Saturday, September 22, 2012

Rigoletto, San Francisco Opera, Sept. 19 2012

Back to San Francisco for another performance of Rigoletto, this time in the War Memorial Opera House, with an alternate cast. The sets and staging were, of course, the same as the performance seen four days earlier at AT&T Park.

Our cast for Sept. 19:
Rigoletto: Marco Vratogna
Gilda: Albina Shagimuratova
The Duke of Mantua: Arturo Chacon-Cruz
Maddalena: Kendall Gladen    
Count Monterone: Robert Pomakov
Sparafucile: Andrea Silvestrelli    
Borsa: Daniel Montenegro    
Marullo: Joo Won Kang    
A Page: Laura Krumm
Countess Ceprano: Laura Krumm
Giovanna: Renée Rapier    
Count Ceprano: Ryan Kuster    
An Usher: Jere Torkelsen
Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
Director: Harry Silverstein    
Set Designer: Michael Yeargan

Albina Shagimuratova, who sang Queen of the Night for us just a few months ago, made a wonderful Gilda. Days later, her “Caro nome” is still running through my mind. Vratogna and Chacon-Cruz also sang well, though not spectacularly. To my earlier appreciation of Silvestrelli and Gladen, let me add my compliments for the Marullo of Joo Won Kang, who sang quite well, and the Giovanna of Renée Rapier, superb in her aiding and abetting Gilda’s seduction by the Duke. The orchestra under maestro Luisotti played magnificently. I was in a position to watch him closely and grasp his total absorption in the music—and the orchestra responded. A strong beta.

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