Following the example of Steve Smith and Paterre Box (inspired by this typically hilarious exchange on Wellsung; god, I need to meet these blokes!), I dug into the Met Opera archives to find my “birth opera”: the opera performed at the Metropolitan on the date of my birth.
Metropolitan Opera House
October 20, 1978
RIGOLETTO {558}
Giuseppe Verdi–Francesco Maria Piave
Rigoletto……………Cornell MacNeil
Gilda……………….Judith Blegen
Duke of Mantua……….Neil Shicoff
Maddalena……………Isola Jones
Sparafucile………….Kurt Moll
Monterone……………John Cheek
Borsa……………….James Atherton
Marullo……………..Robert Goodloe
Count Ceprano………..Philip Booth
Countess Ceprano……..Loretta Di Franco
Giovanna…………….Ariel Bybee
Page………………..Alma Jean Smith
Guard……………….Domenico Simeone
Conductor……………Giuseppe Patanè
This was a fabulous discovery. I played as part of a touring group, the traveling arm of Opera Australia, that performed Rigoletto around Australia, in places as far flung (and tiny, and spectacularly beautiful) as Karratha WA, Katherine NT and Mt Isa Qld. The opera was deftly and imaginatively arranged by one of Oz’s most beloved musical figures, Richard Gill, for 12 players and 6 singers, and everything needed to perform the opera, including the ingenious set, was designed to fit into the back of a large truck.
On the road we were treated like traveling royalty. Performances took place in venues as diverse as school gyms, old movie theaters and construction warehouses, and locals would often turn up in stretch limos, sporting tuxedos rented for the occasion.
In many towns we were the “culture from the big city” for the year, and as much as 40% of the population of the smaller towns turned up for our Rig’. Our tour audiences were blissfully, unapologetically ignorant of the niceties of opera etiquette, and taking part in these performances was a sometime electrifying experience: folks cheered, booed, cried openly, and clapped loudly and often.
We fed off the excitement of the audience, and I found that, in spite of myself, I was more and more moved by Verdi’s direct and powerfully dramatic musical language. The experience made me a convert to the wonderful world of opera.
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