Lyric Opera 2024-2025 Issue 1 - Rigoletto

27 | Lyric Opera of Chicago Piero Cappuccilli The Master Revered at La Scala and everywhere else in Europe, Piero Cappuccilli starred in 10 operas at Lyric from 1969 to 1986 (all but two were by Verdi). Critics hailed his 1971 Rigoletto for the portrayal’s unfailingly beautiful vocalism. At the same time, the Sun-Times review mentioned the moment in Act Two when this Rigoletto “abandoned his jesting to ride fury and revenge on the courtiers”—it was “full-bodied and important and theatrically moving.” Cappuccilli’s greatest strength was always his impeccable singing. He accomplished feats of masterfully smooth phrasing, the voice inevitably flowing with incomparable consistency. Many Rigolettos overreach vocally, but that was not Cappuccilli’s way. Never forcing his voice, in every instance he shows the value of truly singing rather than ranting through the role. Those familiar with Cappuccilli’s recordings, which aren’t always sufficiently dramatic, will be surprised to watch him onscreen in a 1981 Rigoletto from Geneva. Even without detailed stage direction, he’s totally absorbed in the role. Adopting a heavy, plodding walk, he seems a deeply pathetic figure. At the palace, singing the “La ra, la ra” passage, he’s dazed, even broken, seeming hardly to know where he is. When the courtiers throw him to the floor, he begins his aria lying prostrate, singing and acting very movingly. In Act Three, when gazing at the sack and singing “Egli è la… morto” [“He’s there…dead”], his voice is almost choked with stunned incredulity. Seconds later, seeing that it’s his dying daughter and not the Duke, on the phrase “Chi t’ha colpita?” (“Who struck you?”) Rigoletto’s emotional pain—indeed, his humanity —is all there. Cornell MacNeil The American Minnesota-born Cornell MacNeil, Lyric’s first American Rigoletto, was also the first American Verdi baritone to achieve a significant presence in Italy. Having debuted at Milan’s La Scala in 1959, he subsequently starred in Verona, Palermo, Naples, Turin, and Parma, earning huge acclaim for his imposing voice and innate sense of Verdi style. MacNeil appeared in eight operas at Lyric over a quarter century (1957 to 1982), including two runs with Rigoletto (1958, 1965). Following his first Lyric performance as the jester—replacing Gobbi at the last moment—the Chicago Daily Tribune review commented that his Rigoletto might eventually be compared with that of another American baritone, the great Leonard Warren. The promise would soon be fulfilled, with Rigoletto becoming one of his signature roles. More than his two studio recordings of Rigoletto , MacNeil’s 1981 Metropolitan telecast truly reveals his eminence. The 59-year-old singer’s voice has retained the necessary scale, his Italian is exemplary, and he delivers all the key moments with fervor. His vast experience in the role makes even small physical gestures telling. Watch, for example, when Rigoletto suddenly grips his daughter’s hand in their first duet, or when, thinking of her, he picks up a scarf in the Duke’s palace and barely suppresses a sob of disappointment in seeing that it isn’t Gilda’s. MacNeil delivers unusual dignity in the final dialogue with Sparafucile, contrasting with his character’s agonizing disbelief when he hears the Duke’s voice in the distance. YouTube