'Rigoletto' review: Lyric's superb leads keep the thrills coming

Tragedies run deep in opera, but few such works are more poignant or affecting than Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” an 1857 adaptation of a Victor Hugo play about a demeaned, ill-fated court jester.

This propulsive, fast-action work, coursing with Verdi’s compelling, often instantly recognizable music, is filled with twists and turns, ups and downs and a final act of deadly vengeance that goes horribly, gut-wrenchingly wrong.

While Rigoletto is the title character in this tale of wishful love and sordid betrayal in the depraved court of a 16th-century Italian duke, the central character is arguably his daughter Gilda, a fresh-faced young woman who is defiled but remains forgiving to the end.

In a gripping production that opened Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2024-25 season Saturday evening in the Lyric Opera House, a superb troika of singers in the main roles stood above all else, delivering one thrilling moment another and earning plenty of much-deserved cheers along the way.

All three of these fine soloists knew how to command the stage and possessed a keen affinity for Verdi’s distinct style and phrasing. They meshed beautifully, especially the touching, well-matched duets between Rigoletto and Gilda.

Making his Lyric debut, Mexican tenor Javier Camarena sounded a bit underpowered at first but quickly recovered, vibrantly conveying the Duke of Mantua’s bold bravado and self-indulgent licentiousness and offering a winning take on the famed aria, “La donna è mobile.”

Sixteen baritones have taken on the opera’s title role during Lyric’s history, and it seems sure that Russian singer Igor Golovatenko can hold his own with any of them. This first-rate performer in every way crafted a fully dimensional, deeply empathetic character and delivered unfailingly potent, resonant singing with a nuanced array of expressive vocal timbres.

Ultimately, though, Armenian soprano Mané Galoyan, making her Lyric debut, took centerstage with a soaring performance coursing with energy and dynamism. Technically secure in every way, she is a luminous, agile singer who convincingly conveyed Gilda’s panorama of emotions from her youthful zeal to her later pain and anger. Completely inhabiting this role, she delivered one highlight after another.

Also deserving note were bass Soloman Howard as the ever-ready assassin Sparafucile, and mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, who made the most of her small role as his sister, Maddelena, who persuades him not to go through with his contract with Rigoletto to kill the duke.

The men of the Lyric Opera Chorus (other than Gilda, women had little role to play in this male-dominated world of the royal court) provided strong singing and energetically contributed to the action in lively, well-choreographed crowd scenes.

And as usual, the Lyric Opera Orchestra was in a great form. Enrique Mazzola, whose contract as the company’s music director was recently extended through 2030-31, turned in some of the best conducting of his tenure, sensitively supporting the singers and enhancing the dramatic flow with spirited tempos and a keen sense of pacing. A particular high point was the agitated take on Verdi’s brilliantly written storm scene, complete with hummed wind effects from the chorus.

There was nothing especially remarkable about director Mary Birnbaum’s traditional staging, and that was just fine. She avoided strange setting shifts and directorial flights of fancy and made sure her approach fulfilled the essential tasks of conveying the story in a clear, convincing way and fleshing out the characters.

Her only real stumble came in not trusting the audience’s imagination but, instead, physically showing Gilda’s dead mother as a winged angel both in a kind of prelude and at the end as the young woman is dying. It’s an odd and needless insertion that came across as clumsy and distracting.

The cutaway interiors and exteriors, all based around the stone architecture of the time, were all mounted on the Lyric stage’s massive central turntable, which revolved with each scene change and assured the action never paused. Significantly enhancing the scenery was designer Duane Schuler’s moody, often shadowy lighting.

If the rest of Lyric’s 2024-25 offerings can meet the high bar set by this opening production, it should be a memorable season indeed.