opera notebook
some operas I have seen on videoVerdi, Rigoletto (1851)
Opéra National Montpellier Occitanie, 2021
- Conductor: Roderick Cox
- Director: Marie-Ève Signeyrole
- Set Designer: Fabien Teigné
- Rigoletto: Gezim Myshketa
- Gilda: Julia Muzychenko
- The Duke: Ramë Lahaj
- Maddalena: Rihab Chaieb
- Sparafucile: Luiz Ottavio Faria
A knotty concept has Rigoletto onstage nearly all the time, mocking and miming the words the other characters sing; Gilda, by contrast, barely appears at all, singing offstage or presented as a mute figure. Fairly exhausting to watch, the staging does not do much to enhance the already-fraught atmosphere of the opera.