Rigoletto at the Kennedy Center (3/27)

Torrey knows a friend – I use the word ‘knows’ loosely because he can’t remember who the person is or how he knows them – who works at the Kennedy Center. The friend works specifically for the Washington National Opera as the Manager of External Relations. Once politics is out of my system, it is my dream to utilize my public relations degree and work for an opera company/house doing PR in some shape or form. So this person is already cool in my book. This friend invited him and a guest to an event that was being headlined by a former secretary of Veteran’s Affairs. After that, guests were invited to stick around and watch the dress rehearsal of Verdi’s Rigoletto starring Joseph Calleja. I’m still unsure what the event was for/about and why it was at the Kennedy Center. But I love opera and veterans so I’m not complaining.

We arrive late because Torrey couldn’t get off work, but that gave me some time to switch out of jeans and into more respectable attire so I didn’t complain. We get to the KC and make it up to the event. Torrey’s first question to me is “where is the bar?” He's got his priorities in order. :) We step into the room where the event was taking place and some dude was speaking about the KC and how cool opera is and how these are exciting times. Then, he mentions Placido Domingo. Even if you don’t love opera, you should know who Placido Domingo is. Geeze! He’s one of the three tenors! Come on people! :) So I hear Domingo’s name (he’s the general director of the WNO) and my eyes start darting across the room in search of the famous tenor. Could this be? Him? Here? Is he going to speak? No way! Well, just no. I got my hopes up. But the ex-secretary of the VA got up and spoke.

About fifteen minutes into the speech, Torrey leans in and says, “Gee, I love listening to myself speak as much as anyone else, but this is ridiculous.” We stepped outside so he could smoke a cig and then headed back in to grab a quick cocktail and dinner roll, picked up our tickets, and headed to the opera hall.

This was only my second live opera, the first being Otello at the Met with my fave Renee Fleming, so I was looking forward to the evening. I had heard good things about Rigoletto, but didn’t have time to familiarize myself with the plot or music. But it’s Verdi and I love Verdi who also composed Otello and another favorite La Traviata. The KC opera house was a lot smaller than the Met, but I think it added intimacy and closeness to the performance.

Here’s the gist of the opera as posted on the WNO’s website: “As the libertine Duke of Mantua’s jaded jester, Rigoletto is known for sparing no one his biting and often vicious sarcasm. But when courtiers abduct Rigoletto’s beloved daughter, Gilda, for the Duke’s enjoyment, a curse and misdirected revenge bring tragedy and are Rigoletto’s undoing.” So the courtiers thought that Gilda was Rig’s ‘lady friend’ and not daughter. Rigoletto hired some dude to off the Duke out of revenge. Gilda doesn’t want the Duke to die, so dressed as a man, she takes the place of the Duke and is stabbed and eventually dies in the arms of her dad. Rediculous? Yes. Melodramatic? Of course! Amazingly awesome? You bet!!

The opera was Ah-MAZING! Joseph Calleja is pretty darn hot and sang extremely well as the Duke. Andrea Silverstrelli was the dude hired to kill the Duke. I was totally captivated by this Italian bass. It was a very interesting and unique voice with so much power behind it. I was also pleasantly surprised because I had heard two of the songs and never knew they came from this opera – “Caro Nome” and “La Donna e mobile” (many of you have probably heard La donna e mobile before – google it). The sets were huge, but conveyed well the various locals.

The performance was a dress rehearsal and it was fully staged and the singers were fully costumed. The only major thing that might be different in a dress rehearsal as opposed to the real deal is that some of the singers might choose to cover. This just means that they don’t sing full voiced to save up for the opening night. In some instances, the orchestration might overpower the singer making them a little more difficult to hear. I think I only picked up on this a few times, mostly from the soprano who sang Gilda, and I think Rigoletto and the Duke. But I’m no expert so who really knows?

Well, my second opera experience was most enjoyable. The small crowd, including myself thoroughly enjoyed it. I think Torrey had a good time too. He left the house whistling the tune for La Donna and was mesmerized by the enormity and awesomeness of the stage settings. Maybe I have a convert who can join me at future productions. Handel’s Tamerlano is up next with Placido Domingo.