From Around the World: MOSCOW.(Brief Article)(Review)

Although Dmitri Hvorostovsky has rarely sung in staged performances in Russia since coming to prominence more than a decade ago, he chose Moscow's Novaya Opera for his first-ever Rigoletto, an eagerly awaited event on December 19. Given his refined vocal manner and exceptional good looks, Hvorostovsky may seem better suited for a detached Pushkin hero than for Verdi's rough-hewn hunchback. But, of course, Rigoletto offers a wealth of musical variety, and lyrical moments such as the first duet with Gilda sounded tailor-made for Hvorostovsky's gorgeous sound. Here the warm, burnished tone flowed in long, elegantly formed phrases, reinforcing the point that the jester's love for his daughter is the one bright spot of his existence. Yet Hvorostovsky was also effective in bringing out other facets of Rigoletto's personality -- his nervous exhaustion in pleading with the courtiers, for instance, and the fervor of his calls for vengeance. At this point his acting leaves room for a more vivid projection of character, and the Novaya Opera's 650-seat auditorium could only flatter a voice celebrated more for its beauty than for its size. But this was a fine first go at one of the great baritone roles.

The Novaya Opera, which had the good fortune to move into a beautifully restored theater in the Hermitage Gardens just after the ruble collapsed in 1998, is one of Moscow's more innovative opera companies. Its artistic director, Yevgeny Kolobov, often takes liberties with the scores, but he was in excellent form for Rigoletto, probing deeply for meaning in the music while rarely allowing its sweep to sag. And he seems to know where to find good, young voices, a case in point being the Gilda, Yekaterina Syurina in her professional debut. Her striking, silvery voice is surprisingly vibrato-free for a Russian soprano, and she sang with real involvement. Mikhail Gubsky had some vibrant moments as the Duke of Mantua, and Natalia Kreslina, in a slinky black dress, was a Maddalena ideal in voice and body.

Ralf Langbacka's staging, a co-production with the Savonlinna Festival, was also an asset. It was fortunate that for his initial Rigoletto Hvorostovsky could work with a director who brought out the opera's essential dramatic conflicts while spicing them with some thoughtful new touches. The abducted Gilda was brought onstage early in Act II and went willingly with the Duke into his bed chamber; later its walls parted to reveal her standing frightened on the bed. But it was silly to have hooded figures onstage to provide the choral humming Verdi ingeniously created for atmospheric effect in the last act. And the shattering moment when Gilda is stabbed failed to make the impact it should, in part because of an unfortunate cut in the music. Lennart Moerk's sets seemed designed with Savonlinna in mind, and their various shades of reds, oranges and greys even had a kind of rustic Finnish look to them. But his colorful costumes and Gleb Filshtinsky's lighting ensured a degree of splendor for the Mantuan court.

In October the Bolshoi Theater introduced its first new production since the appointment the previous month of Anatoly Oksanov as general director and Gennady Rozhdestvensky as artistic director. Actually, it was hardly a new production at all but a painstaking restoration of Boris Pokrovsky's celebrated 1944 production of Eugene Onegin, with its grand sets by Pyotr ...