RIGOLETTO

Rigoletto, Opera Australia, Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 26th June - 24th August.Photography: Branco Gaica, Main: Giorgio Caoduro and Gianluca Terranova. Right: Emma Matthews and Giorgio Caoduro. 

There have been many incarnations of Giuseppe Verdi's classic work, Rigoletto, but Opera Australia's latest offering sees the production going back to its origins - set in 16th century Mantua and it works.

Here we see the Duke describe his newest love and neither he nor his courtiers know that she, Gilda, is the daughter of Rigoletto the court jester. Of course this is the jumping off point for a story filled with lust, mixed identities and death.

Despite the decision to "go back to the future" by director Roger Hodgman and designer Richard Roberts this Rigoletto has a very modern feel, which appears to come from the choice not to clutter the set with "period detail". Roberts' design is massive and at times completely fills the stage but despite this it always serves a purpose and never feels out of place. In fact the set and Hodgman's direction work hand in glove and push this production along at a very zippy pace. Matt Scott's lighting also creates a very strong feeling of foreboding which is the perfect tone for this story. 

The cast are fantastic and obviously feel renewed by Hodgman's fresh take on this classic. In terms of blocking, there are always complicated "crowd scenes" in any opera which can either come across as contrived or clumsy. But Rigoletto suffers from neither of these. Instead the simplicity in the detail of each performance is very interesting. There is also the edgy decision to include the flashing of the odd body part in certain scenes which could have come across as naff and trying too hard but doesn't.

The Opera Australia orchestra under the stewardship of conductor Renato Palumbo is simply divine and squeezes out every last bit of wonder in Verdi's score. Standouts in the cast were Giorgo Caoduro as Rigoletto the hapless court jester who manages to play the range of the character with truth and humour, and of course Emma Matthews as Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter. Matthews is a joy to listen to. Her voice is exquisite and exhibits similar sparkling qualities to that of a rare collection of jewels.

Running at just under two and half hours this Rigoletto is an entertaining version and one that will delight many.