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Opera New Jersey to present Giuseppi Verdi’s “Rigoletto”

January 28th, 2008

        Viva Verdi!  Opera New Jersey is set to perform one of Verdi’s magnificent masterpieces.  Rigoletto abounds with countless familiar arias such as La Donne e Mobile, Questo e Quello, Caro Nome and the wonderful famous quartet Bella Figlia.  You can listen to these arias by clicking on the highlighted text.  There are three performances scheduled in three different venues.  The first performance is on Feb 1 at 8 P.M. in Morristown, NJ.  The second performance is Feb 8 at 7:30 P.M. at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, and we finish on Feb 10 with a matinee at 3 o’clock at the State Theater in New Brunswick.  To read more about the exceptional cast click here.

       I look forward to playing Rigoletto again.  This is my second time tackling this mighty work.  It is really an outstanding piece of art with many heavenly moments.  The word we hear over and over again is maledizione.  Maledizione in Italian means curse, doom or malediction.  While living in Italy for a summer playing at the Spoleto Festival, I came across an interesting story.  There is a 13th century aqueduct in Spoleto that spans the valley imbetween two beautiful hills.  It is a breathtaking site.  One of the best foods I have ever tasted there was wild boar-cingale.  These cingale live underneath this ancient aqueduct.  It just so happens that the people of Spoleto have believed for centuries that this area under the aqueduct was cursed.  The curse is what lures the cingale to live there.  I said jokingly to my Spoletino native friend Lorenzo in Italian “C’e un maledizione la?(There is a curse there?)  He replied “Si Giovanni, c’e un maledizione”(Yes Giovanni, there is a curse.)   I was just joking about Rigoletto.  However it turns many of the Spoletini will not go under the aqueduct.  They wait for the cingale to venture out before they hunt them.  It was like living inside Rigoletto.  A real life curse.  Awesome.  I tip my hat to those who still believe in these ancient spells.  Cingale anyone?

For a complete synopsis of Rigoletto click here.

For concert and ticket information about these upcoming concerts visit the website of Opera New Jersey here. 

Entry Filed under: Opera