[Met Performance] CID:170530
Rigoletto {359} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/7/1956.
(Review)
Metropolitan Opera House
January 7, 1956
RIGOLETTO {359}
Giuseppe Verdi--Francesco Maria Piave
Rigoletto...............Robert Merrill
Gilda...................Roberta Peters
Duke of Mantua..........Giuseppe Di Stefano
Maddalena...............Martha Lipton
Sparafucile.............Luben Vichey
Monterone...............Norman Scott
Borsa...................Gabor Carelli
Marullo.................Clifford Harvuot
Count Ceprano...........Lawrence Davidson
Countess Ceprano........Maria Leone
Giovanna................Thelma Votipka
Page....................Vilma Georgiou
Guard...................Louis Sgarro
Conductor...............Fausto Cleva
Review of R. A. E. in the January 15, 1956 issue of Musical America
Giuseppe Di Stefano returned to the role of the Duke in "Rigoletto" for the first time since he rejoined the company, demonstrating that in a role as congenial to him as this he has few peers. His voice is darker than many tenors who tackle the part and it is no less rich and shining. It was functioning flawlessly throughout the performance, and his phrasing had a true Italianate inflection and bravura if, however, it was not as finished and precise as it could have been. He looked and moved well and suggested clearly the carefree lustiness of the dissolute Duke.
There were three other newcomers to the cast in this fifth performance of Verdi's opera. Luben Vichey cut a thin, sinister figure as Sparafucile and sang with a darkly menacing tone; and Lawrence Davidson and Maria Leone gave knowledgeable performances in the brief roles of the Count and Countess Ceprano. Roberta Peters, as Gilda, and Robert Merrill, in the title role, were in their finest form, helping to make the performance a superior one. Others in the cast were Martha Lipton, Thelma Votipka, Norman Scott, Clifford Harvuot, Gabor Carelli, Vilma Georgiou, and Louis Sgarro. Fausto Cleva conducted