Search - English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Mark Elder, John Rawnsley :: Verdi: Rigoletto

This latest release in Chandos's popular Opera in English series is also, intelligently, a record of the later incarnation of Jonathan Miller's successful adaptation of Rigoletto, which shifts its location from mediaeval Mantua to the dives of New York's gangsters in the early '50s. In practice, this means very minor adjustments to the text; this is a fluent translation the effect of which does not depend on the period in which sets and costumes place it. The vigorous performances remind us that this is an almost unsinkable work that does not require the greatest voices in the world--ENO singers such as John Rawnsley and Helen Field are solid singers of the second rank, while John Tomlinson is something rather more, making the comparatively minor part of Sparafucile hold the stage on each of his appearances. This is a very theatrical recording, intelligently cast in the minor roles; the veteran Norman Bailey makes the angry patriarch Monterone's curse particularly telling. --Roz Kaveney