Rigoletto, Royal Opera House, review: Every note is convincing

Aleksandra Kurzak’s debut as Gilda is sensational

Aleksandra Kurzak as Gilda in Rigoletto (Catherine Ashmore)

The orgy with which David McVicar opens his production of Rigoletto – now on its seventh outing – was always that show’s one big fault: the scene should be about droit de seigneur, not a comically-heaving Soho sex-party.

But in every other respect this strongly-cast revival, conducted with eloquent expressiveness by Maurizio Benini, is superb.

Aleksandra Kurzak’s debut as Gilda is sensational: hitherto we’ve known this Polish soprano as a consummate comedienne, but this is a revelation.

Every gesture and every note is convincing, and there’s no vanity in her coloratura, just the most delicate beauty; her ecstatic reverie ‘Caro nome’ has a breath-taking perfection.

Saimir Pirgu’s Duke exudes manly charisma, and Sebastian Holecek’s Monterone and Brindley Sherratt’s Sparafucile are both powerfully delineated; as Rigoletto, Simon Keenlyside is not completely easy with his character’s physicality, but he sings with great warmth and authority.