Live Blog From Portland Opera’s Opening Night of Rigoletto

Why banter about the lighting, the costumes or props and not mention the fact that a woman is kidnapped, raped and then murdered? I don’t understand how the hatred of women and massive violence toward them is worth tickets at $169 a seat?

If you are in a domestic violence situation or want more information, please call the Portland Women’s Crisis Line to talk to a confidential advocate at 503.235.5333.

In every scene the men were taking advantage of and dominating either the lead female character or the supporting actresses via physical coercion, bribery, or emotional blackmail and manipulation. In the other scenes the men were celebrating their torture and kidnap of a young woman and oppressing the hunchback — the only person in the performance who is obviously not the able-bodied norm.

I want to commend the performers for their incredible talent. I especially enjoyed the duet by Gilda and Rigoletto in the second act and the family quad — sister/brother, daughter/father.

Though, I’m curious how many men will go home tonight and beat their wives, after having watched the romanticized depiction of gratuitous gender-based violence. Or I wonder how many men from the audience will pressure their dates to submit sexually.

The statistics tell us that at least one (1) in every six (6) women in Oregon experience domestic violence and at the world wide average is one (1) in every (3) women will experience either domestic or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

So what message are the men in the audience supposed to take home tonight after witnessing over 30 male opera characters celebrating and patting each other on the actors’ back after telling the story of how they stalked a woman in the night to her home, methodically waited for the perfect moment to abduct her from her home, and drag her to the palace and gift her as the sexual “prize” of a misogynist, drunk, feudal lord?

What men in the audience will know how to interrupt the violence when their friends are talking about hitting their partners next week? What will women say to their friends or sisters or coworkers about tonight’s performance?

We know that intimate partner violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by friends, acquaintances, family members, and partners. The vast majority of survivors of domestic and sexual violence experience that violence from someone they know and most often someone with whom there is a foundation for a trusting relationship.

Rigoletto was controlling of his daughter’s behavior, demanding she not leave the house, for fear — and rightfully so — that the snake lord or his posse would “take her honor”. The Duke, at every turn, manipulated Gilda into believing he was the only star in the sky, while in the opening 2 minutes was abusing the women in the court — pulling one woman up by her hair, dragging along another then forcing her down to the ground, to be cowering at the Duke’s feet.

Did anyone else notice that most of the women were wearing see-through slips through the majority of the opera? Really? They only had nighties?

So, the images of manhood were plenty:
1) the Duke: supposedly handsome, had his clothes open quite a lot, seemed a bit intoxicated the entire time. As, I’ve already said, he completely dominated the scenes — pushing women across the stage or creeping into their personal space to “possess” her. He was the winner because, ultimately, her got both the virgin blond and the whore brunette.

2) Rigoletto. The hunchback crippled father of Gilda. He’s the court jester that all the people laugh at. He’s the “buffoon” for her must please the Duke at the Duke’s whim. He’s the slave in the jester’s suit, twirling around the stage, to make fun of others and himself. In this story, Rigoletto is the butt of all the jokes and the tragedy.

3) The Mercenary with the low voice who appears out from the shadows, offering to solve Rigoletto’s problems with a quick use of his blade. Of, course, the Mercenary also sexually exploits his sister in the his line of work to murder for money. We know he likes wine. Did I mention that the Mercenary actually hits his sister? Right there on the stage: He slaps her face and she falls to the floor, the huddles by the wall on one side of the stage, crosses and hugs the wall on the other side too.

The variety of male characters in the army of kidnapper predators was fair.

4) There was one with a big round belly. He was tall and very round in the center.

5) the man in pink. This guy was the primary insulter of Rigoletto. He’d walk with a limp, hunched over, and swing the doll Rigoletto carried, to try to humiliate the oppressed father.

6) and their cohort, the fellow in the black cape with the eye patch. these three were the primary leaders of the predatory army, rallying the troops for rape revenge.

and then there were dozens more men, dressed in distinct costumes, creating a great presence on stage — a fullness of strength, power, and total domination.

In the story of Rigoletto, there were 3 main visions of women:

1.) Gilda — our virgin who hasn’t left home, she doesn’t even seem to know her only family history — doesn’t know who her mother was or even her father’s last name. Through the majority of the show, Gilda manages to wear a nightie, as if it is a requirement to hold together the plot to see the silhoette of her body through her dress for two acts! Really?

Gilda is often seen communicating through her body language that she is scared of the people around her. Only with her maid, did she seem relaxed enough to let down her guard, and allow the maid to brush her hair. with all the other characters — and after parting from her maid, she only ever interacted with men — she seemed a bit frightened. I would be too if I had just been abducted from my home by a group of 30 men and taken to my most certain sexual assault by one man and the probability of a host of other violations by the army of abductors.

Even with her father she seems scared. Did anyone see the way he through his cape at her after she appeared in act 3 in the Duke’s house? Did you see how he gestured his disbelief at her telling of her experience? Could you tell that Gilda was fearing reprisal from Rigoletto immediately following her kidnap and the implied sexual assault from Duke.

2.)Gilda is nameless and totally isolated from the world, alone in her days and nights, except for her maid. the maid is our second female character — she is only allowed to speak when spoken to, for Rigoletto has obviously hit her before.

3.) Lastly, the whore. Now I love the word whore and view sex work as a form of labor and a place of empowerment for women, unless they are clearly being exploited. When a man — in this case a brother — demands a woman — here, his sister — to prostitute herself to another man for money the brother will pocket, that is exploitation. when a man pimps a women, then hits her, that is exploitation.

Why is the Opera showing this?

Hey Opera execs, this show undermines the power and equality of women — half of your audience tonight — and further celebrates gender based violence in our society.

What kind of reinforcing validation do you think was sent to the men in the audience who control their partners or their children? And if their partners were in the audience tonight, what messages do you think they received?

You might want to consider hiring some feminist consultants to study your seasons’ stories. I’m sure in a place like Portland, if you put yourself out there, you might even be able to pull in some incredible volunteer talent to explain to you how atrocious and damaging this kind of “entertainment” is to the community.

In some circles, its called the “good ‘ole boys club”; in other circles, its called Rape Culture.

Hey Geoff-

I think it’s great that you came to the opera and had such a great experience. I don’t in any way wish to discourage novices from having opinions and I especially appreciate how thorough and well written your post is! The videos are especially fun and educational to watch. I appreciate how much effort you put into researching the opera before you attended.

What I want to explain is that I was a little shocked by the critical air of your blog post. I didn’t anticipate the bloggers to be so negatively critical of the singers. None of the the other bloggers even attempted to portray any knowledge of voices or singing like you did. I understand that you are indeed an art critic, and therefore have an idea of what you like and don’t like. But as a singing judge I think you are probably less experienced than say – others. In saying,

“If Richard Troxell can up his game as The Duke during the run (and I truly believe he can)”

you have a really condescending air. Like YOU think Richard has it in him vocally, so therefore he probably does. Richard was a last minute replacement. Usually a critic will make mention of that. Like a small kudos for putting in the extra last minute work. Also, I feel that Mark was very overlooked in your posting. Mark’s Rigoletto is a once in a lifetime experience and I wish you had expressed this more. Who else can bring people to tears with “Cortigianni” (that’s the big aria in the second Act)like he did? I witnessed grown men weeping at this moment. Mark lives and breathes this character with so much pathos it’s as if he himself is Rigoletto. The role of Rigoletto is one of the most taxing roles ever written for the voice. The nuances of Mark’s singing, his pianissimi in the top register, the vocal coloring, the sheer size and stamina of the instrument had no mention. Most people familiar with the work would have a special appreciation of how Mark contributed to the show. And what about Peter Volpe? You aren’t going to hear another bass like that for a while. No mention of our excellent Sparafucile? He is a top notch bass that just fell off your radar. What about his awesome fake gold tooth that he adds just for some extra flair? Also, be more specific when you are referring to Jossie, Sarah, and Keith’s singing and why they are your favorites. These are the things we love to read as fans.

I realize that you didn’t have a lot of time to collect your thoughts during intermission when you had to write this blog, but these are just some suggestions I have that might make your blog more useful to both the first time viewer and the opera aficionado. Rather than a mere acting critique with mention of who possessed your favorite voices, try to get more singing specific. Because you are a smart guy, you should express your opinion. But the next time you are asked to critique an opera, try to familiarize yourself with the art of singing and what makes a singer great. Then your opinion on the singers might be more understood. Sorry I didn’t express that well enough earlier! I hope that this experience sparked your curiosity in opera and if you ever want to talk about singing, I would be more than happy to join in! I have a feeling you will become a great and knowledgeable opera critic!