With new Music Director Mark Wigglesworth at the helm at the ENO, the opening of Christopher Alden’s production of Rigoletto was more electrifying than typical first nights. His brother David Alden’s production of Britten’s Peter Grimes recently received wide critical praise and this also promised to be a production ready to redeem the company’s shaky 2013 season. In association with the Canadian Opera Company, although it may have had less than ecstatic reviews when first staged in 2011 in Toronto, it signals an important opening for the London opera scene and will greatly influence how ENO’s current season will go on to be regarded.
Rigoletto, considered the masterpiece of Verdi’s later career, is based on the Victor Hugo play Le roi s’amuse and, like all good operas, is crammed with passion, tragedy and revenge. It centres around the battle between a devoted father (Rigoletto) and an evil seducer (Duke of Mantua), with a mysterious curse adding intrigue to an already tense plot. Alden sets the action, not in the Renaissance court setting Verdi intended, but a gentleman’s club during the early 1850s, the decade in which the opera first premièred in Venice. The stunning wood-panelled backdrop, designed by Michael Levine, provides a sinister, almost Kubrick-esque feel that works well, but the presence of women at the club is historically inaccurate and the lack of set changes make the overall opera confusing for those unfamiliar with the plot (Alden was also criticised for confusing plot elements with his version of Die Fledermaus).
The Duke of Mantua (tenor Barry Banks) disposes of women once he has seduced them, singing “Questa o quella” translated as “This woman or that”, and it’s a joy to hear recognisable songs such as “La donna è mobile” (Women abandon us) sung in English, with a skilful translation by James Fenton. Banks, who is new to the role of the Duke was something of a disappointment vocally, and largely overshadowed by Quinn Kelsey who is well cast as the hunchback court jester, Rigoletto. Rigoletto has ingratiated himself into the company of the rich and powerful with his wit; a character described by Verdi as, “One of the greatest creations that the theatre can boast of, in any country and in all history.” Full of the moral swagger Verdi is so famous for, when Rigoletto is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims, Count Monterone (David Stout), for mocking his plight and that of his dishonoured daughter, it isn’t long before Rigoletto’s own daughter, Gilda, falls in love with the corrupt Duke; forcing the possessive court jester to witness Gilda’s affection discarded by the nobleman, and with fatal consequences.
Whilst it was never going to be easy for Alden to follow Jonathan Miller’s 27-year-old production of Rigoletto for ENO, set in the 1950s, it is worthy of attention and warrants the ticket price just to hear Hawaiian baritone Kelsey as Rigoletto and American soprano Anna Christy, who has a vocal purity I haven’t heard for a long time and is utterly convincing as Rigoletto’s overprotected daughter Gilda, doomed to fall fowl of a world outside her father’s control – a future opera star is in our midst. The duets between Kelsey and Christy are simply mesmerising and will surely transport anyone with a love of opera to the 19th century setting and the psychological issues Verdi was drawing our attention to. British conductor Graeme Jenkins makes a welcome return after a long absence, and injects all the nuances, swell, and pomposity one hopes for from Verdi, whilst controlling the levels between orchestra and chorus harmoniously. Overall, the ENO succeed in making the audience connect with both the characters and some of the most sublime music ever written.
Rigoletto at the London Coliseum until 14 March 2014. Running time 2 hours 30 minutes including an interval. For more information and tickets visit the website.
