Verdi - Rigoletto
Rigoletto is the first opera I listened to, and I didn't really expect to like it. Ever since I was a child I hated opera singing or, to be more accurate, I hated big wobbly soprano voices (which is what I thought all opera singing was). I bought a few discs of orchestral excerpts from Wagner operas as a teenager but didn't go in for all the hoyotoho-ing of the full versions.
Skip forward several years to 2000. I started a job at a music publishing company administering royalties - part of my job was processing royalties for Ricordi, one of the biggest opera publishers of all time. I asked my boss if she'd lend me some opera to listen to as I thought I might as well know what I was dealing with and, in simple terms, I fell in love.
I love this recording of the opera. Bruson is a fine Rigoletto and I've always liked what I've heard of Niel Shicoff, who seems to have suffered from being a great tenor at a time when there were 3 much more famous tenors around. Maybe he wasn't quite in the same league but he's not far off.
The best thing about this recording for me though is Edita Gruberova's Gilda. Some people aren't too keen on her voice, saying it lacks warmth. However, we're not dealing with a worldly-wise Violetta here (although I believe her recording of Traviata is also excellent - I haven't heard it). Gilda is young and innocent and the cleanliness of Gruberova's voice is a great fit. Her Caro Nome is simply beautiful.
10 years on and I'm a huge opera fan - who'd have thought.
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