If an Opera can RAWK, Rigoletto did it. That is the best way I can describe my experience tonight. The singing and the costumes and the performances were spot on. Such a tragic story.
Rigoletto, having been cursed by the old man (whom I understand was acted by a gentleman who almost became a Denver Bronco) went off the deep end into despair. He didn’t want his beloved daughter Gilda to be with a certain man, so he sent off an assassin to kill said man. Well, as with any tragedy, Gilda ended up getting killed in the end. Rigoletto was pretty crushed.
I sang all throughout high school and college and learned how to sing properly using one’s diaphragm. An Opera singer takes that to a new level. I can project my voice, but nothing like these performers. Like I stated, no mics.
I want to thank the Portland Opera for hosting us all tonight. There are still tickets available for Rigoletto, so if you want to come see it, which you should, come on down. There are discounts for students, seniors and military 1 hour before the show. I understand Sunday and Thursday’s shows are our best bet. Also, great to meet all the bloggers here tonight – Julie from Good Day Oregon, BikePortland.org, Mike from the CulturePulp, Brandon from AnotherPortlandBlog and GeoffK from OnPortland. Happy Operablogging everyone.
Portland Opera for more information.
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It was great to see all of you guys there last night!
all you say is “sad story.” I’m stunned. An audience fills the Keller Auditorium, must have been over 400 people, to watch men once again tell the same old tired tale: Two men (a duke and a father) compete over one woman, a group of men stalk the woman down in the night, abduct her from her home, and “gift” her to the feudal lord (while two dozen men pat each other on the back and celebrate their violation of said young woman), implying both that he raped her and that she enjoyed it. Then she is simultaneously chastised for her loving the duke and held dear to the heart of her father.
Enter the mercenary who is hired by the father to kill the duke, in order to save the woman, and the sister of the mercenary whose body and sex is used as a tool for her brother’s business. Now the two women are energetically fighting over the duke, while he is signing songs of how “fickle women are” and how he can have all he wants from them.
and finally, the mercenary kills the daughter woman and the father is broken hearted.
Did I mention that the father — whose life and tragedy is determined by the duke and the duke’s goons — has a hunchback? So that would make him the only person with a disability on stage. (And this actor seems to be the only lead person of color.)
What an oppressive evening, wrought with a whole bucket of sexism, a few teaspoons of ableism and a dash of racism.
I’m astonished that in all the blogging on the event, there is virtually no dialogue about the social implications of such a performance. don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for the actors, the musicians, the incredible folks who created the stage and all the people that made the show come together to tell a story.
I’m terribly troubled and deeped saddened that today, in 2009, the Portland Opera has chosen to tell this tragic story, which so explicitly encourages the subordination and outright violence against women by men. In every scene, we witnessed a man force his way into the space of a woman, physically carry her away, or even hit her (remember the brother and sister killer / whore duo?).
That world-wide and national statistics tell us that one (1) out of three (3) women experience domestic or sexual violence in their lifetimes. We also know that most of this violence is perpetrated by the woman’s intimate partner, friend, acquaintance or family member.
Here in Oregon, the statistic is one (1) in six (6) women and one (1) in thirty three (33) men.
So, tell me, please, what take away messages will the audience members internalize and take home after last night’s performance? How many of the people who leave that story telling go home and abuse their partners or children or demand sex?
In a crowd as large as can fit into the Keller Auditorium, and with the rates of domestic and sexual violence in our communities, Rigoletto is a gross reinforcement of our rape culture against women.
What does this story telling reveal about our society and the priorities of the Portland Opera?
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic or sexual violence, or you want more information about interpersonal violence, please call the Portland Women’s Crisis Line (PWCL) at 503.235.5333. PWCL is for ALL people.
@barbara: While the services provided by the Crisis Line are crucial, I have to take serious issue with your extrapolation of a group attending an opera and making a rather damning inference that those who appreciate the performance are a) subject to being violent against their partners; or b) silently supporting those who do commit such acts; and/or c) racists and sexists.
Wow.
Let’s step back a few hundred feet and look at this from a different perspective that isn’t so narrowly focused on one aspect — violence/degradation towards women or other groups.
Can we not appreciate art without putting it through our various modern-day filters? I don’t see many people calling for the “Merchant of Venice” to stop being performed, for example. Never mind the continual reinforcement of how women are focused on landing a man and if they can’t, they’ll steal someone else’s, which is a meme that runs rampant through most films out of Hollywood these days.
While you may have respect for those who are part of the Portland Opera organization, again, it seems as if you are considering them willing participants in perpetuating centuries-old stories. Remove any opera written that doesn’t include violence, sexism, racism, and any other –ism, and there wouldn’t be very much left.
Again, the points you raised are important, but I have to wonder about the approach. Having a dialogue about these issues is important, but expressing them in a way that doesn’t implicate complicity is as well.
“Remove any opera written that doesn’t include violence, sexism, racism, and any other –ism, and there wouldn’t be very much left.”
Then let’s write new stories!!
How do we end oppression and rape culture if the institutions in our society are consistently replaying the same degrading stories for us to see? How can we create new stories if all we get is beaten down with centuries old brutality? How can we interrupt the “ism”s and create communities of empowerment if we don’t talk about the responsibility of the Portland Opera or any other institution in our community?
Throughout the opera’s performance, I could thoroughly commend the performers for their talents, the many years they have spent diligently working on their craft, appreciating their movements across the stage, the talent of story telling in their voice, etc.
AND I can abhor the content of the story and ask the performers (and the Opera board of directors) why they consciously bring this violence to the stage when there are other options.
And I think we are all complicit on some level, depending on our social location — our privilege in the social hierarchy definitely affects our ability and responsibility to interrupt oppression.
@Barbara: Somehow, I don’t think the people of Darfur, nor the United Nations, would consider ending performances of centuries-old plays as a way that would instantly end violence against women.
You say in one breath that “we” should write new stories to replace plays such as Rigoletto, yet in the next breath state that you can’t because of oppression. So, which is it? Who is this mystical power stopping you, you as in Barbara, from creating new stories to permeate the hearts and minds of Portlanders to replace the things you feel are wrong with the status quo?
All, thanks for the comments. It was an amazing night that introduced me to an art form that I had up to this point in my life ignored.
@Barbara, I’m not sure how to respond to your rather lengthy comment other than to say that this was my first opera. It was in Italian with subtitles above the stage. Needless to say, it was difficult in the beginning to keep up with the story. I honestly didn’t catch all the subtle nuances. If I were a student of Opera, which it appears you are, maybe I would better understand your argument.
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