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.

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!

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

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle made many opera films between 1974 and 1988. This was at a time when it was unusual and technically quite difficult to record live performances of operas on stage. Ponnelle tended to make operas look like Hollywood musicals. They have high production values and are visually attractive. The performers are world-class but the singing is dubbed and the films have an artificial look about them. I am aware of the irony of complaining that Ponnelle's opera productions look artificial: what could be more artificial than people singing a story on a stage? But we accept opera within its own conventions. If the singers are not singing it looks phoney. If the performers are not doing it for real you can tell because they are not putting enough effort into it. It's a bit like soft core pornography I suppose.

This production from 1982 stars Luciano Pavarotti, who was then probably at the peak of his powers. He sounds wonderful but he has never been noted for his acting ability. He can put over an aria if he is really singing but when he is miming he has a frightened look in his eyes. Furthermore, it looks as if Pavarotti was rarely in the studio at the same time as the rest of the cast. I think only in his duet with Gilda does he appear in the frame simultaneously with another performer. It looks as though he recorded his part separately. For all I know he was probably in a different continent when the rest of the cast were making the film.

Edita Gruberova is a shrill Gilda. Ingvar Wixell is a most unsympathetic Rigoletto. He also doubles the part of Monterone. This only serves to underline the artificiality of the enterprise. The only reason I bothered to review this film is that it is still doing the rounds on a British arts channel. I actually pay a subscription to see things like this. The following night, I watched a recording of the wonderful 2001 Covent Garden production of the same opera. It is reassuring to see how far the filming of opera has advanced in the last 20 years.