Rigoletto review

From the opening orgy scene, Woods’ outré costumes and heavy make-up for the male chorus combine with a shocking level of violence and sexual assault to colour in a background focusing on the depravity of the powerful. At times, the result is over-busy, and the two reappearances of the leering courtiers later in the production are unhelpfully distracting. Yet Thomas’ bold vision is thought through, right up to the ultimate shock of the ending: rarely has an audience seemed so intent on the action as the opera heads towards its devastating finale.

The cast delivers both for Thomas and for Verdi. In a tour de force of operatic acting, Rigoletto is realised in the widely varied, tireless tone of Spanish-American baritone Daniel Luis de Vicente. Italian Raffaele Abete is ideally cast as the Duke – a worthless narcissist – his free and easy tenor belying the casual cruelty beneath his charming surface. British soprano Soraya Mafi, meanwhile, personifies Gilda to perfection, her aria Caro Nome not just flawlessly voiced, but exemplifying Gilda’s perilous innocence. She stops the show.

The crucial secondary roles of hired assassin Sparafucile, his partner-in-crime sister Maddalena, and wrathful, rebellious courtier Monterone – whose daughter is another of the Duke’s victims – are delivered with authority: Nathanaël Tavernier, Alyona Abramova and Paul Carey Jones do the respective honours.

The chorus and orchestra are consistently engaged, conductor Pietro Rizzo summoning up a sleek, dramatically motivated account of the score. And the fact that the company can deliver this difficult piece to a world-class standard during a time of worrying financial insecurity is doubly impressive.