Verdi, Verdi good indeed

First appeared: Evening Star, Ipswich, October 15, 2004

Rigoletto, by Verdi
Mid Wales Opera, Colchester Mercury Theatre last night and tonight

A CENTURY and a half after its composition, Rigoletto is still so well known, at least in parts, that even football crowds know at least one of the tunes.

The great aria La Donna e Mobile is Verdi's biggest hit song - and Ipswich Town fans found it fitted perfectly the name of their former hero Hermann Hreidarsson. Well, something had to.

It hasn't lasted so well on account of Victor Hugo's story. Even by opera's usual melodramatic, often frankly silly standards, it's a sketchy and implausible tale.

The music, though, is as good as Verdi gets - and that's very, very good indeed.

And in this highly enjoyable production, the acting is of a standard to match the beautiful singing.

At the heart of it is a towering performance by Charles Johnston in the title role.

With his rich baritone voice, perfect timing and body language, he makes the half-mad, half-blind, deformed court jester into a tragic, Lear-like figure.

Just as he cannot see most of what is going on around him, he fails to see that he himself is the prime cause of his daughter Gilda's downfall. But the way he reaches pathetically out to where he thinks she is has poignant dramatic power.

The rest of the eight-strong cast and the small orchestra all provide quality support. The quartet in the last act between Rigoletto, Gilda (soprano Adele Mason), the Duke (tenor Bradley Daley) and Maddalena (alto Yvonne Fontane) is a highlight of both singing and staging.

The 1940s-style costumes, with their echoes of Fascism, and atmospheric lighting contribute some highly effective moments.

Only a rather clumsy set, comprising mostly prison-like bars, fails to hit quite the right note in a riveting evening's entertainment.