Rigoletto **** (1982, Ingvar Wixell, Edita Gruberova, Luciano Pavarotti) – Classic Movie Review 2541

Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 1982 film is an enormous, undiluted pleasure for opera lovers.

Luciano Pavarotti takes on the Duke of Mantua and Ingvar Wixell the grand title role of the hunchback court jester Rigoletto in the acclaimed Giuseppe Verdi opera that follows the Duke’s efforts to seduce a young woman he notices every Sunday on her way to pray and meets in church.

To enjoy it, just it back and relish all the great tunes in Verdi’s mid-period masterpiece. Thanks to the magic of the cinema, the marvellous music was recorded in Vienna and the film beautifully shot by ace cinematographer Pasqualino de Santis in Italy. Edita Gruberova is stupendous too Gilda. The score is sung by the Vienna State Opera and played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.

Also in the cast are Ferruccio Furlanetto, Victoria Vergara, Fedora Barbieri, Roland Bracht, Rémy Cioazza and Kathleen Kuhlmann.

It is based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse, with the libretto by Francesco Maria Piave.

Baritone Ingvar Wixell (1931-2011) performed the winning Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, Annorstades Vals (Elsewhere Waltz), in 1965.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2541

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