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Verdi, Rigoletto: (Second Cast)  Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Finnish National Opera, Conductor: Luke Dollman. Finnish National Opera, Helsinki 23.1.2009 (BK)

Director: Georg Rootering
Sets and Costumes: Mark Väisänen
Lighting: Timo Alhanen

Cast:

Duke of Mantua: Mika Pohjonen
Rigoletto: Raimo Laukka
Gilda: Sirkka Lampimäki
Sparafucile: Hannu Forsberg
Maddalena: Riika Rantanen
Giovanna: Salla Leponiemi
Count of Monterone: Robert McLoud
Marullo: Markus Nieminen
Borsa: Pertti Mäkelä
Count Ceprano: Kai Valtonen
Countess Ceprano: Riitta Ullgrén
Court Official: Ari Hosio
Page: Meriliinu Haataja

Sirkka Lampimäki as Gilda

Premiered in November 2008 and set more or less in the present day, this production of Rigoletto depicts a sordid and vicious society in which nothing has value except wealth and power, and where everyone must share the same attitudes in order to survive. It opens with a party, in which Monterone’s daughter is seen dancing inside a glass cage suspended above the heads of the Duke and his courtiers, having recently been seduced by the Duke himself. She bears a resemblance to Gilda, whose own space, when she appears, is a bed contained within the same glass cage. The inference is clear and from the beginning, the miserable tale takes place in half light, with predominantly grey scenery. A large and prominent revolving wall with many doors contains the changing sets to show the locations of each scene.

These images are powerful yet under these circumstances, the only true mystery in the plot is why the Jester brings his daughter to  Mantua in the first place, rather than why he has kept her carefully locked up for so long. The answer may lie in the generalised bewilderment caused by life in a society in which everything is corrupted or corruptible. Faulty judgement is inevitable when living the life that Rigoletto does, even when blessed with a child as precious to him as Gilda.

The production forbids seeing the Duke as a cheery sort of lad,  simply having a good time – and that is all to the good. The seduction of Gilda can’t be dismissed as a mutual act  in any way – she might be in love, but he remains an aristocratic trader in women, devoid of charm or good intention. From this point of view, with everything weighted towards the grim, perhaps just a minute or two of doubt would have been welcome; enough at least to let the audience wonder if the outcome could ever have been different. Or perhaps this performance needed better direction of the actors playing almost all of the roles to bring out more tragedy rather than mere squalor, given the undoubted imagination of the setting.

In any event, what we had from the second cast was a group of principals who could largely sing their roles well enough, but who were unable to put across very much of the emotion expressed in  the music and text. The Count of Ceprano cursed Rigoletto so feebly that it would take an immensely paranoid personality to feel either hated or threatened; similarly the jester’s own fury and grief was unusually lacking in intensity.

Adding to this problem was a strange imbalance between singers and orchestra, caused it seemed, by the impressive but complicated staging,  but leading to a persistent sense of hearing the singers from a distance.  At other moments the orchestra overwhelmed the voices completely, leaving an uncomfortable feeling of disharmony between pit and stage.

Amongst the singers, Hannu Forsberg as Sparafucile and Riikka Rantanen as his sister Maddalena stood out (something which was confirmed the next night when Riikka Rantanen took the lead in Daddy’s Girl of which a review will soon follow).

Sirkka Lampimäki as Gilda made a poor start, her voice sounding weak and with a pronounced wobble, but she improved by the time she came to ‘Caro Nome’ and strengthened as the evening went on. Mika Pohjonen was a full-voiced Duke, but seemed unable to sustain the necessary power  through the opera, becoming less than convincing in ‘La donna è mobile’.

Raimo Laukka sang Rigoletto well. He has a genuinely beautiful voice, but untypically was unable on this occasion to bring any great  conviction to his role so that his performance felt oddly passionless.

In all, this was a production where stronger direction of the singer - actors would have better balanced the powerful and disturbing setting, and where the excellent orchestra of FNO felt out of balance with the singers whom it usually complements with both consummate skill and commitment.

Bill Kenny

Picture © Heikki Tuuli

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