In the first days of spring 2022, on my Benelux tour, I have decided to spend a night in the lovely city of Liége. I was very lucky to find a last minute ticket to Verdi's Rigoletto in magnificent Opéra Royal de Liége Wallonie on 8th of March. From the welcoming staff to the well dressed audience, that was an unforgettable experience!
The King is Having Fun / La Roi S'amuse
Rigoletto tackles a timeless subject owes its success to it. First premiered in Teatro la Fenice in Venice in 11th of March, 1851, Opera in 3 Acts, it's libretto* is based on the Victor Hugo's Le Roi S'amuse (1832). The essence of the book and the opera is summarized in the below excerpt from Wikipedia:
Triboulet (in the opera, Rigoletto) is the complete opposite of an ordinary hero: he is a deformed court jester, a cruel being who encourages Francis I TO THE worst debauchery. He is ridiculous, narcissistic and wants to kill the king. He exhibits anti-heroic qualities. He is both a monster but also a man with admirable feelings. Indeed, the choice of staging, in particular a disturbing atmosphere, reveals Triboulet's feelings of despair and anger: he wants to avenge his daughter; he shows paternal love. Triboulet is a double being, as underlined by this paradoxical exclamation: “Enjoy, vile buffoon, in your deep pride” . Victor-Hugogives birth to a tragic hero, far from the traditional hero and who combines in a single character the two aspects of the romantic drama: the grotesque and the sublime .***
The story repeats
It is no surprise that in the character of Duke, the monarchy and nobles are criticized for their evil and low-moral behaviors which has almost has become a tradition since Mozart's Le Marriage du Figaro. In Hugo's novel, the main character is a French king. However, in order to be able to pass from the censorship authorities of the day, Duke's helper Rigoletto is presented as the main character in the opera. Rigoletto, a name taken from the title of another Hugo play, Rigoletti, ou Le dernier des fous. Rigolo means funny in French!
I don't want to give so much spoilers, infact, this opera is being playing for more than 170 years. So, the end is not a secret :) But anyone who wants to skip, should skip here to the next part.
At the end of the Act I, the Duke (and the Rigoletto) dishonour the daughter of one of the court nobles, humiliate and imprison him. And the noble man curses both the Duke for the attack on his daughter and Rigoletto for having mocked his righteous anger!
No matter Rigoletto tries to not care about the curse and thought that he wasn't affected at the end; he finds out that his daughter was dishonoured by the Duke too!!! Moreover, while he was trying to get his revenge at the end of the Act III, he has to face with a worse; the death of his own daughter by the trap he himself set up. I can't imagine a better revenge than that!
In a nut shell, the whole opera is about the curse of the innocents will not stop chasing the tyrans! As today, we still have tyrannies and dictators whom causes wars which millions of people suffers of them !
Sooner or later, justice will be served !
La Donna e Mobile
The performance coincided with the same day with International Women Labour Day. Rigoletto's most known aria is "La Donna é mobile" which means "Woman is fickle". I always thought this has heavy sexist connotations -which almost every song, book or artwork has until 21st century*- by implying that men are stable and trustable while women are
"... fickle.
Like a feather in the wind,
she changes her words
and her thoughts! ..."
However, that would be a shame to consider one of Italian Composer Guiseppe Verdi's masterpieces Rigoletto only in gender perspective.
The unique condition of Liége
Opera genre is mostly in Italian, as they have created and produced the first examples in 16th century -even though, since the end of 18th century and through the 19th century, its monopoly is over. Verdi was an enormously influential figure for Italian opera and Italy itself:
In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy (1871). He also participated briefly as an elected politician. The chorus "Va, pensiero" from his early opera Nabucco (1842), and similar choruses in later operas, were much in the spirit of the unification movement, and the composer himself became esteemed as a representative of these ideals. **
I remember the political power/resonance of the aria "Va, pensiero" among the opera artists when they have sang it in a 14th of March World Theater Day celebration in 2010, in front of Istanbul's famous Atatürk Cultural Center which was demolished at the moment -rebuilt and reopened in 2021.
The opera was in Italian however, there were sur-titles. People usually hesitate to go to the operas by thinking that they wouldn't understand the story because of the language difference. But there are simultaneous translations available almost in all operas -the exception may be in the countries of its native language such as an Italian opera in Italy, a German opera in Germany, etc. In Liége, there was sur-titles in 4 language; French, German, Dutch and English ! This is an incredibly unique feature which you couldn't see anywhere else than Belgium.
The Performance Notes
I genuinely thank to the Opéra Royal Wallonie-Liége for performing Rigoletto on its 171th year; coproduced with Fondazione Teatro Massimo de Palerme, Teatro Regio de Turin and Shaanxi Opera House. This production*** also was special by hosting John Turturro, famous Hollywood star as the stage director.
The performance and the quality of the production and the music was at the utmost level.
I watched it on the 8th; Rigoletto was played by Amartuvshin Enkhbat (born and studied in Mongolia, performed many Verdi operas throughout the world). Gilda was performed by colorature soprano Maria Mudryak, whom performed Violetta/La Traviata, Mimi/La Boheme, Liu/Turandot in many different stages and Gilda/Rigoletto in Teatro Carlo Fenice de Genes. The Duke of the Mantova was Ivan Ayon Rivas (born and studied in Peru and have staged in many Verdi and Puccini operas in different stages and countries). Three of them have been awarded with the first price in the prestigious Concours Operalia.
4 couples of dancers as well as the Decors and the Costumes have been impressive.
Verdi's music is genius: it reveals the whole drama in the story. I only regret the end of the opera, the death scene. La Traviata or Puccini's endings such as La Boheme and Tosca create tension in a more emotional and surprising way. The death reveals slowly as the music differs between the dying and the livings. And we can have at least few more minutes to mourn after the dead. In Rigoletto, the opera ends with last words "Elle morta, Ah! la maledizione!" as if it is cut with a knife! This is mostly due to the story itself: Composer wants us to witness the downfall of the evil, not to mourn after the heroin which wasn't the main character after all. That's very clever as well!
The Orchestra Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liége, with the participation of the orchestra L'IMEP. was so successful to convey the emotion by the music. The acoustics and the ambiance are also very charming. Théâtre Royal was built with materials recovered from mainly Saint Lambert Cathedral and the Chartreux Convent (the columns of the façade) in 1820. The conductor Daniel Oren who won the Herbert von Karajan price in 1975 and conducted many operas throughout the world, including UK, USA, Germany and Italy. The synchrony and harmony between singers were always at the top!
I hope me and recommend everyone interested to see many incredible operas there in the upcoming seasons..
*Another famous example is Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" / "Woman are like that"
** Guiseppe Verdi, Wikipedia.
*** The program booklet for the Rigoletto is amazing, mainly french but also in 3 languages. there is even a section for the notes of the viewer.
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