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"Rigoletto" had its first performance of the season last night at the Metropolitan Opera House. Verdi's opera was conducted by Cesare Sodero and Desire Defrere had charge of the stage. It went the familiar ways and the performance was neither better nor worse than others of the last several years. Most of those in the cast returned to roles they had assumed before, and their singing was contributive to an average representation in which the whole was rather superior to its parts.

The title role was in the keeping of Lawrence Tibbett. Through two of the acts, certainly the baritone was in improved vocal condition. In the third and final chapters the highest tones were achieved by strenuous effort, but this was of little effect on his characterization, which had a considerable store of tragic illusion.

Josephine Antoine returned to the role of Gilda, and sang it surely and capably. "Caro nome" was smoothly delivered, though its final tone was pushed a little beyond its natural resonance. She chose not to sing the high ending on leaving the stage, but that is not in the score as Verdi wrote it.

Charles Kullman's Duke was a lyrical one. The last note of "Parmi veder le lagrime" went astray, but the peccadilloes of pitch plagued the cast quite generally. William Hargrave was a competent Monterone and competence also was the order of the Maddalena of Anna Kaskas and the Sparafucile of Virgilio Lazzari. Thelma Altman, Maxine Stellman, George Cehanovsky, Alessio De Paolis and John Baker were altogether acceptable in the smaller parts.

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