[Met Tour] CID:87330



Rigoletto
Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia, Thu, April 24, 1924 Matinee





Rigoletto (137)
Giuseppe Verdi | Francesco Maria Piave
Rigoletto
Giuseppe De Luca

Gilda
Lucrezia Bori

Duke of Mantua
Beniamino Gigli

Maddalena
Marion Telva

Sparafucile
Adamo Didur

Monterone
Paolo Ananian

Borsa
Giordano Paltrinieri

Marullo
Millo Picco

Count Ceprano
Vincenzo Reschiglian

Countess Ceprano
Nannette Guilford

Giovanna
Henriette Wakefield

Page
Virginia Grassi


Conductor
Roberto Moranzoni







Review 1:

Review of Enrico Leide in the Atlanta Constitution

De Luca, Gigli, Bori, Didur Are Praised in 'Rigoletto'

Despite the horrible and improbable plot and its array of despicable characters, "Rigoletto" is one of the finest of Verdi's operas. "Rigoletto," to meet the approval of the keen eyes of the police in their office of political protection, was forced to undergo many changes in the libretto. Verdi, being saturated with the plot, accepted the alterations and set so rapidly to his inspiration that in forty days the opera was completed. This was as great and genuine a success as was ever achieved by an operatic composer; since no change, either of time or artistic taste, during more than fifty years, has been able to dim the beauty of the masterpiece.

There is one underlying motive in "Rigoletto" that the critics have been able to discover as leading through the opera. It is the [first] recitative of Rigoletto on the lonely road while on his way to see his daughter, "Quel vechio maledivami tare," are the first words spoken, and the gruesome tone of them and the weird sequence of three unharmonic changes make the entrance very impressive.

Three highlights in "Rigoletto" make the opera immortal, and those highlights were presented to Atlanta yesterday afternoon superbly. The soprano's aria "Caro nome," founded on an E major scale, is a true test of dramatic delivery and coloratura technique. Miss Bori masters both. She began her song with quiet and conservative nuances, working up to a florid torrent of cadenzas and staccatos with such a vehemence that the audience responded with an ovation.

The Famous Quartet

The quartet, a really classic masterpiece of Verdi's second period, is more of a tenor solo with three vocal obligatos. Mr., Gigli's golden voice floated over the Auditorium right into the soul of every human being in that hall, and the thrill given the audience with those [beginning] measures, "Bella figlia dell'amore," was carried and enhanced by Miss Perini in the next entrance and in turn completed by Mr. De Luca and Miss Bori.

"Rigoletto" is not a tenor opera. Built and woven around a baritone role, it gives the principal an unusual opportunity to display vocal as well as histrionic powers. Mr. De Luca made the best of both. He was able to shape his emission in a gruesome way during the mysterious scene of the first act, while he let out all his power and dramatic force in the famous duet at the end of the third act.

Duet is Climax

This duet, when acted in the manner in which Miss Bori and Mr. De Luca did, is a veritable climax. It is the turning point in the plot; it is the oath of vengeance of a father to vindicate his betrayed daughter. Mr. Moranzoni was materially responsible for the success of that finale as well as for that of the quartet, and Adamo Didur, in the role of Sparafucile, created out of an ungrateful part a befitting impersonation. His make-up was a work of art.



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