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by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Christopher Alden

Canadian Opera Company, Four Seasons Centre, Toronto

September 29-October-22, 2011

“Ah! la maledizione!”

First thoughts:  For the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, Michael Levine has created a gorgeous set and costumes that drew immediate applause.  Yet, though Levine and director Christopher Alden have moved the action from the 16th to the 19th century, this Rigoletto is still a modern production.  As the opera progresses, the extraordinarily detailed realism of the first scene gives way to progressively less naturalistic staging.  The enormous wood-panelled room with the deeply coffered ceiling looks like the lounge of a posh gentlemen’s club, but, like the single room in Alden’s Der fliegende Holländer for the COC, this space serves as the setting for the entire opera.

It rapidly becomes apparent that what we see on stage is Rigoletto’s memory, or perhaps his recurring nightmare, of the events that led to his daughter Gilda’s death.  Rigoletto’s idée fixe that Monterone’s curse is to blame is a way of avoiding the truth.  Alden makes clear that not just the lascivious Duke but his entire corrupt “gentlemen’s club” of followers and all who aid and abet them, including Rigoletto, share responsibility for the tragedy.  Alden and Levine set up a plush Victorian façade only to reveal the ugliness it conceals. 

The three young leads on opening night were all making their COC debuts.  Most impressive is Hawaiian Quinn Kelsey in the title role.  The strength of his warm, rich baritone, his passionate delivery and fine acting are sure to secure him a bright future.  Russian Ekaterina Sadovnikova makes a very convincing Gilda, with a coloratura secure and beautiful even in its highest reaches.  Dimitri Pittas has a steely tenor that perfectly suits the cold-hearted Duke.  These three play in alternation with Lester Lynch, Simone Osborne and David Lomelí, respectively.  Johannes Debus led the COC Orchestra in a fiery account of the score. First-timers will need to read the synopsis to understand the action, but those who already know the work will find that Alden and Levine have brought to the fore the criticism of social and sexual hierarchies implicit in the story.

Addendum: Christopher Alden’s new production for the COC is based on his 2000 production for the Chicago Lyric Opera.  On October 19, 2011, the Editor of Opera News pointed out to me that that production was so controversial the CLO refused to revive it*.  This information cooled my view of Alden’s work.  Is Alden incapable of imagining a new production specifically for the COC?  Why should Toronto become the dumping ground for productions rejected by other companies?                 

©Christopher Hoile

*See John von Rhein, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-01-23/features/0601230029_1_rigoletto-verdi-lyric-opera.

Note: My full review of Rigoletto will appear in the December 2011 issue of Opera News online.

Photo: Ekaterina Sadovnikova  and Quinn Kelsey. ©2011 Michael Cooper.

For tickets, visit www.coc.ca.