Rigoletto

This was a truly fantastic production of one of my all-time favourite operas. The costumes and sets are atmospheric and fitting with the drama, there is a lot of grey especially in the last act but considering the tone of the story it worked. The staging thrilled(the final trio) and moved(the many father-daughter duets between Rigoletto and Gilda) me, while the choreography is involving and done with heart. On a musical front it is equally outstanding. The orchestral playing, as it should be with Verdi, is lush, powerful with some bouts of energy, and the chorus are balanced beautifully. This is helped hugely by Nello Santi's conducting, whose only misjudgement was La Donna E Mobile being too slow. Piero Cappuccilli is superb, his voice was that of a true Verdi baritone, one that was rich and beautiful with the right range(about 2 octaves worth) and next to perfect technique. Instead of being the stolid and unexciting actor he was often criticised for, he gives a malevolent, authoritative and moving performance as the titular character with no redeeming qualities other than the love for his daughter. Valerie Masterson matches him perfectly as Gilda, she brings the right amount of vulnerability and poignant naivety(though I do think it is important not to make her too much of a ditz). Her voice is bright, lyrical and agile, hitting all the right notes with no signs of shrillness or harshness. Peter Dvorsky's Duke of Mantua is a pleasant surprise, as the role is different to a lot of stuff he's done. He still has his ringing beautiful voice while never making the often Bel-Canto-like rhythms seem lacking-he hits a spot-on high D in Possente Amor, the Act II caballetta- and he captures the Duke's cynical personality very well, never mechanical in the more seductive scenes of the role(the quartet for example). Giovanni Foiani doesn't have the largest or black-sounding of voices for Sparafucile(coming from somebody who always has voices like Talvela in mind for this role) but he does make up for it by his sinister presence. Gillian Knight is a firm-voiced, seductive and appropriately knowing Maddalena. In conclusion, magnificent. 10/10 Bethany Cox