Rigoletto

Jonathan Miller's staging of Verdi's 1851 opera about a lascivious duke who lusts after the daughter of a hunchback jester was mounted at the English National Opera a quarter-century ago and taped for British television. In a brief introduction, Miller explains his decision to transplant the action from the 16th-century Mantuan court to the Mafia dens of 1950s New York, and while the end result has a bit of a West Side Story feel, the shift works better than one might expect. As is often the case with ENO productions, the piece is sung in English translation, and perhaps it's the fact that words and music are sometimes clumsily joined that makes conductor Mark Elder's reading of the score—especially in the first act—seem a bit unidiomatic. Still, the orchestra plays reasonably well and the singing is solid, though none of the principals rival the best international competition. The camerawork can also be fussy, occasionally focusing on incidentals rather than the action and at times moving so close that one can see the perspiration pouring off the performers, while the Dolby Digital stereo is no better than adequate. Still, while this mounting can't be preferred to more traditional readings of Rigoletto in the original Italian, it's still an intriguing alternative, and therefore a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)