Rigoletto

4 February 2013

It’s all in Italian, but there are subtitles on the big screens. Though the family sitting in the row in front of us probably won’t need the subtitles, as they speak the language rather well, judging by the way they chat passing the salads and the bottles of wine back and forth. Well they’re not really sitting in the next “row” per say, more like their chairs are closer to the stage than ours. But then, you can sit everywhere there is a free spot, and they were there before us.

It’s Australia, there are no social class, there are no dress-codes, and there surely are no restriction as to whom goes to the opera. No snobbery. You just take the train, walk to the park with a folding chair under one arm, and a basket full of goodies under the other, and you go to the opera. The temperature is cooling down, the sea breeze is perfect, the sky is deep blue and the sun is setting in a firework of orange and amber and violet and red. There’s twenty thousand people tonight, give or take, some came with just a blanket, most have chairs. Australians love fishing and camping, they also love to drink a cold beer when they’re sitting down. Those chairs are comfy, sturdy, and they all have can holders. Look, these guys brought a table. What a picnic.

So this is the story of a lover, the Duke, who charms women and sends their husbands to jail. It’s the story of a father, Rigoletto, who wants to kill the Duke for seducing his daughter, Gilda. And it’s the story of love, Gilda’s, even though she’s been humiliated she would die for the Duke.
The music is great, the performance is awesome, the audience is captivated.

Pass the wine please ? Would you like some more guacamole ? Can I have the cheese-plate please ? More fish-cake ? Shhhht it’s starting.