerful and complex needs the compositional powers of a Verdi to have music that both draws the audience into the opera house and draws them into the story. Pleasing, feel good tunes abound and melodies flow like wine, but all are carefully constructed, with purpose, by Verdi. Conductor Viswa Subbaraman made his Opera Baltimore and OperaDelaware debuts with this production. I was surprised to read after the performance that this was also his debut in conducting Verdi. Maybe I should scale back the positive comments I was going to offer about the musical performance? No, I thoroughly enjoyed the Verdi music performed by the OperaDelaware Orchestra under his direction. On a few occasions, the music seemed a little overpowering, but was overall not a major issue. The music, which often uses phrases with only a few instruments, is carefully crafted and needs to be precisely delivered. Maestro Subbaraman and the orchestra did well; kudos to both.
The Duke (Dane Suarez) pursues the married Countess Ceprano (Denique Isaac). Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
Opera Baltimore/OperaDelaware have brought together a large cast for this production; thirteen named performers are listed in the performance notes. Veteran baritone Grant Youngblood delivered a standout performance as Rigoletto. Early on, my heart melted at the beauty of his voice and his singing of Verdi’s duet with Gilda. His portrayal of Rigoletto was equally effective. I had the feeling I was observing the Duke’s physically and morally deformed court jester and not just an actor performing the role. I had the feeling Mr. Youngblood was born to play this role. Tenor Dane Suarez sang the role of the Duke of Mantua with an appealing, deeply resonant voice. He performed the hit tunes “Questa e quella” and “Donna e mobile” pleasingly, and his act 2 solo with emotion. I never quite got the measure of him as the Duke; early on he seemed a bit sensitive, though at the end in the tavern, he achieved the Duke’s vacuousness. I have become a big fan of soprano Rachel Blaustein who sang the role of Gilda, having attended two performances by her where she was a standout, especially as Countess Almavira in The Marriage of Figaro; she was also a 2022 grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition . She portrayed Gilda convincingly; however, at the beginning of her act one duet with Rigoletto, she initially seemed pushed to the background by the level of the music and the power of Mr. Youngblood’s baritone. How much this was due to stage placement and the acoustics of the hall, I could not tell. In the second half of her aria “Caro Nome” she soared beautifully in her upper register at a pleasing volume; her singing was gorgeous, and she won me back. I quite enjoyed the rest of her performance, though on a couple occasions she also seemed to need a bit more volume to ride over the orchestra.
Count Monterone (Eric McKeever, on steps) proclaims his curse on Rigoletto (Grant Youngblood, lower left), the Duke (Dane Suarez, top left), and Count Usher (Gordon Blodgett). Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
All of the supporting singers performed well, but I will single out just two more, bass Young Bok Kim who gave us excellent vocals and a scary Sparafucile, and baritone Eric McKeever as Count Monterone, who made me glad I was not the object of his venom. Verdi, who makes such good use of the chorus in his operas, chose to only use a male chorus in this one; the four tenors and five basses in the Opera Baltimore Chorus under the direction of Aurelien Eulert were a pleasure in enhancing the storytelling, even singing as the wind in the last act.
Rigoletto (Grant Youngblood) has brought Gilda (Rachel Blaustein) to witness the Duke (Dane Suarez) pursuing Maddalena (Megan Marino). Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
The staging of this Rigoletto including set design, lighting, and costumes made for a complete and appealing package. The attractive set design placed us in Italy of the sixteenth century, with stone steps and broken columns for larger gatherings. and to the right, a revolving platform that provided more intimate settings. The lighting gave a glow to the stage that made it more impressive and adjusted as the action progressed to focus our attention. The gorgeous costumes pleased the eye and helped establish the time period. Kudos to Scenic Designer Jefferson Ridenour, Lighting Designer Tláloc López-Waterman, and Costume Designer Glenn Breed. Director Kristen Barrett moved the characters around efficiently, maintaining the tension throughout the drama. I have seen other performances focused more on the Duke’s insidousness, but this one kept the focus on Rigoletto’s love of Gilda, the misery created by his entanglement in corruption, and the love of Gilda for the Duke.
Assassin Sparafucile (Young Bok Kim) and his sister Maddalena (Megan Marino), the lastest pursuit of the Duke. Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
Themes abound in Rigoletto: the corrupting influence of power; the corrupting influence of societal prejudice; the corrupting influence of deception and revenge; the inability of parents to completely protect their children from the world; the coexistence of good and evil in people; all as relevant today as in the 1500s. A good production also results in a hangover for me the morning after viewing it. This question kept fitfully bubbling up into my consciousness the morning after: how could I derive such pleasure from witnessing this tragedy and its display of evil? That does bother me. I blame it on Verdi. His music and storytelling made me like it. And on Opera Baltimore for such a fine performance. What’s your excuse?
Rigoletto (Grant Youngblood) holds his dying daughter Gilda (Rachel Blaustein). The curse has been fulfilled. Photo by Moonloop Photography; courtesy of Opera Baltimore.
Want to know my favorite opera now? Me too; there are so many great ones.
The Fan Experience: Rigoletto was performed in Stephens Hall at Towson University on October 20 and 22. The opera was sung in Italian with English surtitles. The opera is about 3 hours, including two 15-minute intermissions placed between the acts. This production was developed in cooperation with OperaDelaware and now moves to the Grand in Wilmington on October 27 and 29: tickets are available at this link.
Opera Baltimore 2023/2024 season will continue in concert opera performances in the Engineers Club. Next up is another of my favorite operas, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin to be performed on February 28 and March 1, 3; that’s one more performance than usual.
Dr. Aaron Ziegel, OB’s scholar-in-residence and Associate Professor of Music History and Culture at Towson University provides excellent pre-opera talks an hour before performances. He also oversees OB’s “Opera Insights” series, multiple lectures on each upcoming opera, providing a deep dive into the opera itself and insights into the elements of opera and opera history during the period in which the work was composed. The lectures begin as Zoom calls. These are archived and then made available for viewing to all, not just ticket holders. Opera Baltimore has also posted Dr. Zieglel’s pre-opera talk from Towson on Opera Insights.
If you are interested in a deeper dive on how lighting affects the audience response to an opera, I strongly recommend Lecture #2 in the Rigoletto series which includes an interview with Lighting Designer Tláloc López-Waterman. His is a very interesting story, and I gained a much better appreciation for the impact of lighting design for theater productions.