The revival of this Rigoletto production at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, seemed to come around pretty quickly. Originally staged at Bilbao Opera, Emilio Sagi’s production was first seen here less than three years ago with an impressive performance led by Maurizio Benini. This time around, it was conducted by Daniele Callegari and the strong cast included Vladimir Stoyanov in the title role, Lawrence Brownlee as the Duke of Mantua and Eri Nakamura as Gilda.
As Sagi himself says in the programme booklet, this Rigoletto is traditional with stylised sets and costumes. The set design has a sense of grandeur, but the actual scenery is minimalistic, although costumes attract the eyes. The dresses of the courtiers and the ladies are inspired by Renaissance style designs ,with gold and silver ornaments, and Rigoletto’s costume as the jester, standing out in red, is a recreation of a painting of a buffoon by the 19th-century Spanish artist, Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala.
There are no directorial surprises except for the scene with Sparafucile and Maddalena in Act 3. We see Sparafucile sexually assaulting his sister on the same bed of the brothel that the Duke earlier wooed Maddalena, suggesting a twisted sibling relationship becoming the reason why Sparafucile gives in to her when she pleads to spare the Duke’s life. Sagi delineates the characters well, including smaller roles such as Marullo and Count Ceprano, making sure the important conversations take place in the fore.
In particular, Monterone’s maledizione (curse) moment in the opening scene is emphasised vividly and throughout the opera we see Rigoletto visibly haunted by this curse, reminding us that Verdi originally planned to call his opera “The Curse”. Musically too, Stoyanov and conductor Callegari made sure that each time Rigoletto sang his fear of the curse, the sense of impending tragedy built up. Stoyanov was a dignified Rigoletto, his voice warm and noble, and his love for his daughter very evident. His portrayal of the role was more a traumatised and tired human being rather than the angry and vengeful disfigured jester.
Audience expectations were probably more focused on bel canto specialist Lawrence Brownlee’s role debut as the Duke of Mantua. He sang with the smoothness of a seasoned Duke. His tenor is technically faultless, even from bottom to top, and radiant, filling the auditorium with ease. However, whether he showed enough charisma and charm as the Duke to deserve Gilda’s loyalty is another question. He was princely in Act 2 at the palace, but he wasn’t convincing as the Act 3 womaniser singing “La donna è mobile”; vocally it was beautifully sung, just without the conventional swagger or arrogance. Considering his glorious high register, it was perhaps a pity that he didn’t get to sing the high B on “pensier”, Callegari preferring to stick the original score.
Eri Nakamura’s Gilda was delicate and affecting, highlighting the loneliness of her character. She poured her soul in the role and expressed all the emotions in the text; her duets and conversations with her father moved the heart. Vocally perhaps the role doesn’t come as easily as it used to, particularly the coloratura in “Caro nome” now that she is singing more lirico-spinto roles, but her technique is good enough to cover her shortfalls and she portrayed the tragic heroine poignantly. The supporting roles were also strongly cast. Kenji Saiki played a malevolent Sparafucile and Kasumi Shimizu was an alluring Maddalena, excellently reprising her role from the previous staging. Takashi Tomokiyo’s Monterone and Mutsumi Taniguchi’s Giovanna showed presence too.
In the pit, Callegari led the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra energetically with mostly swift tempo, often preferring to go on without applause after the arias. In Act 2 Scene 1, it was so swift that the chorus was left behind, and it bothered me somewhat that he didn’t try to coordinate it, although things settled down in Act 2. His conducting was taut and straightforward, avoiding sentimentally and not moving around the tempi too much, but he supported the singers ably and the ensemble scenes, including the Act 3 quartet, were musically satisfying. Not overwhelming then, but a poignant Rigoletto nonetheless.
