Opera North’s Rigoletto – Leeds Grand Theatre
On the night before Halloween, the streets around the Grand Theatre belonged to the students: witches, zombies and the odd clown weaving from pub to pub in noisy packs. Inside, Opera North had a masked mob of its own.
Femi Elufowoju jr’s production, first seen in 2022, is back with a largely new cast. Verdi’s 1851 opera tells of a court jester who mocks the Duke of Mantua’s victims for a living while hiding his own daughter, Gilda, from the world. Cursed by Count Monterone, a father the Duke has wronged, Rigoletto watches his worst fear come true when the Duke seduces Gilda. He pays a hit man, Sparafucile, £20,000 to kill the Duke. But Sparafucile’s sister Maddalena, herself seduced by the Duke, talks him into murdering the next stranger who comes to the door instead. Gilda overhears, a...