A melodramatic story and sometimes awkward stage direction took a little of the shine off San Diego Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s masterwork “Rigoletto” this past weekend, but the singing and the scenery were sublime.
The 1851 opera was staged at the San Diego Civic Theatre for three performances Oct. 23-25, with musical accompaniment by San Diego Symphony musicians.
José Simerilla Romero as The Duke, right, with other cast members in San Diego Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” which played Oct. 23-25 at the San Diego Civic Theatre. (Karli Cadel)
In her company debut, golden-voiced soprano Madison Leonard was a superb standout as the ill-fated Gilda, the self-sacrificing daughter of the opera’s title character Rigoletto.
And as Rigoletto, a jester in the court of the sexually rapacious Duke of Mantua, bass-baritone Michael Chioldi dramatically portrayed the pain of his character’s self-loathing, heartbreak and fury with his powerful and well-modulated voice.
Tenor José Simerilla Romero also impressed in his company debut as The Duke. Romero’s supple voice gracefully soared through his character’s famous arias, with a warm, ear-pleasing sound. And another standout was bass-baritone Peixin Chen as the assassin-for-hire Sparafucile.
Other singers featured in the “Rigoletto” cast were Guadalupe Paz, Joel Balzun, Søren Pedersen, Adam Caughey, Travis Sherwood, Emily Weinberg, Maya Goell, Lisa Parente and Christopher Walters. The show also featured an all-male ensemble from the San Diego Opera Chorus, led by company Chorus Master Bruce Stasyna.
San Diego Opera’s Principal Conductor Yves Abel elegantly led the San Diego Symphony in the Civic’s orchestra pit and balanced the musicians’ sound well with that of the singers, some of whom had smaller voices than others.
Since its founding in 1965, San Diego Opera has staged “Rigoletto” seven times.
While it offers one of the best scores in the operatic canon, the antiquated story of “Rigoletto” feels more and more out of date as the years pass. This year’s production was staged by Christopher Mattaliano, who opened the show with a prophetic father-and-daughter tableau that would tragically repeat itself in the final scene.
Thankfully, Mattaliano’s staging wasn’t as violent as the company’s gothic horror-filled 2019 production, but it had some awkward moments that strained credulity. The scene where courtiers kidnapped Gilda out from under Rigoletto’s nose looked silly. And the back-from-the-dead Gilda standing up to deliver her final aria felt improbable.
This year’s production featured the company’s own gorgeous, large-scale ducal palace scenery, which symbolically includes a large sculpture resembling Giambologna’s famed Rape of the Sabine Women sculpture in Florence. Jane Greenwood’s richly made costumes were also lovely.
“Rigoletto” was presented in two acts, plus two temporary pauses for scene changes, for a production that lasted about two hours, 30 minutes.
“Rigoletto” was the first of three productions San Diego Opera will present at the Civic this season. Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah” will play Feb. 12-14 and Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” runs April 2-4.