Opera North, 23/03/2022

Verdi : Rigoletto

Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North

Patrick Milne

England may have lifted all its precautionary restrictions against the pandemic, but the virus hasn't finished with us.  Tonight's performance was announced with cast changes for Monterone, Gilda, Rigoletto and the conductor due to positive COVID-19 tests, and that's a massive shock to the system, to lose the top two of the cast plus the conductor on opening night in the second-last leg of their spring tour.  Not to mention that the Monterone was no less than Sir Willard White.  The anticipation of a much-talked of new production was therefore somewhat lost behind some anxiety regarding the forthcoming performance, even though all the planned covers were available and ready to sing.  What we were about to see became less important than what we were about to hear.  

Technically, it should probably always be thus, that the musical performance is more important than the stage production, but life tends not to be that accommodating, and Femi Elufowoju Jr.'s production, with its explicitly colour-aware casting, promised much.  Instead of a more or less convincing hunchback, this Rigoletto is a physically perfectly valid black man, and his 'deformity' is the ratcheting anxiety, not to say paranoia, that his marginal status, both as a person of colour and of his job as 'entertainer' to the rich, white, playboy 'Duke' and his entourage, evoke in him.  His knowledge of the seedy underbelly of this superficially glamorous world drives his desire to protect his daughter, but his heritage comes fiercely into play when he is cursed by a similarly black Monterone, whose status as an elder adds weight to his imprecations.  

There were a lot of interesting ideas in this production, although I found the set-up - much of Act 1, in other words - to raise more questions than it answered.  Biggest problems, in relation to subsequent events, was the fact that Sparafucile is clearly in the pay of the Duke, at least part-time.  It renders a lot of Act 3 very bizarre - he clearly knows just who his target is, and vice versa, so a) why would he accept the contract in the first place, and b) why would the Duke go slumming down the riverside, when he can have Maddalena brought to his home?  Most interesting issue raised was that Marullo was also black.  In this production you have to assume that a character is assigned as a person of colour for very precise reasons,  and Marullo being black - but also rich, successful and a member of the Duke's inner circle - casts a very different aspect on his relationship with Rigoletto.  Rigoletto's plea to him, in his Act 2 monologue, is a plea to a brother, to someone who should understand his difficulties and anxieties.  

The presence of three peculiar figures, dressed as 18th Century lackeys, all in white (complete with wigs), as sort of Parcae, was also, I felt, not particularly helpful, but I'm not a great believer in Fate, and given that the curse is the motor of the piece, clearly at least some of the characters do.  I also thought that Rigoletto's contortions at the moment of the pronouncement of the curse were grossly overdone; Monterone might as well have produced a voodoo doll and stuck pins in it.  Other than these issues, though, on the whole it was quite persuasive, and well designed by Rae Smith.  

I realised tonight that this is the first core repertory opera I have seen in the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, and also the first time I have sat in the 1st Circle.  In consequence, I don't know if my assessment was partly affected by the acoustics.  At any rate, my overwhelming impression was that the orchestra was very loud, and that at various points absolutely everybody had difficulty in making themselves heard, which was a little unfortunate, because it left me with a somewhat mitigated view of the whole performance.  At least the orchestra was worth listening to, after a slightly tremulous start from the trumpets right at the beginning of Act 1.  Crisply directed by the improbably juvenile-looking Patrick Milne, there were times when I felt proceedings were a little lacking in sheer electricity, notably the end of Act 2, and the Act 3 Trio, but on the whole, it was a good performance.

Callum Thorpe (Sparafucile) and Alyona Abramova (Maddalena)
Act 3, Rigoletto (© Opera North 2022)

Both of the young cover artists are South African.  Kamohelo Tsotetsi (Rigoletto) gave a fine, charismatic performance, with a good quality, warm baritone that would occasionally waver when pushed at mid-volume, not quite adequately supported for what he wanted to do with it.  Yolisa Ngwexana was a lovely, sweet-toned Gilda, with a quiet, bruised dignity in the later acts.  Roman Arndt certainly looked the part of the Duke, flashily handsome, and the voice is quite exciting, but by Act 3 he was having real problems staying on pitch at the top of the range, which tarnished the image somewhat.  Byron Jackson (Monterone), Themba Mvula (Marullo) and Alyona Abramova (Maddalena) were good, but the secondary principal who most impressed me was Callum Thorpe as Sparafucile, long, lean and menacing, and with a resonant, deep bass that negotiated the lowest notes with ease.  That's a voice I'd really like to hear again. 

As a production, I think Elofuwoju Jr. made many good points, but he also undermined some of them with odd bits of nonsense, to my mind.  Still, as a first foray into the world of opera direction, it was a success, and hopefully he'll continue to offer his insights on other pieces in the future.

[Next : 31st March]