■ Popular opera singer Nolovuyiso Mpofu is performing as Gilda in Rigoletto for the last time as a member of Cape Town Opera. ■ Popular opera singer Nolovuyiso Mpofu is performing as Gilda in Rigoletto for the last time as a member of Cape Town Opera.
Director: Marthinus Basson
Conductor: Kamal Khan
Cast: Fikile Mvinjelwa, Noluvuyiso Mpofu, Lukhanyo Moyake, members of Cape Town Opera and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra
Choreographer: Mark Hoeben
Venue: Artscape Opera House, until February 18
Rating: 4
However one approaches it, Verdi’s Rigoletto is a dark opera, and director Marthinus Basson’s current production for Cape Town Opera does nothing to minimise the inherent nastiness of its themes – most of which resonate with contemporary South African society.
Abuse of women, contempt for and ridicule of the disabled, and the pursuit of power and pleasure at the expense of others, are the stuff from which Rigoletto is wrought. Yet depression is not what one feels at the end of the performance. This is due in part to the sheer beauty of Verdi’s music which transcends the opera’s thematic bleakness, and also to the love and magnanimity that inform the dénouement.
Austerity reigns in Basson’s set, a vast space empty except for an assemblage of chairs. It operates on two levels, the lower visible intermittently when the action shifts to Rigoletto’s home, while the upper represents the residence of the Duke of Mantua, an area for partying and debauchery.
Images projected onto a backdrop convey scene changes, most of them with an evocative moodiness in light and sky. This is an African version of the opera, set in an anonymous industrial urbanscape of uncompromising ugliness. Costumes by Michael Mitchell are neutral, the audience can concentrate on vocal and instrumental performance, both of which are of sterling quality under the baton of Kamal Khan.
Fikile Mvinjelwa as the eponymous anti-hero is magnificent, heavily powdered and with dyed hair to convey the albinism that sets him apart from society and implies a curse. His theatricality and prowess as a singer combine to make him a memorable Rigoletto in a performance matched in intensity by Noluvuyiso Mpofu, whose looks enhance her role as Gilda.
Highlights of this production coincide with the duets between her and Mvinjelwa, their voices blending exquisitely as they render the mutual tenderness of father and daughter – beacons in the pervasive gloom of the work.
Lukhanyo Moyake has a magisterial grasp of the Duke’s role. Physically attractive and ingratiating, he manages to project the lascivious selfishness of his character so that his appeal for the innocent Gilda is plausible without mitigating his villainy. His clear tenor fills the auditorium with the power usually heard in voices of lower register, doing ample justice to familiar arias like Questa o quella and Donna e mobile.
Noteworthy contributions come from Mandisinde Mbuyazwe as the vengeful Monterone and Nonhlanhla Yende in the role of the seductively dangerous Maddalena. Both convince in their characterisation and rise to the vocal challenge.