On 21 January, the debut in Basel of a new production of Rigoletto (Sinfonieorchester Basel conducted by Michele Spotti/Thomas Wise), directed by the Frenchman Vincent Huguet with set design by Pierre Yovanovitch, the renowned interior designer, in his first operatic project.
Yovanovitch often makes installations for contemporary art galleries, and he has been hoping for some time for an opportunity to get involved in set design, a world with which he has many affinities. As he explained in a recent interview for the magazine Kinfolk, “Opera sets are at their most powerful when they reflect the soul of the work, its music and characters. I want to do the same in my oeuvre. With each space, I want to tell a new story – a story that fits my client and the locale.”
The idea of involving Yovanovitch came from Huguet, who explains why: “For me, Rigoletto is the most abstract opera by Giuseppe Verdi, because it essentially talks about the relationship between three people: a man, his daughter and a third party, the Duke of Mantua, who falls in love with the girl. Basel is a city full of contemporary art and architecture, and this is why I commissioned the set design to a person who is probably the greatest French interior architect.”
Yovanivitch has invented an essential set of great impact: a volume bordered by a large curved wall completely crossed by a sumptuous linear staircase – a space that becomes narrower as the drama intensifies due to the addition of circular and concentric moving parts, red on the inside and blue on the outside.
The set is completed by custom-made linear furnishings: they include a chandelier composed of large luminous circles that descend at the end like a cage to imprison the protagonist, in an extremely expressive effect. The choice of the linear design is functional for the action of the opera, the designer says: “I have envisioned this as a bare set to leave room for the spirits of the characters, their dramatic story, with all the space they need.” The opera will be programmed at Theater Basel until 21 June. A grand performance, for the ears but also the eyes.
