RIGOLETTO in Catania – Review

by Natalia Di Bartolo – Verdi's masterpiece at the Teatro Massimo “Bellini” in Catania, conducted by Jordi Bernàcer and directed by Leo Nucci.


The experiential spectator, like the enthusiast, likes to get excited. Indeed, the musicologist likes it twice as much, because then, even if he is critical, it is his task to transfer the emotions felt into writing. It doesn't matter if the one to be reviewed is yet another performance of a famous opera for him/her. Indeed, experience and passion never fade into habit, but are sharpened in the search for thousands and thousands of confirmations in the single staging of a masterpiece.

In the case of Verdi's "Rigoletto", alla premiere on 29 October 2024 at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, regardless of the difficulties that preceded the performance, with the replacement of the protagonist at the last minute, not only the musicologist, but also the passionate spectator noticed how a real excitement was created among the audience during the performance exchange of opinions and "judgments", more or less well-founded and reliable. Rarely has the writer witnessed the discussions of such a varied audience as that of the premieres of the Etna theater today, which has abandoned, also due to obvious generational change, if not tuxedos and glittering evening dresses, the severe and slightly cold competence that has always characterized it. Positive data, after all, because it indicates renewed interest and claims to excellence. The musicologist, however, listens, smiles and thinks for himself.

And so, first of all, the presence of the Maestro Jordi Bernàcer conducting and conducting, no stranger to the Catania podium either for operas or concerts. A decidedly "symphonic" baton which, when transferred to the direction of an Opera, remains itself, that is, imperious and inflexible. He M° Bernacer, gifted with excellent conducting skills, approached Verdi's score with decision and personal reading of the tempos, accelerating them especially in the first act. Such fast tempos and significant orchestral volume, like those desired by the Spanish Maestro, cannot help but create a sort of "barrier" between the pit and the stage, when the Conductor wants to let his own agogic interpretation prevail, which does not always coincides with that of the interpreters. Recognize al M° Bernàcer attention to the crucial parts for the singers is, however, a must, even if, even in this case, there was a clear prevalence of the director's "diktat" in taste, timing and dynamics.

Rigoletto he was the famous Georgian baritone George Gagnidze, who sang with the correctness of his great stage experience and who performed, with underlying complicity, some vocal and scenic charms of the opera's director, his colleague Leo Nucci; furthermore, given the replacement of the protagonist at the last minute, his ability to quickly adapt to the conditions dictated by the mystical gulf was found to be highly professional. Nothing more, nothing less, however: the imposing, internationally renowned baritone, already seen and reviewed several times by the writer, above all in Vienna and in the role of Scarpia, he did not deviate from his habits of correctness and ability, but, as sometimes happens to him, he unfortunately did not engage in the gear of emotion.

The Gilda of the first, the Albanian Enkeleda Kamani, which was keen to point out during an interview that it was the Guild of the director's last Rigoletto on the scene Nucci, was no different in terms of lack of emotion. A graceful and thin voice, not particularly gifted in the high range, she also suffered, in favor of the technical tension, from a sort of lack of empathy between her colleagues and the public. And the public, as in the case of the protagonist, noticed it.

Different, but contained by the imperious direction, the all-Catania spirit of Ivan Magrì, the Duke of Mantua, who with a voice suited to the part and adequate skills, had to submit to times that were not always congenial to him. Therefore, his character also remained only an echo of the Duke, a presence and a voice that could have given much more even on stage.

“Without infamy and without praise” I do Sparafucile di Ramaz Chicviladze And the Maddalena by Elena Belfiore, corrected the Monterone by Luca Dall'Amico, as corrected by all the other interpreters and the Chorus directed by Luigi Petrozziello.

And we arrive, obviously, at what was the great, true attraction of the evening: directed by Leo Nucci.

Capable of becoming “Rigoletto” par excellence in the public imagination, for having sung this baritone part to the end of his career in theaters all over the world, for those who know him well on stage, the Nucci it also hovered in the setting of some sung expressions. Inevitable "contamination", as mentioned, especially on the part of the protagonist, but also on the part of his last Gilda. Proof of that, exactly as happened years ago at Nucci alla Scala with the then very young Nadine Sierra, the impressive encore, with the curtain closed, of the final father-daughter duet of the second act.

But musical skills on stage do not always translate into directorial skills and contribute to producing the much vaunted "emotion". It's true that it's the same Nucci, in an interview, he was keen to underline that he was not strictly a director, but that he had had contacts and exchanges with dozens of directors during his very long career as a singer; however this may not be decisive in the overall direction of the direction of an entire work; even if a similar staging of the Rigoletto had preceded the Catania one at the Greco-Roman theater of Taormina in 2021, with the same Emilian baritone who not only directed it, but was still in the title role.

The lack of depth of scenes by Carlo Centolavigna, then, with i costumes inform about Artemio Cabassi and lit by Bruno Ciulli , which limited the presence of all the performers to the proscenium and little else, meant that the direction threw everyone's voices into the audience, probably also in contrast with the sound barrier that rose from the mystical gulf; Male choir including, operated by Nucci as a single and compact entity, perhaps also in memory of some Verdi "conspiracy" chorus (the conspirators against Banco in Macbeth). The entire directorial ensemble of the performance, however, in conclusion, even in the static nature of the performers, oscillated between the professionalism of the experience and the uncertainty, made certain by the stereotype.

To return to what was mentioned at the beginning, therefore, the perplexity and discussions "of" and "among" the public of those who are capable of being moved by said stereotype (never to be confused with the always praiseworthy "tradition") and of those who, instead, prefer another quality of musical and scenic approach, continued throughout the evening, making them prevail among the acts (the tradition of applause between one act and another was also reinstated in the directorial sense) and at the end, the faction of cheers to the bitter end and decreeing the success of the entire representation.

Natalia Dantas

Photo of James Orlando