A Chickens! cultural moment: Rigoletto

Big thanks to Talina for bringing me to Rigoletto! I'm sorry to say I didn't recognize the what opera it was until the program said "La Donna e Mobile". Possibly one of the most recognizable little ditties of Italian opera. For little cp, here is the score (Hint: play the last note low and repeat song for full effect):

JT was excellent as one of the courtiers, though he was a bit of a man-slut at the beginning. Ha! My favorite was Michael Uloth the bass who played Sparafucile the assassin. Yes, I'm biased towards bass it's true but that long low note at the end of the Rigoletto-Sparafucile duet was pretty impressive. Anywho, the story of Rigoletto is another one of those, over-protective father shelters daughter, daughter falls in love with the first thing she sees (who turns out to be a huge womanizer), father sends assassins to kill wamanizing jerk, assassination is botched and daughter ends up dieing in jerk's place kind of stories. It was Gilda's own stupid fault though. Rather than give her life in place of the Duke couldn't she have, oh I don't know, called the police or yelled out to give him a heads up, or maybe tried reason with her father to call off the kill?! Oh well, what would opera be without melodrama?

Here is what the Saskatoon Opera has to say on the subject:

"For our 30th Anniversary season and the first in our new permanent home, The Frank and Ellen Remai Arts Centre, Saskatoon Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi’s early masterpiece, Rigoletto, the story of the hunchbacked court jester whose life turns to tragedy when his beloved daughter falls in love with the lecherous Duke of Mantua.

Saskatoon Opera audience favourite, baritone Gregory Dahl, returns to our stage to sing the first Rigoletto of his career. His innocent daughter and her heartless seducer are sung by Vancouver coloratura soprano Lambroula Pappas and tenor Christopher Bengochea in their first appearances with Saskatoon Opera. Featured performers include Henri Loiselle as the heroic Monterone and, in their SO debuts, Katarzyna Sadej and Michael Uloth. Verdi’s magnificent score, including two of opera’s most unforgettable arias, the ethereal ‘Caro nome’ and the brilliant tenor touchstone, ‘La donna e mobile,’ has made Rigoletto a perennial favourite with opera-goers everywhere."