★★★★ Review: Rigoletto, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

As the lights dimmed at the Royal Opera House on Tuesday evening and conductor Stefano Montanari strutted out – wearing a T shirt – into the orchestra pit and took the stand this reporter was mildly apprehensive about the forthcoming performance. Having seen Lisette Oropesa and Antonio Pappano lead a cast of operatic stars in September’s run, there has been great speculation about how Oliver Mears’ production would stand with a more run-of-the-mill cast. Gladly, we are still yet to find out because the singing on Tuesday evening was sublime.

Rosa Feola as Gilda delivered a stunning performance, hitting every note of Verdi’s challenging score with ease and portraying Gilda’s frailty through excellent acting and great sensitivity of tone, working with Montanari to perfect the often difficult musical phrasing of the piece. Luca Salsi as Rigoletto was simply outstanding. He has a powerful baritone, and had no problem hitting the big notes that the score requires. Alongside this, he was able to portray Rigoletto’s vulnerability – his Act 1 duet with Gilda was sweet and the relationship portrayed with his daughter was touching – his utter despair at the end of act 3 was really quite moving. Francescno Demuro, a last minute replacement for Javier Camarena, has a handsome tenor (as well as looks!) and performed the Duke with the sickly charm the role requires. The chorus of the Royal Opera House were, as always, reliably excellent and there were impressive supporting performances from Evgeny Stavinsky as Sparafucile and Aigul Akmetshina as his daughter Maddalena.

“Rosa Feola as Gilda delivered a stunning performance, hitting every note of Verdi’s challenging score with ease“

As for the production itself, Mears has struck a careful balance between classic and modern. The production isn’t radical enough to upset the regular Covent Garden crowd, but feels refreshingly updated – and the intensity created in the storm during Act 3, with flashing lights around the theatre and an actual rainstorm – is really thrilling. The simple sets leave the focus largely on the actors, in Act 2 in particular, which is fine when the singers are as good actors as this cast, but in cases with less credible acting, these scenes could easily fall flat.

The orchestra was on top form. Montanari conducted with energy, his arms waving wildly all over the place. He may have been offered more freedom of movement through his refusal to wear white tie, instead opting for a t-shirt and leather trousers – a combination I imagine has not often been seen on the Covent Garden podium. His conducting style was somewhat more erratic than that of Antonio Pappano, who conducted the run of performances in September, with the tempo of Caro Nome painfully slow and other sections, such as the dramatic climax of the Act 3 quartet conducted too vivaciously for my liking – the volume of the orchestra drowning out the singers almost entirely in places.

Overall, the performance and production were excellent, mixing drama, intrigue, revenge, and yet the overarching morality of Rigoletto’s actions and his love for his daughter tugs at the heartstrings. And, has a story about a scheming, reprobate Duke abusing his power to satisfy crude sexual urges ever been more relevant?!

Rigoletto is at the Royal Opera House until 12^th March 2022.