Opera Scotland

Rigoletto 2003Scottish Opera

Read more about the opera Rigoletto

Scottish Opera's 2002-03 season was dominated by the continuation of its production by Tim Albery of The Ring. The third instalment, Siegfried, opened at the 2002 Festival, followed by performances in Glasgow, with Götterdämmerung scheduled for the Spring. Complete cycles were planned for the 2003 Edinburgh Festival and the opening of the main Glasgow autumn season.

The non-Wagner repertoire consisted of a revived Fledermaus and new Orfeo ed Euridice in the autumn. The new year saw a performances of Rigoletto, with The Magic Flute in the spring.

This Rigoletto was in effect a new production by Rennie Wright using the designs from 1997 in a far more effective manner. The days have gone when productions could mostly be scrapped after one run. The sets were greatly improved with the application of a generous coat of black paint. Altogether everyone moved about the stage with a sense of purpose - the chorus of courtiers seemed a thoroughly dangerous mob, lurking in corners in a suitably Machiavellian fashion. The cast was generally very well balanced - Jason Howard, also dressed in black, but with a bald pate, was a fierily dramatic jester, with a full-voiced lyric tone and no barking - very refreshing, and a superb first attempt at this horribly difficult role. John Hudson's Duke and Jane Irwin's Maddalena were both excellent, and a newcomer, Maria Costanza Nocentini made a lovely Gilda. As before, Richard Armstrong's excellent Verdian pedigree was much in evidence in a red-blooded account of the score.