19 October 2014
Rigoletto: Horrible People Doing Horrible Things
19/10/14 11:17
What is the plot of Rigoletto? This is the question we’ve heard from a lot of people over the last few weeks. Is it a nice story? Is it funny? Is it uplifting? In a word no it’s not any of those things.
It’s an opera.
Don’t get me wrong, the music is wonderful. The characters and story though, are as dark as something you’d encounter on Criminal Minds. These are not nice people. Everyone is nasty by modern standards and the mob, (which is what the choir really is) is no better than the rest. So here’s Who’s Who in Rigoletto as I have picked up over the last couple of months.
The Duke: A Nouveau Rich jerk. A womanizer whose philosophy is love ‘em and move on because he’ll never have to pick up the tab.
Rigoletto: A court jester, he’s mostly the procurer for the Duke. He uses whatever means he can to obtain women for the Duke including everything from enticements, to bribery, to kidnapping. A nasty piece of work
Rigoletto’s Daughter: Sweet and innocent but about as sharp as a bucket of rocks.
Monterone: An evil sorcerer who will suck the fun out of any room he enters. If you complain, he will hit you with a nasty curse.
Monterone’s daughter: She’s only seen briefly but definitely got the impression she’s a party girl who doesn’t seem to mind that her dad does horrible things to anyone she shows an interest in.
The Chorus: The Choir Master described us as “the worst high school clique you’ve ever heard of”. Mean, nasty, and cruel, we go along with the horrible things that happen for the fun of it.
There’s also a bunch of other characters, courtiers, assassins, a nurse etc. They are critical to the plot and operate on a similar ethical level with the principals.
Here’s how the story unfolds. I won’t swear to the absolute accuracy of this. It’s just the story as seen from the trenches.
It starts in the Duke’s Court. There’s a party going on and we’re all having fun. Monterone’s daughter is there and is dancing with a local kid who I suspect will have an “accident” shortly after he leaves the party thanks to her dad. That happens offstage so it’s not part of the plot. Then Rigoletto tries to get Monterone’s daughter for the Duke. He’s subtle. He grabs her, drags her across the stage and shoves her into the Duke's arms. Just then, Monterone arrives and he’s mad. He places a curse on Rigoletto, The Duke, and for good measure everyone else in the room. In response the Chorus laughs at him. We sing Monterone off for being an old fool and then we all go back to the party. We are a shallow bunch.
But the music is wonderful.
Somewhere along the line a plot gets hatched. There’s about 50 pages of the score where we’re offstage and play no part in the action. We are all hiding in the kitchen below the stage waiting for our que, and I’m not sure exactly who said what to whom. When we return the kidnapping is unfolding. Rigoletto thinks he’s going to kidnap Monterone's Countess along with the help of the Chorus wearing masks. The Chorus thinks we’re kidnapping Rigoletto’s mistress as that this would be a fun nasty prank to pull on Rigoletto. What neither Rigoletto nor the Chorus knows is that we’re really kidnapping Rigoletto’s daughter, thanks to Monterone’s curse. I’d like to point out here the absurdity of doing a midnight kidnapping, in a city, with about twenty people all singing at the top of their voices. During the kidnapping scene we sing the aria "Zitti, zitti, Muoviamo a Vendetta" (Pasta Revenge). Stealth is not our strong suit. I'll give a pass to the Chorus, but somehow I’d think Rigoletto should have noticed that we were at his own house. But then his mask didn’t have eye holes.
But the music is wonderful
Anyway we all depart and head back to the Duke. There, without Rigoletto present, we tell the Duke what a great prank we pulled on Rigoletto. Rigoletto’s kidnapped daughter is presented to the Duke. Being that, as I mentioned before, she’s as sharp as a bucket of rocks, she immediately falls in love with him. Later Rigoletto discovers who actually was kidnapped and is despondent. The Chorus replies that it was just a joke and he can always get another mistress. Rigoletto replies, "La Familia", it was his daughter. This isn’t what we planned so now the Chorus is sad too. In a rage Rigoletto vows to kill the Duke. As punishment the Chorus is banished to the orchestra pit and for the rest of the opera can only make ominous oooOOOOooo noises whenever the conductor points at them.
But the music is wonderful
Rigoletto hires an assassin to kill the Duke. Rigoletto and his daughter spy on the Duke as he professes his love to another woman, the sister of Rigoletto’s assassin. The Duke then sings his famous aria “La Donny Mobile” (I Used to Drive For The Osmonds) and, having all of the sensitivity of a common artichoke, gets drunk and goes upstairs. Rigoletto and his daughter sing a duet where she insists she still loves the Duke and he warns her that she needs to be careful. “Smettere Di Dirmi Cosa Fare/Sei Solo Un Ragazzino” (Stop Telling Me What To Do/You’re Just a Child). Rigoletto has his daughter dress as a man so they both can escape to Padua. Apparently Padua doesn’t allow strange women to enter the city.
But the music is wonderful.
Rigoletto’s daughter hears that her dad is plotting to kill the Duke. She goes to the Duke’s house to save him, and is killed by the assassin. Rigoletto sings a happy song over the body bag, until he hears the Duke singing “La Donny Mobile” in the shower. If the Duke isn't dead who is in the bag? He opens the bag to discover his daughter who miraculously springs to life, sings “Mio Papà è Un Deficiente” (My Dad is an Idiot) and then dies again. Rigoletto goes mad, his daughter is dead, the Chorus is forbidden to say actual words, Monterone is still evil, and his daughter is still a slut. And what of the Duke? He's Royalty. Nothing bad ever happens to them.
But the music is wonderful.
As Bugs Bunny said” “What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?*”
*”What’s Opera Doc”, 1957, Chuck Jones, Mel Blanc.
http://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/736/bugs-bunny-whats-opera-doc.html
PIX: Marsha's sister Margaret is here for a couple of weeks. One day they decided to drive down to see Buchart Gardens near Victoria. Even though it's October the place is still beautiful. Buchart Gardens: The REAL Happiest Place on Earth.
It’s an opera.
Don’t get me wrong, the music is wonderful. The characters and story though, are as dark as something you’d encounter on Criminal Minds. These are not nice people. Everyone is nasty by modern standards and the mob, (which is what the choir really is) is no better than the rest. So here’s Who’s Who in Rigoletto as I have picked up over the last couple of months.
The Duke: A Nouveau Rich jerk. A womanizer whose philosophy is love ‘em and move on because he’ll never have to pick up the tab.
Rigoletto: A court jester, he’s mostly the procurer for the Duke. He uses whatever means he can to obtain women for the Duke including everything from enticements, to bribery, to kidnapping. A nasty piece of work
Rigoletto’s Daughter: Sweet and innocent but about as sharp as a bucket of rocks.
Monterone: An evil sorcerer who will suck the fun out of any room he enters. If you complain, he will hit you with a nasty curse.
Monterone’s daughter: She’s only seen briefly but definitely got the impression she’s a party girl who doesn’t seem to mind that her dad does horrible things to anyone she shows an interest in.
The Chorus: The Choir Master described us as “the worst high school clique you’ve ever heard of”. Mean, nasty, and cruel, we go along with the horrible things that happen for the fun of it.
There’s also a bunch of other characters, courtiers, assassins, a nurse etc. They are critical to the plot and operate on a similar ethical level with the principals.
Here’s how the story unfolds. I won’t swear to the absolute accuracy of this. It’s just the story as seen from the trenches.
It starts in the Duke’s Court. There’s a party going on and we’re all having fun. Monterone’s daughter is there and is dancing with a local kid who I suspect will have an “accident” shortly after he leaves the party thanks to her dad. That happens offstage so it’s not part of the plot. Then Rigoletto tries to get Monterone’s daughter for the Duke. He’s subtle. He grabs her, drags her across the stage and shoves her into the Duke's arms. Just then, Monterone arrives and he’s mad. He places a curse on Rigoletto, The Duke, and for good measure everyone else in the room. In response the Chorus laughs at him. We sing Monterone off for being an old fool and then we all go back to the party. We are a shallow bunch.
But the music is wonderful.
Somewhere along the line a plot gets hatched. There’s about 50 pages of the score where we’re offstage and play no part in the action. We are all hiding in the kitchen below the stage waiting for our que, and I’m not sure exactly who said what to whom. When we return the kidnapping is unfolding. Rigoletto thinks he’s going to kidnap Monterone's Countess along with the help of the Chorus wearing masks. The Chorus thinks we’re kidnapping Rigoletto’s mistress as that this would be a fun nasty prank to pull on Rigoletto. What neither Rigoletto nor the Chorus knows is that we’re really kidnapping Rigoletto’s daughter, thanks to Monterone’s curse. I’d like to point out here the absurdity of doing a midnight kidnapping, in a city, with about twenty people all singing at the top of their voices. During the kidnapping scene we sing the aria "Zitti, zitti, Muoviamo a Vendetta" (Pasta Revenge). Stealth is not our strong suit. I'll give a pass to the Chorus, but somehow I’d think Rigoletto should have noticed that we were at his own house. But then his mask didn’t have eye holes.
But the music is wonderful
Anyway we all depart and head back to the Duke. There, without Rigoletto present, we tell the Duke what a great prank we pulled on Rigoletto. Rigoletto’s kidnapped daughter is presented to the Duke. Being that, as I mentioned before, she’s as sharp as a bucket of rocks, she immediately falls in love with him. Later Rigoletto discovers who actually was kidnapped and is despondent. The Chorus replies that it was just a joke and he can always get another mistress. Rigoletto replies, "La Familia", it was his daughter. This isn’t what we planned so now the Chorus is sad too. In a rage Rigoletto vows to kill the Duke. As punishment the Chorus is banished to the orchestra pit and for the rest of the opera can only make ominous oooOOOOooo noises whenever the conductor points at them.
But the music is wonderful
Rigoletto hires an assassin to kill the Duke. Rigoletto and his daughter spy on the Duke as he professes his love to another woman, the sister of Rigoletto’s assassin. The Duke then sings his famous aria “La Donny Mobile” (I Used to Drive For The Osmonds) and, having all of the sensitivity of a common artichoke, gets drunk and goes upstairs. Rigoletto and his daughter sing a duet where she insists she still loves the Duke and he warns her that she needs to be careful. “Smettere Di Dirmi Cosa Fare/Sei Solo Un Ragazzino” (Stop Telling Me What To Do/You’re Just a Child). Rigoletto has his daughter dress as a man so they both can escape to Padua. Apparently Padua doesn’t allow strange women to enter the city.
But the music is wonderful.
Rigoletto’s daughter hears that her dad is plotting to kill the Duke. She goes to the Duke’s house to save him, and is killed by the assassin. Rigoletto sings a happy song over the body bag, until he hears the Duke singing “La Donny Mobile” in the shower. If the Duke isn't dead who is in the bag? He opens the bag to discover his daughter who miraculously springs to life, sings “Mio Papà è Un Deficiente” (My Dad is an Idiot) and then dies again. Rigoletto goes mad, his daughter is dead, the Chorus is forbidden to say actual words, Monterone is still evil, and his daughter is still a slut. And what of the Duke? He's Royalty. Nothing bad ever happens to them.
But the music is wonderful.
As Bugs Bunny said” “What did you expect in an opera, a happy ending?*”
*”What’s Opera Doc”, 1957, Chuck Jones, Mel Blanc.
http://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/736/bugs-bunny-whats-opera-doc.html
PIX: Marsha's sister Margaret is here for a couple of weeks. One day they decided to drive down to see Buchart Gardens near Victoria. Even though it's October the place is still beautiful. Buchart Gardens: The REAL Happiest Place on Earth.