The 827th Metropolitan Opera performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s , Rigoletto, blinded me.  Literally and Figurately.  How could anyone not be blinded by the overwhelming number of white-haired heads glowing in the light of the translation screens as Lincoln Center dimmed? The opening night at the MET on September 29 was the debut for three important characters, Francesco Meli, the Duke of Mantua; Sparafucile, Andrea Silvestrelli; and Maddalena, Nino Surguladze, as well as the conductor, Paolo Arrivabeni.  Despite the fact that the meaning behind the words of the English translation of the opera do not sound particularly intriguing, the Italian version can be described as “music to one’s ears.”  Rigoletto contains many touching parts even for one who does not speak Italian.  One of these moments is during the quartet sang by Francesco Meli, who plays the Duke of Mantua, Lado Ataneli, who plays Rigoletto, Christine Schafer, who plays Gilda, and Nino Surguladze, who plays Maddalena.  The audience assured the performers of their successful betrayal of emotions with their energy-filled applause at the song’s finish.  Comprised of three acts and two intermissions, Rigoletto took three hours to perform. These two intermissions were about twenty minutes each, which is way too long to keep hold of the audience’s attention.  It is understandable to have two intermissions, however it is ludicrous to give the audience enough time to eat a five-course meal during intermission.  By the time the next act begins in the opera, the audience finds it difficult to remember what the last act was about.  A disappointing element of the opera was the performance of Christine Schafer, who plays Gilda.  At first it appeared that she was having a rough start, but as she approached the end the opera without changing levels, I knew that was just how her voice was.  Schafer’s voice seemed too quiet and weak in comparison to the other vocalists and many times during joint parts, her voice was completely drowned out.  Before the beginning of the third act when a MET representative asked the audience to excuse Meli’s performance because of his sickness, it seemed as if they should have been excusing Shafer instead of Meli.  In fact, Francesco Meli is such a phenomenal performer that if the representative had never informed the audience of his illness, most likely the majority of audience members would not have noticed.  He hid his illness quite well, wiping his nose before singing long phrases.  Overall, Rigoletto proved to be a successful performance filled with powerful emotions placed into not so meaningful words and unforgettable scenes such as the one when the entire cast had their backs facing the easily-pitied character, Rigoletto.  A refreshing performance, Rigoletto was enjoyable, despite its imperfections.  But remember, it’s live theater, nothing’s perfect.