A Welsh ‘Rigoletto’ defies the bean counters 

Wales. The Land of Song. Yet even here they are having to defend themselves from an Arts Council England (ACE) determined to squeeze, almost to extinction, an art form that brings together singers, orchestral musicians and theatrical production. The ACE are forcing the Welsh National Opera (WNO) to reduce musicians’ pay by 15 per cent and consider making the chorus and orchestra part time. This will compel the company to cut down on touring, leaving some large towns in England and Wales without high quality opera. Yet the WNO does a first-rate job, as its new production in Cardiff of Verdi’s Rigoletto proves.

Based on a play by Victor Hugo, the title character in Rigoletto is the jester at a dissolute Renaissance court presided over by a Duke (the original play was based on Francis I of France, a contemporary of Henry VIII). Rigoletto mocks the courtiers, including Count Monterone, whose daughter has been seduced by the Duke. Incensed, Monterone curses the jester. While worrying about the consequences of this curse, the jester meets an assassin, Sparafucile, who offers his services. The licentious Duke meanwhile adds to his conquests. Disguising himself as a poor student, he seduces a girl — who later turns out to be Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda. The courtiers take revenge on the jester by abducting a girl they believe to be his mistress. This is in fact Gilda herself, and when Rigoletto realises that his own daughter has been seduced by the Duke, he engages Sparafucile to kill him. 

Revenge is a dangerous game, however, and despite Rigoletto’s efforts at showing his daughter the true nature of the Duke, she persists in loving him, and sacrifices herself. The dead body in the sack delivered to the jester turns out not to be the Duke, but his own daughter. The Curse ( la maledizione — the original title of the opera) has now been fulfilled.

This new production by Adele Thomas for the WNO serves the opera well, and allows the audience to concentrate on the singing, which was excellent. In fact this was a musical triumph, under the baton of the immensely talented Italian conductor Pietro Rizzo, who is making a name for himself internationally. The cast rose to the occasion, too, with British soprano Soraya Mafi giving a beautifully nuanced performance as Gilda. Her Act I soliloquy of adoration for the young “student” she has met was greeted with immense applause. The Spanish-American baritone Daniel Luis De Vincente made a compelling Rigoletto, and the Italian Raffaele Abete a suitably dissolute looking Duke, with a superb tenor voice.

An unusual feature of this production is the presentation of the assassin Sparafucile (French bass Nathanaël Tavernier) and his sister (Russian mezzo Alyona Abramova) in very stylish costumes, giving a lightness of touch to what are usually very dark scenes. This was a hugely talented cast, supplemented by Welsh soloists such as Paul Carey Jones as Monterone. The ACE should take note that the liveliness of top rate opera, and the livelihoods of British opera singers, are dependent on financial support. We need the performers to be performing for audiences in Britain, rather than being compelled to make their living abroad in Germany and other countries. This country deserves better than it has been getting under recent governments. Britain cannot afford to waste its own talent — or the talent will simply leave and work elsewhere.

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