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Feb. 20th, 2019 10:00 amRigoletto by Verdi at the Metropolitan Opera
There was some sort of mixup with tickets and maybe I wasn't supposed to be at last night's show even though I had emails saying it was part of my subscription package? I'm unclear on the details, possibly I didn't get the exact subscription package that was my first choice? Possibly I made an exchange when purchasing the tickets because I've already seen this Rigoletto, and lost my notes about the swap? In any case I showed up at the opera house and they didn't have me on the list, but since I'm a subscriber and they had some extra tickets available, they gave me a couple of comp tickets. Orchestra level, waaaay more expensive than the seats I normally get. :)![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ghost_lingering and I were pretty pleased about the upgrade, though I should probably up my donation to the Met next year. I've probably seen about a hundred shows at the Met and this is my third time seeing one from the orchestra level. It was nice to be able to get more of a sense of actors' expressions than you can from the family circle.
Director Michael Mayer moves Rigoletto to the 1950s mafia-run Las Vegas. The Duke is a mafia don, his courtiers including Rigoletto are his soldiers, who do stunning cruel things to other people because who will stop them? Sparafucile's sister Maddalena is a stripper. The set is largely neon, starting with the delightfully realistic and visually overhwelming Strip of the first act and becoming increasingly abstract toward the stunning blue and white neon lightning storm of the third act. It's a fun setting for a story about morality going out the window, colorful in all senses of the word. I'm not sure how deep the things the re-setting says are, but at minimum it says that just because we live in a democracy and not a semifeudal duchy, doesn't free us from the questions of power and autonomy and faith that Rigoletto asks, because many of the systems of power and obligation still operate, just at different societal layers.
Verdi's music is at its most amazing here. I love the way he reuses "La Donna e mobile" throughout the third act as a theme that says everything we need to know about the Duke and the social power of his charisma. I love the way a cappella resurfaces again and again as a way to strip these figures down to their inner essences. I love how interconnected the score is. In total, "Rigoletto" remains amazing.
There was some sort of mixup with tickets and maybe I wasn't supposed to be at last night's show even though I had emails saying it was part of my subscription package? I'm unclear on the details, possibly I didn't get the exact subscription package that was my first choice? Possibly I made an exchange when purchasing the tickets because I've already seen this Rigoletto, and lost my notes about the swap? In any case I showed up at the opera house and they didn't have me on the list, but since I'm a subscriber and they had some extra tickets available, they gave me a couple of comp tickets. Orchestra level, waaaay more expensive than the seats I normally get. :)
ghost_lingering and I were pretty pleased about the upgrade, though I should probably up my donation to the Met next year. I've probably seen about a hundred shows at the Met and this is my third time seeing one from the orchestra level. It was nice to be able to get more of a sense of actors' expressions than you can from the family circle.Director Michael Mayer moves Rigoletto to the 1950s mafia-run Las Vegas. The Duke is a mafia don, his courtiers including Rigoletto are his soldiers, who do stunning cruel things to other people because who will stop them? Sparafucile's sister Maddalena is a stripper. The set is largely neon, starting with the delightfully realistic and visually overhwelming Strip of the first act and becoming increasingly abstract toward the stunning blue and white neon lightning storm of the third act. It's a fun setting for a story about morality going out the window, colorful in all senses of the word. I'm not sure how deep the things the re-setting says are, but at minimum it says that just because we live in a democracy and not a semifeudal duchy, doesn't free us from the questions of power and autonomy and faith that Rigoletto asks, because many of the systems of power and obligation still operate, just at different societal layers.
Verdi's music is at its most amazing here. I love the way he reuses "La Donna e mobile" throughout the third act as a theme that says everything we need to know about the Duke and the social power of his charisma. I love the way a cappella resurfaces again and again as a way to strip these figures down to their inner essences. I love how interconnected the score is. In total, "Rigoletto" remains amazing.