In that brawling family of Italian tragic opera, “Rigoletto” seems to be a strange but adorable cousin. His story is so complicated and messy that he is attracted to him many times, despite his serious anger problems.
It is also considered a mid-Verdy masterpiece just before the composer’s retirement in the marathon runner’s grit. So the new and modern work at Skala is a big event to replace the gorgeous 28-year-old work. Also, a bold new approach to Verdi’s complex scores by a conductor who perused early notes on Verdi’s opera, and a Korean-inspired production designer and director for many of the artists involved in the seismic career. The movie “Parasite” which is also a moment.
At the heart of all this is the Mongolian baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, who will return to Skala in the title role within two years of his debut in “Aida” in October 2020. Brings the role of a cursed court clown to the Skala. This is a personal milestone for 36-year-old Enkubat. It’s also a signature role, but it’s by no means an easy role, especially in a famous opera house like La Scala.
“”Sang the role of Rigoletto About 60 times, this time La Scala is a bit intimidating and exciting, “Enkbat said in a telephone interview from Milan last month, the day before the rehearsal began. “Singing in terms of acting, singing and artistic expression is a difficult role and requires a lot of concentration and ability. For me, the Rigoletto character brings out everything in me.”
After this “Rigoletto” from June 20th to July 11th, Enkubat sang five Verdi operas “Nabucco” and “Aida” in Verona this summer, and this fall Parma’s “Rigoletto”. “The Power of Fate”, “Il Trovatore” in Florence, “La Traviata” in Vienna. He repeats “La Traviata” for the Metropolitan Opera debut in January. This is a good schedule for opera singers who are in high demand to book engagement months or years in advance.
“I’m used to it,” he said. “This is new common sense for me.”
And the usual, or at least natural, thing he can relate to with music. Mongolia may not be known for being produced by an opera singer, but it has an ancient culture infused with music. The major city of Ulaanbaatar is home to the Opera House, the Academy of Music and the State University of Arts and Culture, and Enkubat graduated in 2009. There he tasted the opera for the first time. However, from an early age, he sang Mongolian folk songs, urtyn duu, traditional “long song” Of Mongolia. These lyrical chanting, which requires a huge range, Over 2,000 years ago. They could even be called an opera because of their voice demands.
“When I was a kid, when I was about 3 or 4 years old, I had no problem singing these songs in front of my family,” he said through an interpreter. “But my first stage appearance was in fifth grade, and when I sang, I asked my classmates to look in the opposite direction, but they all applauded and I I became a star. “
Mr. Enkbat certainly does.After graduating, he said “Prince Igor” Mongolian “Rigoletto”.. He won the 2012 Operalia Contest and BBC Cardiff Singer at the 2015 World Championships.. He has been working steadily, to say the least. One critic “Luxury upholstered voice, dark and velvety, and just huge.”
For the Italian conductor Michele Gamba, that’s exactly what “Rigoletto” should capture. What he calls the darkness, or the more subtle effect Verdi intended for the opera, he feels lost in the last 170 years.
“It’s a big challenge to balance the cohesive, cohesive and dramatic vision of the recent’Rigoletto’with the charm of Italy’s’Rigoletto’,” said Gamba, who made his Lascara debut. “Show business continues the peculiarities of opera. My approach is to be more intimate, not flashy.”
A trip to the archives of the Teatro La Fenice, Venice’s beloved opera house, where “Rigoletto” premiered in 1851, revealed that what Gamba says is another concept of a popular opera.
“I wanted to see for myself what Verdi wrote down and try to get as close as possible to what he wanted,” he said. “It’s a constant search of sources and thinking through it. I’m looking for the dark whispers and masses of pianissimo written by Verdi.”
A new approach is also behind the production itself. Mario Martone’s designer and film director Mario Martone’s Margerita Paris is tragic to the world and socio-economic classes, inspired by the Oscar-winning Korean film Parasite. I showed how to collide with the results.It can be seen as Curses, murders, or some false identities were thrown in to complicate the matter, in parallel with the story of the humiliating court clown “Rigoletto” seeking revenge on the wealthy Duke of Playboy.
“It’s about two different groups that live very close to each other but come from very different worlds,” Palli explained. “There is a large door in the center that connects the world where the peasants live and the house of the Duke. In a sense, Rigoletto is that door. He is part of the two worlds.”
Enkubat knows something about the two worlds.
Despite his rise in the Italian (and some Russian) opera world, he is brought back to the opera “Genghis Khan” by the Mongolian composer Byambasuren Sharaf. He wants to reach a larger audience.
“We Mongols love this opera because it is in our language and blood,” he said. “I love singing the role of’Rigoletto’and many other baritones, but I also want to bring Mongolian music to the world.”
