Rigoletto at the English National Opera - review

Christopher Alden's new production of Rigoletto for ENO at the Coliseum is based on an interesting new idea. The plot of this magnificent Verdi opera centres on the hunchbacked Rigoletto, who is court jester to the Duke of Mantua.

The Duke abuses his position to seduce every woman who crosses his path, including Rigoletto's closely protected, secret daughter. Rigoletto vows revenge and pays an assassin to kill the Duke, but it all ends in tragedy with his daughter being killed instead. 

Alden sees all this as misogynistic power-play in a 19th century male-dominated hierarchical society, so has set the entire opera in a gentlemen's club, with dark-suited men lounging on seats at the sides of the stage in almost every scene. 

The only thing wrong with this is that it is nonsense. The opera is not set in a gentlemen's club: its various scenes take place in a palace in Mantua, in Rigoletto's humble dwelling, and in the assassin Sparafucile's windswept shack.

Having men in suits littering the stage only confuses the issue and interferes with the intensity of the drama and the intimacy of several scenes. The gentlemen's club idea may add some sort of philosophical structure to the story, but it is so completely out of place at times that it loses far more than it can ever hope to gain. 

Only in the final scene, when Rigoletto discovers that the dead body is that of his daughter rather than the Duke, does the gentlemen's chorus disappear from the stage and restore a proper starkness to the proceedings. 

That said, the production is redeemed by some excellent performances. Barry Banks as the Duke, does not, it must be admitted, have the dashing good looks that make women swoon at his feet as the role suggests, but his glorious tenor voice was a delight to listen to, and he sang with impressive power and conviction.

Anna Christy as Rigoletto's daughter Gilda, also sang her solos quite beautifully, but for my taste her voice had too much vibrato when she was joined by other singers. I like my Gildas to have a voice of crystal purity and innocence.

Peter Rose gave a deliciously villainous performance as the assassin Sparafucile, but all of these, for all their excellence, were reduced to being a supporting cast for Quinn Kelsey as Rigoletto himself.  

From the moment the curtain went up and we saw Kelsey sitting broodingly at the corner of the stage, glowering towards the audience, his presence was powerfully felt, and when he started singing, the power of his voice was even more impressive.

Forget the indulgence of Alden's production, and the magnificence of designer Michael Levine's clubroom set, Quinn Kelsey alone makes this worth seeing. His portrayal of the deeply troubled hunchback is quite magnificent - as perfect and memorable a Rigoletto as we can hope for. 

A couple of weeks ago, I described Peter Grimes at the ENO as a five-star production of a three-star opera. I am afraid this Rigoletto is a two-star production of a five-star opera, but if we add Kelsey's five-star performance, it still averages out at four stars.