[Met Performance] CID:101150



Rigoletto
Metropolitan Opera House, Wed, January 23, 1929




Rigoletto (174)
Giuseppe Verdi | Francesco Maria Piave
Rigoletto
Giuseppe De Luca

Gilda
Amelita Galli-Curci

Duke of Mantua
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi

Maddalena
Marion Telva

Sparafucile
L?on Rothier

Monterone
Paolo Ananian

Borsa
Giordano Paltrinieri

Marullo
Louis D'Angelo

Count Ceprano
Vincenzo Reschiglian

Countess Ceprano
Minnie Egener

Giovanna
Philine Falco

Page
Paolina Tomisani


Conductor
Giuseppe Bamboschek







Review 1:

Review of W. J. Henderson in the New York Sun

The first "Rigoletto" of the season emerged at the Metropolitan Opera House last evening. The audience jammed every available inch of space and tested the strength of the walls at the rear of the orchestra floor. It is an interesting fact that this condition was but a repetition of those of former years. Whenever "Rigoletto" is announced the house is packed.

The pilots who guide the ship of lyric state declare that the drawing power is Mme. Galli-Curci, who was heard last night as the unfortunate Glida. But it is hard to believe that this much-admired prima donna is the sole magnet, for the simple reason that her audiences appear larger when she sings in this opera than when she sings in others.

The admission must be made, shocking as it is to progressive minds and to those of reposeful temper, that this way-worn veteran of the boards, "Rigoletto," still has the dramatic and musical vitality to provide support for gentle-voiced sopranos and barytones of experience and, long standing. Mme. Galli-Curci was pleasing last night. Her voice this season has so far been in better condition than it was last winter. It was never a large or brilliant organ, but possessed of a certain mellow color and softness ingratiating in themselves and well suited to the music of the betrayed daughter of the jester.

Music of the type provided by Verdi in this work seems to be peculiarly suited to her style of delivery. Last evening she sang with a better legato than at any time last season and with steadier tone and less frequent wanderings from the pitch. Those who habitually attend operatic exhibitions, however, are convinced that the state of Mme. Galli-Curci's voice and the character of her art no longer influence her public, which adores her no matter what she does.

The dramatic impersonation of the evening was Mr. De Luca's as Rigoletto. There were eloquence, pathos and despair in his singing, and he surely won and held the sympathy of his hearers. Mr. Lauri-Volpi a familiar figure as the wicked young Duke and he was applauded to the echo. Mr. Rothier dispensed of the duties of Sparafucile to the general satisfaction and Marion Telva repeated a Maddalena who seems too veneered with a sense of routine above some less important material. Mr. Bamboschek wielded the conductor's baton with authority.



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