Pay attention to a tiny red ribbon that gets weaved throughout the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s solidly-sung revival of Rigoletto. This onstage ribbon not only adds a symbolic sheen to the characters’ dramatic situations and states of mind, but it’s a storytelling highlight of this revival staging by director Mary Birnbaum in her Lyric debut.
Birnbaum helms the third go-round of the Lyric’s traditional production of composer Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Francesco Maria Piave’s disturbing 1851 revenge tragedy. It’s set in the 16th century in and around Mantua in Italy.
Rigoletto is the name of a widower hunchback jester who outwardly cheers the corrupt antics of his employer, the lecherous Duke of Mantua. But Rigoletto secretly despises the duke, and is driven to seek murderous revenge after the duke’s court lackeys abduct his sheltered daughter, Gilda, and serve her up to the nobleman so he can sexually assault her.
It’s been trendy in the past few decades to update and transport Rigoletto to other locales. For example, the Metropolitan Opera’s two most recent takes on Rigoletto were relocated to Rat Pack-era Las Vegas and then the German Weimar Republic.
A Victorian gentleman’s club was the setting for a new Lyric Rigoletto in 2000. But director Christopher Alden’s approach was so reviled by critics that the next homegrown Lyric Rigoletto in 2006 went the ultra-traditional route under director Stephano Vizioli. He deployed hulking neo-classical scenery by Robert Innes Hopkins and lush Renaissance-era costumes by Jane Greenwood (Director Stephen Barlow revived this same Lyric production in 2013).
Now, I don’t recall seeing that red ribbon in both previous Lyric iterations. I might have missed since I was seated way in the upper balcony back then. So, the ribbon is a clever detail if dreamed up by director Birnbaum.
Gilda wears this ribbon in her hair and willingly gives it to the in-disguise duke who claims to be a poor student. The hair ribbon then becomes a symbol not only of a young woman literally letting down her hair (as a sign of her budding sexuality), but it also becomes a token of her betrayal when it reappears later.
Where Birnbaum becomes more controversial is with other omissions and additions. For example, a ruby-red necklace given to Gilda by the duke becomes a chilling costume addition in Act II, though Birnbaum opts not to have the characters acknowledge this “jewelry as payment” during a heartbreaking reunion duet between Rigoletto and his daughter.
Birnbaum also introduces a spiritual element by having a silent angel (likely Gilda’s deceased mother) appear twice in Rigoletto. While this angel helps to somewhat soften the horrific ending of Rigoletto, it will only remind die-hard opera fans of a similar plot device written into Puccini’s Suor Angelica.
Birnbaum has also said in interviews that she wanted to give the character of Gilda more agency. This works in her big Act II duets and solos, especially when Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan beautifully sings out her hopes and dreams while writing a love letter in the famed “Caro nome” aria (rightfully earning the Lyric debutant a roaring round of audience approval).
More head-scratching is Birnbaum’s decision to add a swashbuckling element for her heroine’s demise. This gives literally give Gilda a fighting chance, but looked very confusing as other characters also get involved in the melee.
Despite Birnbaum’s occasional questionable directorial flourishes, opera newcomers and purists alike should revel in the vocal splendors that ring throughout the Lyric’s Rigoletto revival. Music director Enrique Mazzola leads the Lyric Orchestra in a dramatically taught reading of Verdi’s dramatic score, and chorus director Michael Black does solid work with the Lyric Opera Chorus.
As the Duke of Mantua, Mexican tenor Javier Camarena is making his long-awaited Lyric debut after already triumphing around the world in other major opera houses. Camarena has charisma and high notes to spare, and gives a very peppy performance of an entitled nobleman who never has to answer for his transgressions.
And in the title role, returning Russian baritone Igor Golovatenko gives an impassioned performance of a superstitious father whose pursuit of revenge comes back to bite him. Golovatenko had plenty of vocal stamina and securely navigated the lengthy role.
In smaller roles, American baritone Soloman Howard and American mezzo Zoie Reams worked wonderfully in tandem with luscious low voices respectively the as criminal underworld siblings Sparafucile and Maddelena. And among the duke’s court lackeys, Travon D. Walker, Sankara Harouna and Christopher Humbert, Jr. each had a great onstage rapport as malicious conspirators.
Ever since Rigoletto debuted in Venice in 1851, this upsetting revenge tragedy has remained within the standard operatic repertory. This opera warhorse is dramatically and musically sturdy enough to survive updating, or thrive in traditional productions like this Lyric revival of Rigoletto. This includes all the directorial pluses and minuses on display, which will no doubt encourage some lively debate amid all of the thrilling singing.
Rigoletto has six remaining performances through Oct. 6 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, 20 N. Wacker Drive. Tickets are $42-$334. For information, visit LyricOpera.org or phone 312-827-5600.