RIGOLETTO / New Opera Singapore / Review

 

RIGOLETTO 

New Opera Singapore 

Victoria Theatre 

Sunday (18 August 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 August 2024 with the title "NOS puts on snappy staging of Rigoletto".

Western opera is in such a parlous state of state funding in Singapore these days such that the only fully staged opera production of the year was Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto (1851) presented by New Opera Singapore (NOS). Despite being one of the Italian’s most popular operas (after La Traviata and Aida), one has to go as far back at 1993 for its last production here. 

That was during the fledgling years of Singapore Lyric Theatre, fronted by conductor Lim Yau and the late producer Leow Siak Fah, where setting Rigoletto in stylish Shanghai of the 1920s was both audacious and creative. This latest production directed by NOS founder Jeong Ae Ree and conducted by her husband Chan Wei Shing was more traditional but no less edgy. 

A more contemporary noir setting with hints of Italian mafioso elements coloured this sorry tale of curses and vendettas. The hunchbacked court jester Rigoletto has been cursed, and as he vainly protects his secret daughter Gilda from the clutches of the lascivious Duke of Mantua, he dooms her instead. There were three shows featuring three different casts, and the final evening was none too shabby. 

Photo: New Opera Singapore

Front and centre was Korean baritone Min Seung Kang as the eponymous anti-hero, whose bitterness in life was as pronounced as his limp. He was the perfect antithesis to Korean soprano Renata Hann, whose Gilda was purity and innocence personified in her pure lilywhite dress. Her fateful mistake was being self-sacrificial for someone as unworthy as the Duke. 

That smarmy antagonist was sung by Latvian tenor Martins Smaukstelis, whose suaveness came through in the hit arias Questa o Quella (This Woman Or That) and La Donna e Mobile (Women Are Fickle). More important were the duets involving Hann and both men, which were heartrending and totally believable. She herself hit all the high notes in Caro Nome (Sweet Name), a favourite of coloratura sopranos. 

Photo: New Opera Singapore

Another highlight was the final act’s famous quartet Bella Figlia dell’Amore (Fairest Daughter Of Love), with mezzo-soprano Carolyn Holt’s Maddelena making the foursome, where the Duke’s infidelity is exposed to both Rigoletto and Gilda. 

The supporting roles were well cast, with cheap assassin Sparafucile (he charges 20 dollars a kill but operates a Harley?) portrayed by Fionn O hAlmhain attired as a biker, Shaun Lee (Borsa), Cai Xiaofeng (Count), Li Yang (Countess), Stefan Szkafarowsky (Monterone) and Jasmine Towndrow (Giovanna), a truly cosmopolitan team. 

Photo: New Opera Singapore

The choir led by Chong Wai Lun provided mostly light-hearted relief, the men donning masks as voyeurs and kidnappers being particularly comedic. The set and lighting design was simple but effective by setting the boundaries between groups of singers, making small spaces seem like fair distances. It took little for the storm / lightning scene leading to the opera’s fatal end to suggest bad weather and bad karma. 

Director Jeong Ae Ree and
Conductor Chan Wei Shing take their bows.

Ultimately, the story-telling through music was direct, well-paced and nothing was left to drag. All in all, a very successful outing for NOS, which could more than just tip the scales for a shout of being Singapore’s leading opera company today.