Rigoletto

Verdi's opera Rigoletto (1987) was directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. Ponnelle was a brilliant operatic director. He directed many operas on stage, almost always to great critical acclaim.

What makes this Rigoletto different is that it's not a filmed opera performance. It's a movie, where Ponnelle can use his talents to embellish the great voices in the cast.

The excellent Swedish baritone Ingvar Wixell stars in the title role. The Czech Nightingale, Edita Gruberova, portrays Gilda, and Luciano Pavarotti is the Duke of Mantua.

If you know opera, you'll love this movie. If you don't know opera, you'll love this movie. This is the greatest opera on film that I've seen. It has a very strong IMDb rating of 8.1. I thought that it was even better than that and rated it 10.

The magic of an opera is best experienced by being there, and filmed stage productions sometimes are involving enough that the viewer is able to get an emotional handle on the dramatic situations at the same time experiencing some of the great singing voices of our time; odd that this filmed, dubbed version is so distancing, that during the greatest tragic moment in the opera, the camera looks on from a great distance at a boat in a lake with some opulent city skyline in the background; the same happens in the stunning quartet; in a stage production the viewer can see and hear all four characters simultaneously, and get drawn up in the emotional maelstrom created by incipient murder--not in this version, as the camera cuts from one person to another and occasionally catches duos; that said there are excellent reasons to rent this Rigoletto: Underrated Ingvar Wixell is physically and vocally intense, a great and memorable performance of the lead, and the young Pavarottis voice has few rivals (although he distances himself from other singers); there are some fascinating visual concepts in Act I, and the entire opera is easy to follow--but there are better versions on DVD and the 2012 Met Version, set in Las Vegas, is a visual and aural knockout.

Pavarotti and the entire cast are superb in this beautifully filmed opera by Giuseppe Verdi, the world's finest composer of operas. The coloratura soprano is particularly spectacular with her perfect pitch. The title role is well-enacted and well-sung. The entire production is as perfect as one could expect.

A masterpiece of cinematography!

But this is not an Opera filmed on a theater. It is a movie. As such the scenes are not of a theatrical production and many are in exteriors. You will not see the Orchestra pit nor the Maestro.

This requires singers that are also good actors. Pavarotti, not always a good actor in the stage, comes out superb, but the best acting performance is Ingvar Wixell, as Rigoletto.

The female roles are very inferior. Edita Gruberova is totally visually inadequate for the role of Gilda, She looks like an old witch, and totally ruins all her scenes. Madallena is a bit more credible as a "putanna", with some feelings.

I have been a huge fan of opera and classical music since a very early age. And I love Rigoletto, it has a fine story with wonderfully rendered characters. And of course, you can't talk of Rigoletto without mentioning Verdi's music, as is always the case with Verdi, it is outstanding. And this is not just "La Donna e mobile", Gilda's "Caro Nome" and the Quartet, the three best known bits.

I don't know about anybody else, but my personal favourite aria is Duke of Mantua's "Ella mi fu rapita...parmi veder Le lagrime", not just for the energetic start but then with the wonderfully lyrical and poignant second half of the aria, which for me shows that although the Duke is ruthless and a bit of a scoundrel he also has genuine feelings for Gilda. Another favourite is "Si vendetta, tremenda vendetta" which is so powerful when sung really well, the case here, like with Rigoletto's superb Cortigiani.

This 1982 film from Jean Pierre Ponelle is one of my favourite opera films ever, and I have seen a lot. The production values are exquisite, the camera shots are appropriately used, the location shots are breathtaking and we are also treated to lavish costumes and settings. And the singing and acting are top drawer, and helped hugely by the exemplary direction of Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.

Luciano Pavarotti is wonderful as the Duke, I have always been accustomed to his voice(one you recognise immediately upon hearing) which is so effortless at the top if not so much his acting, I can find him a kind of "stand-and-sing" sort of singer. Here though, Pavarotti does show some believable acting ability(see his playful eye contact in "Questo o quella" for instance) and is in great voice. He sings "La Donna e mobile" with real vigour and sings "ella mi fu rapita...parmi veder Le lagrime" beautifully, even if I do slightly prefer Placido Domingo's more poised and thoughtful recording of it under the baton of Sherrill Milnes(who along with Wixell is my personal favourite Rigoletto).

Pavarotti is supported solidly by some quite talented singers and actors. While occasionally a little on the sweet side as Gilda, Edita Gruberova does show a wondrous colouratura register and is suitably vulnerable and ethereal, and even better with the best acting of all the principles-being able to show so many dimensions to the character and wonderfully- is Ingvar Wixell as both Rigoletto and Monterone, which provided a very interesting parallel slant.

All in all, wonderful and I can say it is one of my personal favourites as of now. 10/10 Bethany Cox