Review: Rigoletto"Women may be unfaithful, but Opera New Jersey is true to its calling"Princeton Packet (Stuart Duncan) It has to be a pretty courageous composer who deliberately withholds the music from a singer lest the public hear it and become tired of it. But that’s exactly what Giuseppe Verdi did with his opera Rigoletto. He was so certain that the public (and some of his competitors) would adore his third act aria “La Donna è Mobile” (Women are Unfaithful) that he kept the tune from his tenor until dress rehearsal so that the opening night audience would be surprised. And they were — and pleased also. The aria is one of the most famous in all of opera. When tenor John Osborn sang it at McCarter Theatre last Friday evening, the full house of a knowing audience roared its approval. The occasion was Opera New Jersey’s mid-winter teaser for its ambitious summer schedule and it showed a quantum leap that the group has made over the past several years. Lisa and Scott Altman, co-founders of the group, begat the project five years ago with an annual budget of $17,000 and an all-volunteer-staff. It has grown in that short time to six full-time staff and a budget of $1.4 million. From the beginning the push has been to pointedly bring opera where it was absent. Also Osborn is by no means the sole star of Rigoletto. True, he has been on a hectic schedule since he was asked to replace Juan Diego Florez in the role of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville when that tenor swallowed a fishbone and infected his throat so badly it will be at least another month before his doctors will permit him to perform. Osborn has been on a busy commuting schedule ever since. Luckily he has sung the role with the Met in New York, as well as in Vienna and Berlin. The title role in Rigoletto was sung by baritone Richard Zeller and he brought his extraordinary voice and strong acting talents to the part. He has previously sung the role with New York’s City Opera and in scene after scene showed a depth of emotion seldom observed. We also had the rare opportunity to welcome a new star to the opera world in Eglise Gutiérrez who sang the role of Gilda, Rigoletto’s doomed daughter. Her exquisite rendering of “Caro Nome” is as fine as you are likely to hear. Ms. Gutiérrez will reprise the role of Gilda later this year at Covent Garden. Stage director Michael Scarola will return to Princeton this summer to direct Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella), and costume designer Patricia Hibbert will be handling all three of the summer productions — La traviata, La Cenerentola and Franz Léhar’s The Merry Widow. Ms. Hibbert has become one of the opera world’s busiest costumers on the East Coast. She maintains a huge collection of costumes in her home in Fryeburg, Maine. This year, in addition to the summer projects in Princeton, she will be costuming operas in New Hampshire and Connecticut. And one cannot overlook the superior control that conductor John Keenan provided with the 51-piece on-stage orchestra. By appearing on stage, against the rear wall, it became an ever-visible presence, subtly contributing to the intimacy of the piece, but always strongly in support of the singers. And while passing out accolades, one must recognize the powerful performances in small roles: Kevin Langan as the wily Sparafucile; Jeniece Golbourne as the sensuous Maddalena; and Erin Holland in no less than three roles, but principally as Gilda’s nurse, Giovanna. Ms. Holland attended Westminster Choir College. And if you missed Rigoletto, you have this summer to catch up: Already announced for next winter, Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Return to the Reviews and Articles page.
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