Part I of «Rigoletto a Mantova», a hybrid of opera, cinema, and Giuseppe Verdi (and yeah, Placidone, Mantova, blah blah blah) just finished its RAI broadcast. It doesn't make any sense to write a critical review of a virtual opera as an real-life opera -- i.e., in proper opera house, singers on the stage without wires or mics, conductor + and orchestra in the pit. Instead we witnessed a live TV show where the singers were in an ancient Palazzo (Ducale), the conductor and orchestra were off elsewhere, there was mic'ing and cables, including the lighting, which goes against the grain of everything that we usually define as opera. And that's okay.
That said: After Act I (Act II and Act III will be broadcast, again live, tomorrow by RAI1 here), Opera Chic can share a few of her impressions. It's entirely unfair to judge the singers, obviously, and everybody was waiting for Placidone's big Rigoletto unveiling, so this needs to be addressed.
What really struck Opera Chic was the slow conducting (Zubin Mehta had to slow things down because it must have been a nightmare to keep things together under those conditions -- already at a slower-than-normal tempo-- a fast Rigoletto would probably fall apart anyway) and the way Mehta didn't really seem to be meshing with the singers. Again, the orchestra was somewhere else and everything had to be linked and patched together.
Placidone kept his vocal powder dry -- tenor-turned-baritone, whatever -- but really, in a stroke of genius, in this Act I -- we'll see tomorrow -- he managed to create a Rigoletto as profile in brinkmanship. Placidone's actually on the brink vocally, as Rigoletto? OK then -- so he realizes this. And turns Rigoletto on its head, making that a key of his interpretation of the character. Rigoletto as a man on the brink of madness and of cruelty. Rigoletto as a weak man playing his cards very close to the chest. But the key here is the shaky balance between weakness -- it's always the curse (never his fault) to the tragic end -- and the love for his daughter.
The voice? Most of the notes are there, the way they were in Boccanegra. Still, Opera Chic thinks he's more Don Giovanni than Simone. Or Rigoletto.
But it's such a treat to see the red carpet being rolled out for opera -- on prime time Italian State TV on a Saturday night with the Italian President as MC. It warms every opera lover's heart, regardless of the results -- and frankly, we can't wait for tomorrow's conclusion!
If you missed the live blogging of Act I, scroll down past this post or just click here!