Verdi - Rigoletto - Alvarez, Schäfer, McVicar, Royal Opera House (2000)DVD9 - PAL - 16:9 - All Regions - Italian - Dolby Digital 2.0 & 5.1 - 169min. incl. extras
Subtitles: English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish
Release 2009
Verdi’s drama of revenge, in its stunning new production by David McVicar, is filled with some of the composer’s most celebrated music. Edward Downes conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House with a cast which includes Marcelo Alvarez, Christine Schäfer and Paolo Gavanelli. Contains nudity.
Plus
* VERDI THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS – BBC centenary documentary
* Director David McVicar talks about his production of Rigoletto - Illustrated synopsis
* Paolo Gavanelli (Rigoletto)
* Christine Schäfer (Gilda)
* Marcelo Álvarez (Duke of Mantua)
* Eric Halfvarson (Sparafucile)
* Graciela Araya (Maddalena)
* Giovan Battista Parodi (Monterone)
* Elizabeth Sikora (Giovanna)
Reviews
‘David McVicar’s engrossing and perceptive production of Rigoletto last year at Covent Garden caused something of a stir…
…a performance of thrilling commitment on all sides, bespeaking long and productive rehearsals, and conviction among the singers that this is the way to do the piece. That happens all too seldom today in opera houses so Covent Garden is to be congratulated on achieving it and the BBC for preserving it on film.
At its centre is the arresting portrayal of Rigoletto from Paolo Gavanelli, probably the best acted and most sensitively sung, in terms of variety and colouring of tone, since Tito Gobbi essayed the role in the same house 35 years ago. …Christine Schäfer’s Gilda … is particularly moving in the final act. Throughout, her singing, though not Italianate in colour, is musically shaped and technically flawless. Marcelo Álvarez is the very epitome of a selfish, macho ruler, and his brilliant, confident singing seconds his acting, yet he is rightly aware of the need for delicacy as well as attack in his part, his Act 3 aria finely shaped. Eric Halfvarson is a suitably sinister Sparafucile, Graciela Araya a properly sensual Maddalena.
