Kirk Browning	...	(Director)
Francesco Maria Piave, Victor Hugo	...	(Writer)
Plácido Domingo	...
Cornell MacNeil	...
Ileana Cotrubas	...
Justino Díaz	...
Ariel Bybee	...

Summary: I have little to say about the production except that...it's the Met. Big, vibrant, and more than a little bit impressive, the sets and costumes by Tanya Moiseiwitsch are very beautiful to look at. But who goes out of RIGOLETTO humming the set? (Unless you see a really bad performance) Another key aspect of this LIVE FROM THE MET broadcast is the video direction of Kirk Browing, who makes a few close up where wide shots would be preferable, but mainly lets the cameras let the singer's dramatic talents shine.

And Shine they do. Watch Domingo's face as he realizes who the courtiers have kidnapped in Act Two. See the genuine feeling he puts into the act two aria: it's some of his best acting. He's in top vocal form here, the familiar big, souring tenor in perfect condition. Plus we get to see a tenor who looks as if he could slay the ladies as well as any Duke. Could you buy Gilda falling in love with Pavarotti? Domingo looks dapper, devilishly handsome, and comfortable in tights. My only regret (and it's a minor one) is that he does not take the optional high "D" in the cabeletta "Possente Amoure" (In which Levine, by the way, makes the traditional cut of the second verse) but the only two tenors to attempt that note on record are Pavarotti and Alfredo Kraus.

Ileana Cotrubas, the Gilda, is an unmitigated success. We see a Gilda come into the flower of womanhood, maturing into a woman ready to sacrifice anything for love. It's tragic and beautiful. Cotrubas had a gift possessed by few sopranos other than Callas: she was always able to seem spontaneous when turning on the dramatic talent, not with each move calculated like some other sopranos. This is one of her best outings: when not trying for high notes, her voices floats around your ears like butterflies, inducing sheer pleasure. The first act and is beautiful, marred slightly by some rather hollow-sounding high notes in "Caro Nome" and the father-daughter duet (with Ariel Bybee's strong Giovanna in attendance) which plagued her career in my ears. "Tutte le Festa" is perfect, however, and her work in the ensembles that end the third act is irreproachable.

Also very impressive are the two assassins: Justino Diaz and Isola Jones. Diaz's Bass-Baritone has a smooth, sly qualitly to it in the first act that perfectly matches the mysterious killer. In act three he is more violate and passionate, with some really stellar vocal acting thrown in for good measure. His sister makes a startling impression: Jones is a beautiful woman, perfectly believable as the seductress Maddelena: a striking, exotic singer. Her dusky Contralto is startling in its potency: sometimes I wonder at how low her voice goes in this performance. I'd also like to point out John Cheek, the best Monterone I have ever heard. His somber, noble stage presence (he seems miles taller than Rigoletto) is added by a booming bass that sounds a bit young for the role, but more than authoritative and frightening enough in his curse to make Rigoletto quake. The courtiers are fine, the Met's stalwart chorus and comprimarios, all in very good vocal form.

And what of Rigoletto himself? Cornell MacNeil, near the end of his career, is very hard to put down. His vocalism is rarely beautiful, and his acting is inconstant: One moment he is as wooden as a mannequin, the next insightful and moving. Take, for example, the moment of discovery of Gilda's body: it's fake and unconvincing. But the very next moment, his mummer of "ah, no, ah no" is heartbreaking. If there is a weak link in the production, it's his Rigoletto, but the weak link has several moments of brilliance. He does some really excellent acting with his body in acts two and three.