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Conductor
Alexander
Briger
Original
Director
Jonathan
Miller
Revival
Director
Elaine Tyler-Hall
Designers
Patrick Robertson
Rosemary Vercoe
Lighting
Revived By
Mike Gunning
Choreographer
Tommy Shaw
English
Translation
James Fenton
Rigoletto
Alan Opie
The
Duke
Peter Auty
Gilda
Judith Howarth
Sparafucile
Brindley
Sherratt
Maddalena
Leah-Marian
Jones
Monterone
Hans-Peter
Scheidegger
Marullo
David Stephenson
Borsa
Scott Davies
Ceprano
Paul Reeves
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London
Coliseum
English
National Opera
9
Feb - 18 March 2006 |
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Jonathon
Miller's Rigoletto
moves the action of Verdi's
opera from the paranoid, back-stabbing,
vendetta strewn court of a
sixteenth century Italian
Duke to the paranoid, back-
stabbing, vendetta strewn
court of a 1950s Mafia boss
in New York's Little Italy.
It's a neat fit and works
particularly well for the
English National Opera with
its traditional scorn for
tradition and reliance on
the English language. In fact,
so neat a fit that this is
a production in its 11th revival
in 23 years, running in tandem
now with a comparatively sprightly
Jonathan Miller Mikado
‚ only just reached maturity
at 18 years old. If it's irony
that the good fellas and the
Lord High Executioner are
holding sway at a riven, decapitated
Company without Chairman or
Artistic Director, then -
for the audience of Rigoletto
atleast ‚ it's a happy one.
The opera still seems sharp
and fresh guided by the faultless
confidence and perfect annunciation
of Alan Opie as the hunch-back
and backed by a mafioso chorus
as quick and clear as the
crack of a whip. The Hopper-esque
bar where the final scene
takes place is still beautifully
atmospheric, the old trick
of bumping juke-box to kick
off 'La donna e mobile' still
raises a laugh and a sigh
and Gilda imprisoned in a
New York tenement with thugs
lurking in the darkened alley
still convinces - it could
be Tony Soprano's 'Nonna'
that Rigoletto is hiding in
there. In fact, though the
cocktail lounge of the first
Act could do with a bit of
mobbing-up, the most dated
feeling comes from seeing
the chorus smoking cigarettes
on stage; how long before
that's stubbed out?
Judith Haworth sings her first
Gilda in this production.
She has a fine voice but in
contrast to Alan Opie she
does not seem to be able to
sing the words, so one finds
oneself flicking up to the
surtitles above the stage.
Her acting is fairly lifeless
but she raised the audience
with her 'Tutte le feste'.
Peter Auty is also making
his debut as the Duke, bequiffed
and shiny-suited he strikes
a chubby rock and roll figure
and is thoroughly enjoyable
in the role. Though he lacks
the menace and mastery one
wants from the sexually predatory
Duke, he compensates with
charm. His occasionally tentative
tenor was sometimes lost in
a battle with a too enthusiastic
orchestra, but he really tackled
his arias with verve and red
blooded charisma. His 'morning
after' (Parmi veder le lagrime)
at the start of Act II was
magnificent.
Brindley Sherrat impressed
as a gothically depraved Sparafucile
but throughout this production
it was the surefooted limp
and lurch of Alan Opie's hunchback
that lead the way. A joker,
a murderer, a victim, a cripple,
he has to convince in a very
physically demanding role
which barely sees him leave
the stage. I am sure his mastery
of Rigoletto will give the
other less experienced members
of the cast the confidence
to deliver on their promise
in this production of Verdi's
dark and thrilling opera.
This is definitely one from
the vaults as far as the ENO
goes, but on the first night's
showing there is life in the
old corpse yet.
Charlie
Taylor |
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