REVIEW; OPERA GOES HOLLYWOOD RIGOLETTO' GETS MODERN STUDIO TWIST.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Critic Noun 1. music critic - a critic of musical performances critic - a person who is professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art It's fitting that the L.A. Opera's sleek new production of ``Rigoletto'' should be set in modern-day Hollywood complete with arrogant studio moguls and fawning fawn 1 intr.v. fawned, fawn·ing, fawns 1. To exhibit affection or attempt to please, as a dog does by wagging its tail, whining, or cringing. 2. agents. Verdi's implausible tale of seduction, a potent curse and revenge clearly has legs - chiefly due to the score, which includes some of opera's best-known melodies. The combined power of the popular tale, in fact, is so strong it can survive a spot of time-travel and the veneer of film noir film noir (French; “dark film”) Film genre that offers dark or fatalistic interpretations of reality. The term is applied to U.S. films of the late 1940s and early '50s that often portrayed a seamy or criminal underworld and cynical characters. . ``Driving Miss Daisy'' director Bruce Beresford's enjoyable and well-paced new production, which opened Wednesday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center (which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States). The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. and is a collaboration with the San Diego Opera The San Diego Opera (SDO) is an opera company located in the city of San Diego, California. It was founded in 1950 to present productions by San Francisco Opera in the San Diego area. SDO began to stage its own productions in 1965, with its first staging of La bohème. , deliberately avoids the brash excess of a Hollywood blockbuster. His is a subtle, restrained ``Rigoletto,'' even dolled up in stylish sunglasses and the twilight tones of Armani. Much has been made of the work of set designer John Stoddart, whose minimalist vision of the opulent home of the Duke was expected to be far more elaborate than it actually appeared. The look of the opera is dark, high-tech and almost static to a fault. The only miscue mis·cue n. 1. Games A stroke in billiards that misses or just brushes the ball because of a slip of the cue. 2. A mistake. intr.v. mis·cued, mis·cu·ing, mis·cues 1. seemed to be the final act, which moves to what is supposed to be a seedy Venice Beach locale, but actually looks awfully upscale. Not that it matters at all when you've got glorious singers like Albanian soprano Inva Mula Inva Mula (also Inva Mula-Çako or Inva Mula-Tchako, born 1963) is an opera singer born in Tirana, Albania. She is perhaps best-known to the American pop culture as the soprano voice behind the Diva (the very tall, blue space alien singing Donizetti's Lucia di in the role of Gilda, whose famous aria ``Caro nome'' in Act 1 brought a deserved round of hearty applause Wednesday. Tenor Frank Lopardo carried off the part with self-serving strength that resonated with the crowd. As the studio mogul and notorious womanizer wom·an·ize v. woman·ized, woman·iz·ing, woman·iz·es v.intr. To pursue women lecherously. v.tr. To give female characteristics to; feminize. , Lopardo strikes the perfect note of casual arrogance as he seduces and abandons his prey. And as often happens in life, this especially beguiling villain gets the opera's best tune, ``La donna e mobile'' (Women are fickle). This isn't the first time the L.A. Opera has collaborated with the film world, notably on Franco Zeffirelli's ``Pagliacci'' and Herb Ross' ``La boheme,'' which will be revived next year. Next season, John Schlesinger directs ``Peter Grimes.'' THE FACTS --What: ``Rigoletto.'' --Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. --When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and March 12, 15 and 21; 1 p.m. Saturday and March 18. --Tickets: $27 to $146. --Information: (213) 365-3500. --Our rating: Three stars. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Haijing Fu as Rigoletto and Inva Mula as Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's ``Rigoletto,'' at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Box: THE FACTS (see text) |
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