tue 08/10/2024

Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera, Cardiff | reviews, news & interviews

Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera, Cardiff

Rigoletto, Welsh National Opera, Cardiff

The Kennedy-era setting for this revival still doesn't quite make sense

Rigoletto's bobby-soxed star: Sarah Coburn as Gilda

Watching and hearing this revival of WNO’s now eight-year-old production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, it’s hard to remember he composed it only a year or two before La Traviata, that most psychologically believable of all his operas. In Rigoletto nothing makes sense: the hunchback’s pretty daughter, her apparently willing incarceration, Rigoletto’s hoodwinking (literally) into helping her abduction, her final self-sacrifice – all palpable nonsense.

Yet the piece never seriously fails. In a sense it’s music drama at its purest: the plot is an appendage to the music, what Wagner later called “deeds of music made visible”. So you might expect it to work in any setting, as long as the music is properly treated. James Macdonald’s production, revived with a very strong cast under a fine conductor, suggests not.

Macdonald and his designer, Robert Innes Hopkins, famously transplant Victor Hugo’s story to Kennedy’s White House – one of those bright after-dinner ideas that too often hit the stage when they should really have gone out with the left-overs. The change adds stupidity to the nonsense. At least in 16th-century Mantua it’s half-plausible that Rigoletto would be disturbed by Monterone’s curse. But in 1963 Washington (in fact November, to judge from the illuminated pumpkin head in Rigoletto’s house)?

And who is this Rigoletto anyway? And who are all these ridiculous balding, besuited courtiers, dedicated apparently to nothing except kidnap and rape? One may be a Kennedy agnostic, but surely there are limits. In short, the attempt at veracity merely draws attention to the improbabilities, and – worse – renders them irritating. Luckily, though, WNO base their casting on sounder principles.

WNO_Rigoletto_-_Simon_Keenlyside_Rigoletto__WNO_Chorus_7Rigoletto is an easier work than its other Verdi contemporary Il Trovatore, which according to Caruso needed the four greatest singers in the world in order to be a success; Rigoletto needs only three, though it adds some tricky and subtle supporting roles, like the unforgettable bass part of the contract killer Sparafucile, superbly sung here by the up-and-coming David Soar, and the briefer but not much less important Monterone (Michael Druiett, also impressive).

The Duke (President) of course has the juiciest lollipops, and WNO were fortunate to have Shaun Dixon as reserve for the indisposed Gwyn Hughes Jones, singing with complete aplomb and immaculate style, including a few bad habits of your well-versed Italian tenor (not, for example, quite reaching his standard-issue top B at the end of "La donna è mobile").  Dixon also has excellent presence and is a better actor than most spaghetti regulars. 

The vocal star of this particular show, however, is beyond question the American soprano, Sarah Coburn, whose vulnerable, bobby-soxed Gilda fits the production to a tee, but whose musical command makes no concessions to its brainlessness. Her "Caro nome", supported by exquisite flute-playing, should have stopped the show but didn’t, quite, because Verdi (thinking of stage rather than audience values) fades it out at the end, so that only Italians, perhaps, know that you should still cheer such singing to the rafters, if necessary drowning the orchestra. She is also deeply touching in the post-rape scene – "Tutte le feste" perfectly balanced in sentiment, controlled in vocal line.

By comparison, Simon Keenlyside (pictured above right with the WNO Chorus) is not in my book as one of the angels of the voice, but he uses his slightly colourless timbre to brilliant effect, and at times almost convinces us that the Hunchback (or at least Handicapped) of Capitol Hill is a possible concept. His "Cortigiani" rises to an almost frightening grandeur of menace, and he earlier manages the switch from tormentor to tormented as convincingly as one can expect in this context.

The conductor is the young Spaniard Pablo Heras-Casado – excellent not least because unobtrusive, attentive to the singers but also moulding orchestral and choral detail with great care. And this company is in fine fettle just now, apparently unjaded by their more spectacular work on Wagner’s Meistersinger.

  • Rigoletto at the Wales Millennium Centre on 28 June and 2 July, and the Birmingham Hippodrome on 7 and 9 July
Il Trovatore according to Caruso needed the four greatest singers in the world in order to be a success; Rigoletto needs only three

Share this article

Comments

I was delighted to attend the first night of Rigoletto. The transpostion to the era of Kennedy in the Oval Office is utter genius. It reminds me of the old adage, 'Times change, People don't'. The recipe of lust, power and corrupt morals almost saved by love is captivating and brilliantly presented. This production is rivetting! No time for the mind to drift. Not only was the singing stunning in its purity, their were charismatic performances by Sarah Coburn as Gilda whose voice filled the theatre while Simon Keenlyside as Rigoletto was utterly believeable and fautless. I would LOVE to return to watch this again. As noted above, Shaun Dixon as stand-in, rose to the occasion with the aplomb of a true professional. No doubt he has a great career ahead of him. Full marks to the W.N.O. Thank-you! This is the first time I have taken a flight to Cardiff to watch them but on this performance, it will not be the last. Brilliant !

Brilliant performance, transfixed from start to finish..will try and catch it again in Birmingham , July ...as above post I would love to see it again tonight.. Took car to the Bay and unfortunately not an aeroplane, but the negative is the queus waiting to pay for car park at the end of a show at Millennium Centre ...is there no alternative to this annoyng waiting to pay and half the time boxes out of order etc !! But excellent WNO..wish Gwyn Hughes Jones a speedy recovery , I missed him...Maggie

Wonderful performance throughut by everyone but particuarly Simon Keenlyside who was maginficant- he spoke on with Petroc Trelawny on Radio 3 the previous day's In Tune. We will apparantly get to hear Rigoletto again in the autumn so will greatly look forward to that - but hopefully without the horrendous coughing competiton in the stalls! What DO you do with people who wait till the quietest and most tender singing to time their coughs and throat clearing? We could have thottled the man in front of us - he spoiled it for us and several others in the last act particularly.

To Whom: Where can I get a copy of this Rigoletto? Is it on tape [dvd]? I have kooked at Amazon but do not see it listed. I would LOVE to see this production with Simon Keenlyside. Thank you, JAY

Add comment

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters