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Technical Glitches Fail To Upstage Musical Magic Of CLO's ‘Rigoletto'

 

By LEE HOWARD
Marketplace/Real Estate Editor
Published on 11/20/2005

New London — Sometimes in the theater, nearly everything goes wrong but nobody really cares. That was the case Friday night when Connecticut Lyric Opera put on its most ambitious program yet, the Verdi classic “Rigoletto,” at the First Congregational Church.

During the course of the production, the English supertitles, which kept getting mixed up, made their way from a small screen to become, at one point, part of the lighting backdrop. Curtains opened or closed at inopportune times. And, between acts, power tools that sounded a bit like drills in a dentist's office droned on.

But it's the music that counts, and in this opera the New London-based CLO certainly delivered. Backed by the wonderful Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra, conducted by Adrian Mackiewicz, the singers were all in fine form. The rotating set (despite the drilling) also proved the best yet devised for the small stage at First Congregational, and the costumes added to the ambience.

Though the story revolves around the somewhat dated notion of honor, the tragedy of “Rigoletto,” the sad jester, still rings true. In its simplest form, the story is a timeless one of how the powerful get away with wrongful acts, which sends the powerless to desperate measures. Darkness pervades the work, as the only kinds of love displayed are of the obsessive and destructive variety as the Duke woos Rigoletto's daughter, Gilda, and Rigoletto has his revenge — even though Gilda still loves the Duke.

Thom King, who also directed this performance, has a wonderful presence in the title role, singing Rigoletto with a smoky baritone. His voice is perfect for the role, lightly skipping over the humorous lines while pulling the glowering heft of the more tragic parts. As a jester, his movement could be more nimble, but his voice is always up for the task of portraying the manic-depressive comedian.

The lustful Duke, played by tenor Michael Lee, has no such division in his personality, being a cad of the first rank. So it seemed appropriate that Lee gave the Duke an impulsive edge, emphasizing his highly charged emotional state through his ardent musical phrasing. His demeanor was that of a penned-up bull, yet his singing couldn't have been lovelier, especially in the show-stopping Donna e mobile (“Fickle is Woman Fair”).

Claudia Crouse in the role of Gilda certainly looked the part, with her beautiful blond hair framing an angelic face. And she has a rare combination of fragility and strength in her voice to go along with a terrific ear and unusual vocal dexterity. Yet the warble of her tremolo can sometimes get overbearing, especially when paired with a more earthy voice, such as that of King as Rigoletto. Still, she turned in some top-notch solo work, and blended splendidly with Lee's lyric tenor.

Laurentiu Rotaru, as the assassin Sparafucile; Mabel Ledo in the dual roles of Maddalena and Giovanna, and Stewart Battle as Monterone, a nobleman who curses Rigoletto for mocking him, all turned in dynamic performances as well. Rotaru, a bass, will be remembered for an impossibly low, sustained note he hit upon his exit in the second scene of Act I. Battle, another bass, was downright scary in his small part, demonstrating an impressive power. And Ledo combined fine acting talent with a sultry voice just right for her part.

As the final strains of Verdi's “Rigoletto” filled the hall Saturday night, and the curtain closed (at the proper time), the tragedy wasn't that a few technical glitches held back an otherwise splendid production; it was that no other production is being planned locally by CLO until April 28, 2006, when it will perform Mozart's “Don Giovanni.” 
 

© The Day Publishing Co., 2005