The Revival of Rigoletto
“La donna è mobile, Qual piuma al vento…”
As soon as the Duke of Mantua started to sing the first line of one of the most famous arias of all times, my heart began to flutter. I usually can’t stand narcissists, but Rigoletto forced me to make this time an exception. When the Duke’s deep, charismatic voice merged into Giuseppe Verdi’s dynamic melody, I gradually became a capricious woman like “a feather in the wind.” This was my first time watching an opera, and I was glad that it was Rigoletto. Verdi inspired every character from Rigoletto to come to life with his magical touch. The ensemble of the unique voices of the singers and the instruments of the orchestra revived Verdi’s spirit on the stage, and further enhanced the dramatic progression of Rigoletto.
Rigoletto is a tragic opera named after the hunchback protagonist who tried to escape from the curse on him. Revenge and curse have long been a trivial theme in theater. I had seen a lot of performances deriving from the same origin, yet ended up losing its originality and dampened with dullness. However, Verdi was not only an excellent composer, but a playwright as well. The three acts were carefully divided according to the progression of the story. Verdi did not lose his focus on the storyline while portraying Rigoletto’s destructive cycle of escaping from the curse and seeking for revenge. At the same time, he maintained a sharp intricacy for tracing and depicting each and every character’s slight emotional change and cleverly weaved it to the lyrics and melody. Verdi successfully fulfilled his role as a storyteller by carefully juxtaposing the emphasis on the emotional climax immediately followed by the witty moment.
Since this was my first time watching an opera, I didn’t have a solid guideline for evaluating the quality of the performance. Nonetheless, the one thing I noticed was that the opera was a composite art. It was a derivative of the sum of every aspect of theatrical art. The singers had to sing along with the orchestra, the orchestra had to play accordingly to the conductor, and the conductor had to interpret the composer’s intuition. If anything got disconnected in this chain, the entire performance might automatically have become a composite failure. In Rigoletto, every component was intertwined with each other while preserving its uniqueness. When Christine Schafer, who played Gilda, sang with her soft voice, the entire stage transformed into a pure watercolor painting. Few minutes later, Rigoletto’s outcry immediately recoated that tranquil painting with thick blobs of oil paints. These changes in mood didn’t feel abrupt at all because every component blended in harmony.
I am a firm believer in happy endings. Therefore, the only thing I disliked about this opera was the conclusion. Verdi’s magic lost its effect soon after it set up the atmosphere of the opera. I appreciated that Verdi was trying to avoid conveying the repetitive notion of “the good triumphing over the evil.” However, this was only valid when he could effectively convince the audience of why the evil won over the good. Rigoletto, who was conscious of his wrongdoings, could never escape from the curse on him. On the other hand, the duke who was lacking both consciousness and regret saved himself from being punished. If we looked into the scope of life–or I should say reality–this situation could make sense. However, I had a hard time figuring out Verdi’s intention.
Overall, my impression on Rigoletto was like going on a walk in the forest. As soon as I stepped outside of my door, I could open my senses to perceive the beauty of each element through an unexpected encounter on the street. It could be an encounter with a wild flower or a funny looking tree. Like collecting the scattered wild flowers on the side of the street, Rigoletto taught me the joy of exploring each element of opera. In the end, all of these little components were combined into beautiful scenery. If other operas are as delightful as this, then I definitely would like to go again.
The image was taken from <http://www.nashvilleopera.org/Rigoletto_files/droppedImage_1.jpg>
