<<  -- 5 --  Roderic Dunnett    REVISITING WITH PLEASURE

The abduction of Gilda worked a treat, with Studer's economical set proving itself well (including an amusing ladder ballet), the male chorus once again in fine voice, and the blindfolded Rigoletto's cry -- 'I've been hoodwinked' -- terrifying in its anguish. Heath's Duke emerged if anything with greater stature in the ensuing scene -- something of a spirited Prince Hal, with impressive precision, if just a slight lack of natural warmth in the timbre.

The slick management of the later part of the scene, in which the joke turns sour, was again enlivened by more subtle use of blocks and groupings, and the father-daughter exchange that followed drew strength as surely from the impressive rounded vowels and fine diction of Smith's strongly, sinisterly characterised Rigoletto as from the sheer beauty and tenderness of Alefounder's knocked-around Gilda.

The closing sequence, gaining in power from the pleading of Maddalena (Margaret Rapacioli) with Dawkins's ruthless Sparafucile, built to a ruthless and bruising climax with the tragic discovery of Gilda by Rigoletto. Monterone's curse had worked its worst. All in all, a perceptive, menacing and thoroughly well-judged production, admirably lit, with a sharp sense of detail, by Mark Beasley.