Primary colours Verdi

Verdi: Rigoletto

Duke of Mantua Michael Fabiano
Rigoletto Dimitri Platanias
Gilda Lucy Crowe

Royal Opera Chorus
Royal Opera Orchestra
Director David McVicar
Revival Director Justin Way
Conductor Alexander Joel

16 January 2018, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
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The plot of Rigoletto is not the last word in subtlety, nor much of a standard bearer for sexual equality.  And Justin Way's approach to the latest revival of David McVicar's Royal Opera production offered no escape.  The Duke of Mantua's court was a lurid place of debasement and sexual exploitation, providing maximum contrast with the innocence of Gilda fresh from her convent.  The sense of dread for her safety was very effectively underlined.  But later her subsequent acceptance and protection of the Duke in all his flaws made little dramatic sense given his plainly horrific behaviour.

Verdi's music is a non-stop delight, clearly one of his most successful scores.  The singing on the whole did not live up to its subtlety.  Dimitri Platanias's Rigoletto was a hugely impressive physical, menacing performance, entirely capable of revenge.  But vocally he projected the more sensitive aspects of the role less successfully.  Lucy Crowe's Gilda had vocal control, but was not fully inside the role. In Caro nome there was no sense of a girl's breathless anxiety, more a singer focusing on her vocal technique.   Michael Fabiano's Duke was by contrast very fine throughout, with a gleaming tone and great command of the stage.