7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the Best Rigoletto on Film!, December 22, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Rigoletto [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Gobbi acts up a storm and is in great vocal shape.
Mario Filippeschi sings the Duke in heroic mold, not some whiny adolescent (Mirella Freni called him the greatest singer she had ever heard). He has voice to spare, and the confidence that comes with endless vocal resources.
Lina Pagliughi recorded Gilda twice, in 1928 and 1951, and was considered definitive in the role. By the time of this filming she was no longer young, so she is lipsynched onscreen by Nelly Corradi. Pagliughi is the ONLY singer in this film to have a substitute onscreen. All the others in the film do their own singing.
The great Giulio Neri sings Sparafucile, a well-loved artist who was perhaps the blackest-toned bass Italy ever produced. A great Mefistofele and Grand Inquisitor, he's absolutely murderous here.
The sets are those of the Rome Opera. Tullio Serafin conducts in his wisest, most sympathetic manner, and I'm sure he regretted the cuts even more than we, the viewers, do.
All told, this film will get you closer to the great Italian operatic tradition than any other Rigoletto you can find. A starry, all-Italian cast doing what they love most.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A collector's item - Gobbi as THE Rigoletto., October 10, 2007
This review is from: Rigoletto [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This VHS tape is a real treasure and any true Rigoletto fan should make a real effort to acquire a copy.
The main reason for buying this tape is of course Tito Gobbi who is pretty much as definitive a Rigoletto as you can get - at least insofar as he must be as close to Verdi's and Hugo's vision of the creature as is possible.
Rigoletto, I think, is best seen as a sort of pantomime character on the surface which is to say that he should look funny and he should not act like a natural human (unlike Wixell's verismo portrayal in the Ponelle version with Pavarotti which I think is okay but less affecting). This monstrous and pantomime surface should then be ruptured in the scenes where we see Rigoletto display his 'true' self, or at least that part of himself that he tries to keep protected from the Duke's corrupting court; it is the part of himself that he lets only Gilda see and she in some sense is symbolic of the only remaining part of him that IS human such has been the pervasive corrupting influence of the court.
This is what Gobbi gets down to perfection - he is evil but there is still some good in him as Luke Skywalker might say. Of course with Gilda's death we understand that Rigoletto, the human, is also finally destroyed which is the real tragedy of the piece i.e. that the court's corrupting influence (the influence of men of power) can get to even the most hidden and sacred parts of the 'soul'.
The set is nice and Pagliughi's voice is sweet though she doesn't have the coloratura of Sutherland, Callas or Gruberova. Neri makes a fine villain in the shape of Sparafucile while Filippeschi is a bit dodgy at times but generally acceptable as the Duke. Note, you're not going to buy this recording for Filippeschi's performance but it shouldn't spoil it too much for you either.
In response to another reviewer's criticisms here - this is definitely the voice and physical presence of Gobbi, it is only Pagliughi of whose physical appearance we are spared - which may be no bad thing given that she is described as being the physical size of an elephant in the pamphlet that comes with the tape and it really would detract from credibility if we are to actually see and not just hear her as Gilda - how would Rigoletto not notice the difference in size between the duke and the elephant when dragging out the body from Sparafucile's inn?
The main drawback for this adaptation and the reason I haven't awarded it five stars is that it is fairly heavily edited. Something like 15-20 minutes are missing including most unforgiveably the final death scene. The key scenes are there however, in spite of the lies you might have heard elsewhere: pari siamo, caro nome, deh non parlar, la donne e mobile (ovviamente!), bella figlia del amore, Piangi Fanciulla etc. Indeed, if you take a look on youtube you can see a number of these for free if you don't believe me!
So, whilst this film version is probably not the starting place for a Rigoletto neophyte, for hardcore Rigolettinians I would say that this is an absolutely essential purchase that both hunchbacks and less physically challenged people will equally appreciate.
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5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's not even Gobbi on screen!, May 4, 2002
Much to my delight, I managed to find a copy of this video in the used section of a local video/CD store. When I got home and watched the video, I was disgusted. Not only is some other actor playing the title role (while Gobbi just provides the occasional voice dubbing), but several critical cuts have been made to the score - most notably, there is NO PARI SIAMO aria!! Even after only paying [the money] for this film, I felt ripped-off.
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