Santa Fe Opera, Part 2: A Twilight Tragedy

There are any number of places where one might be able to see Rigoletto in the course of a given season, but fewer where the slow build of the prelude might find itself in competition with birdsong, where the final duet between the jester and his dying daughter is accompanied by the not-so-distant yipping of coyotes, or where the drama is set against the final light of a magnificent New Mexico sunset. Such are the unexpected delights of the Santa Fe Opera -an open-air theatre built on a hill in the middle of one of the most beautiful landscapes imaginable- which offered a tightly played and wonderfully sung production of Verdi’s grand melodrama as part of their 2015 season. The staging itself was dependable if somewhat conventional, with director Lee Blakeley choosing to remain firmly within the dramatic limits set by Piave’s libretto.…