Jonathan Miller’s 1950s New York mafiosi version of Verdi’s Rigoletto first arrived on stage in 1982, and the godfather of productions has made a welcome return to ENO at the Coliseum with the late Miller’s faithful adjutant Elaine Tyler-Hall expertly directing its 14th revival. Despite its age, the production feels as fresh, cogent, and captivating as ever. Miller’s overarching conceit – Verdi’s Renaissance Mantua transposed to 1950’s Little Italy, New York, recounting the story of a wise-cracking mobster, remains thoroughly gripping, and exquisitely executed.
Tyler-Hall's vibrantly busy stage – featuring Designers Patrick Robertson and Rosemary Vercoe’s formidable set – populated by a superb ENO chorus on top form, is complemented by an ENO Orchestra clearly inspired by Opera North conductor Richard Farnes, arguably one of the leading British opera conductors of his generation.
This latest incarnation of Miller’s classic respects the harrowing tragedy at the opera’s core: it starts dark, and gets progressively darker. Around the illuminated and lavishly decorated hotel bar where mobster boss the ‘Duke’ (Chinese tenor Yongzhao Yu) holds court with his barman-henchman Rigoletto (played by rich-toned American baritone Weston Hurt), menacing tenements loom in the shadows on mean streets. Artificial grandeur, attained through foul play and extortion is shot through with poverty and anxiety.
Hurt, in the title role, was utterly compelling with his thorough probing of the biter bitten – a desolate figure, whose scheme for vengeance backfires with spectacularly tragic consequences. Robyn Allegra Parton played an exquisite Gilda– her crystalline, mellifluous soprano a delight to the ears. Her death scene was movingly and artfully realised. Yu,as the amoral Duke of Mantua brought candour and vigour to the role, portraying the licentious character as a wheedling, peevish misogynist.
Where the first-rate ENO chorus features – in the opening party tableau, and in Act II when Rigoletto pleads abjectly with the gang– they don’t just fill the stage, but act, most strikingly as they turn their collective backs on their abandoned pal as he searches desperately for his beloved daughter.
As the humiliated Monterone, David Kempster placed his curse on the Duke and Rigoletto with a dreadful fury. ENO Harewood Artist, baritone Patrick Alexander Keefe, playing mobster Marullo, impressed with his menacing suavity. Indeed, all the secondary roles shone, in particular William Thomas’s Sparafucile: a sophisticated assassin down to the lowest depths of his velvety bass in the great exchange where Rigoletto perceives his affinity with the hired hit-man.
It is the scenes between Gilda and Rigoletto that make this revival truly sparkle, however. As she glides up and down the fire-escapes, Parton appears, and sounds, suitably skittish and stubborn: not the delicate, innocent angel of Rigoletto’s paternal dreams. The coloratura elegance of her soprano in its upper reaches is offset by a fleshier quality lower down, mirroring this dual aspect fantasy creature and real woman. Hurt balances huge pathos conveyed in long, intricately sculpted vocal lines with recalcitrant fatherly conceit. In the exquisitely painful moment when he discovers what’s inside the sack that Sparfucile has given him, Hurt’s numb restraint as he broods over the dying Gilda felt sincere. Reunited with Gilda, Hurt and Parton performed their tender duet masterfully: both vocally assured and dramatically astute.
Rich voiced mezzo Amy Holyland brought sympathetic dignity to the role of Maddalena, Sparafucile’s sister, which added additional dimension and a more nuanced complexity to her character. As the Duke attempts to woo Maddalena behind the glass of a street bar whilst the vegeance-obsessed Rigoletto and Gilda stand in the shadowy lamplit sidewalk outside. This mighty quartet, sharply divided between the inside and outside pairs, is formidably sung. The macrocosmic storm in the heavens – pathetic fallacy reflecting the turmoil on earth – raged portentously as Rigoletto learns that his revenge plot has gone tragically wrong.
This production is convincing, electrifying – and heartwrenchingly poignant. Throughout, Miller’s depraved mafia chic never distracts from Verdi’s astonishing music that propels the piece. There is strong vocal talent and diction across the board, which is matched by flair from Farnes in the pit. In short, this Rigoletto is a triumph.
Rigoletto at the London Coliseum until 21 November
To book, please visit: eno.org
Rigoletto (Weston Hurt) and Gilda (Robyn Allegra Parton).
