The Welsh National Opera production of Guiseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto at the New Theatre until tonight (October 26), is fast, filthy, frantic, fun and FURIOUS.
The focus in this production is the decadence, use and abuse of power, here directed squarely at the Bullingdon Club and its ilk, and the Downing Street Covid parties, through its staging and the satirical illustrations in the programme.
Losing a substantial chunk of its Arts Council funding has only added fuel to the (f)ire. Not afraid to be political, the superb orchestra, conducted by Pierre Rizzo, wore t-shirts advertising the funding crisis.
Here, Rigoletto is a court jester caught up in a sordid dukedom where immorality rules, the duke chasing and seducing every young woman he sees – including Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda.
Enough is enough – Rigoletto is sick of being the butt of everyone’s mirth, and plots his revenge. But everything goes wrong (this is a tragic melodrama) as a hired assassin mistakenly kills his daughter, rather than the self-indulgent duke.
The plot is preposterous, a roller coaster of frantic action – but absolutely beautifully sung by the magnificent baritone Daniel Luis De Vicente (Rigoletto), Soraya Mafi, a wonderfully expressive Gilda and the duke (stand-in Raffaele Abete).
His sweet tenor voice gained in strength for La Donne e Mobile (Woman is Fickle), one of the most famous arias in opera, though frankly it could have been renamed Man is Fickle, judging by the shenanigans of the citizens of Mantua.
But back to the fury and the funding – Oxford’s audiences are wonderful, and the New Theatre was packed on the first night, but the Welsh National Opera has had to severely curtail their touring schedule for lack of public funding, and we could well be next to be denied this wonderful, innovative and superb-quality opera company.
The most touching moment in the evening came not from the death of Rigoletto’s daughter (which has to be seen to be believed) but from the second bassoonist’s heartfelt plea for us to apply pressure on our MP’s for arts funding in the UK.
She’s right. Here’s the link to do so: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/protect-welsh-national-opera?source=qr
Sheila Bailey
WNO’s Rigoletto plays tonight (October 26) at Oxford’s New Theatre. Book here https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/welsh-national-opera-oxford/
