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.

There is really nothing to say about the musical aspects of this production:it's all very well-done.We have to look at the directoral touches that Ponnelle has left on the production.And,boy,he wrote his name on this in red paint.First,I think that Ponnelle has an obsession with the early Renaissance-look where he placed "The Coronation of Poppea".And Rigoletto is not an early,but a middle Renaissance setting.The ducal court is not only licentious,but also depraved and unsanitary.Mice in the salad!And the party at the beginning throws in everything including the kitchen sink.The minor characters are all strikingly portrayed-and Bracht's cyclopean Ceprano is a physical indication of the corruption and taint of the court.Pavarotti,as the Duke,is a case-book psychopath.Lusty,charming,extroverted,and a creature at the mercy of his appetites and impulses,he lacks the faintest trace of mercy,compassion,and decency.Violent,vicious,and totally without morals,he will,and does destroy anyone who gets in his way.Interesting idea to have Wixell play both Rigoletto and Count Monterone-emphasizes the parallel between the two characters,but you could only do it in a film.Furlanetto's Sparafucile is a clinical example of Paranoid Schizophrenia;this guy is not living in the same reality that the rest of us inhabit.And Gruberova's Gilda,splendidly sung,is a little too sweet for my tastes;the character should display some ambiguous traits.The emphasis in this production is on evil,corruption,depravity,and every other noxious trait on the list.Save Gilda(and the Count of Monterone)none of these portrayals offers a redeeming grace.

I like the good things in life as much as anybody, I suppose, but until about five years ago, opera didn't figure into my entertainment choices. Oh, I made a few attempts to learn what all the fuss was about; I'd watched several television productions -- notably parts of Wagner's Ring Cycle on public television -- hoping to understand other people's fascination with the art form. And I knew I could like parts of various operas (I remember being surprised as a kid that I actually LIKED the snippets of "Madame Butterfly" in "My Geisha, and I enjoyed the opera scenes in "Moonstruck" and "Pretty Woman"), but unlike the characters in those films, I just didn't "get it."

Then in 1995 I saw a live performance of "Rigoletto" presented by the New York City Opera Company, and that night I "got it." What a wonderful, glorious pageant of color and music and raw Emotion! And I do mean Emotion with a capital E! The key, I think, is that the operatic music allows the performers to over-act freely and believably in a way that would seem silly if their words were just spoken. Everything hinges on the music, of course, and when the music is magical, as it is in "Rigoletto," an opera can be a magnificent entertainment.

A sympathetic family member gave me a laserdisc copy of the 1982 TV production of the opera, and I've found that since I can't see live performances of "Rigoletto" live on a regular basis, this video version is a fine substitute. Luciano Pavarotti is perfect in the part of the Duke; Ingvar Wixell is excellent as his mean-spirited court jester Rigoletto; and Rigoletto's beloved daughter Gilda is played by the somewhat plain-featured Edita Gruberova. The sets and costumes are lavish, and the location shots on the river late in the film bring a heightened sense of drama to the story that could never be matched on a stage.

If you've never seen "Rigoletto," or if you think you don't like or understand opera, I urge you to find this one on videotape and buy it or rent it. If you don't like this, if this production of "Rigoletto" doesn't make you appreciate the power of the art form of opera, well, just give it up and move on to something else. But I suspect, if you're new to opera as I was, that you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Bill Anderson

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!

The cast for this production of Rigoletto is excellent. Edita Gruberova sings Gilda magnificently and passionately. Luciano Pavarotti also sings splendidly. Vergara is a fine Maddalena; Fedora Barbieri is a famous older singer who sings the maid, Giovanna. Weikl sings Marullo; Wixell sings both Rigoletto and Monterone. As Rigoletto, Wixell is probably the most convincing acting singer in this hard-to-beat ensemble of great singers. Kathleen Kuhlmann in the Contessa. All principals are well-known and world-renowned.

This is an exciting Rigoletto visually as well as musically.

I have it on both laser disc and DVD. You should have it too!