UK Edition
Royal Opera House tenor rejects 'in your face' sexual violence against women on stage
A Royal Opera House tenor has told how he has "resisted" demands to perform sexually violent scenes on stage, as he argues the treatment of women in productions should better reflect the modern world.
Michael Fabiano, star of the opera house’s current production of Rigoletto, said there had been moments when he was asked to “do things with women on stage that were… strong”, but had asked to develop his character instead.
The tenor, who plays the Duke of Mantua in David McVicar’s production, admitted he had “issues” with the show, arguing even opera set 500 years ago can be adapted to suit modern society.
It follows other tweaks to recent opera productions, including a version of Bizet's Carmen which changed the ending entirely to protest violence against women in Italy.
“McVicar is one of the great directors of our time and when it was premiered in 2001 his Rigoletto was great,” Fabiano told theatre industry website WhatsOnStage.
“But in our era now of assault and harassment with respect to women I think it's a little in our faces.
“When it comes to opera productions we can be a little more attentive to what exists in society, even when we create a production that's set 500 years ago.
“There are instances when I was asked to do things with women on stage that were… strong.
“I resisted and asked to make the Duke a character who's dark, of course, but also someone who questions his status.
“Does he really want to be this person at the top of the feudal system watching men assaulting women all the time?”
He added the answer to the question came in an aria in which the Duke sings about love, adding: “In McVicar's production a reimagining of how the Duke conceives of his system would be great, and I try to do that in the performance - with some resistance from the staff!”
Fabiano added of his character: “I want to show the public there's a huge hole inside him that justifies what happens in Act Two. He's not really an evil guy.
“He loves life and he happens to be in the cross-hairs of something much darker."
A spokesman for the Royal Opera House said the depiction of sexual violence against women “doesn’t imply its endorsement”, with the freedom for artist to “respond sensitively to a role and to the times in which we live” remaining fundamental to its principles.
It comes after severe criticism of some artistic decisions in Covent Garden, including a rape scene in a 2015 production of Guillaume Tell which saw an actress stripped on stage before a simulated gang rape.
Rigoletto, which runs until January 16, retains its famous opening orgy scene, though Telegraph opera critic Rupert Christiansen noted it may have been “toned down in terms of its original quota of nudity”.
The Independent’s review said: “The opening court orgy feels as tired as the little token pats that the flagellomaniac members of the party bestow on each other, while the nudity just seems prurient.”
It is not the first time opera productions have been tweaked to reflect the modern world.
This week, it emerged that a production of Carmen, staged in Florence, had changed the ending to see gypsy Carmen shoot Don José with a pistol that she grabs off him, rather than being stabbed to death by him.
The change was made in part to protest the number of women killed by jealous partners, with Cristiano Chiarot, the head of the opera house Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, explaining: “At a time when our society is having to confront the murder of women, how can we dare to applaud the killing of a woman?”
The Royal Opera House's own controversial Guillaume Tell rape scene was eventually toned down after being roundly booed by audiences, with the actresses remaining clothed in later performances.
A spokesman for the Royal Opera House said of Rigoletto: “Every new production or revival is necessarily a collaborative effort between a director and the artist interpreting a role and of course every artist brings something new to a role.
“The current production powerfully expresses the theme of sexual violence against women and the depiction of behaviour doesn’t imply its endorsement.
“An artist’s freedom to respond sensitively to a role and to the times in which we live remains fundamental.”