Rigoletto

Rigoletto

For the Grimeborn Festival, Heritage Opera has put together a production of Rigoletto on a small scale with a piano accompaniment. I believe that the two underlying characteristics of all Verdi’s music, whether in his operas or choral works, are his use of orchestral colour and the level of musicality and vocal skill he demands of the singers. Jonathan Ellis, Musical Director, gives a splendid performance on the piano but a percussion instrument, no matter how well played, can’t replicate the sonority or legato playing of an orchestra. Indeed there are times when it undermines the sensitivity of the music and the situation it is expressing.

The simple design and the production might work without the awful scaffolding construction used to show Rigoletto’s home and Gilda asleep in her bed. Musically it also disappoints due to the uneven quality of the singing. Thomas Eaglen plays a powerful and threatening Sparafucile and a dignified Monterone. Mark Saberton began promisingly as Rigoletto before the upper register of his voice collapsed part way through Act 1 causing him to have to sing most of the opera an octave below what is written. A wonderfully seductive Maddalena is provided by the Greek mezzo Lilly Papaioannou who has a most promising voice and is worth looking out for. However, Nicholas Sales as the Duke of Mantua and Sarah Helsby-Hughes as Gilda, whilst both displaying good potential, tend to be uncontrolled and offer little flexibility of vocal colour. Both occasionally show that they have the ability to give more exciting performances and this could well be resolved by having a Musical Director who conducts rather than being stuck at the piano. Attempting Grand Opera on a small scale is a daunting challenge and it rarely succeeds as, unfortunately, is the case here.

– John Bird

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