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During the Welsh National Opera’s latest week of productions at the Birmingham Hippodrome I was lucky enough to see the audio described performance of Verdi’s thriller Rigoletto. An opera full of intrigue, debauchery, kidnap and murder, with a very tragic ending. In James MacDonald’s production, the very effective setting for the action was 1960’s Washington DC, with one of the 4 locations being the Oval Office in the White House .. the others being the Duke’s Palace, the seedy inn frequented by the professional assassin and the street between the Duke’s Palace and Rigoletto’s rather squalid abode. This was helpfully described in the pre-show notes available to VI patrons in advance and also again ‘live’ a quarter of an hour before curtain-up. This background information also contained the all-important details of the cast, characters and their costumes, eg we learnt that the eponymous Rigoletto, who is the Duke’s court jester is a hunchback and wears an iron leg brace on his left leg over his rather flashy trousers … we were also told how in the different scenes his attire contrasts with that of the other characters – in the opening party scene the Duke and his courtiers wear black tuxedos, with the women in figure hugging satin gowns, whilst Rigoletto is garishly clad like a spiv. As well as these details there was also a very useful synopsis of the somewhat, complicated plot – which I found essential as the opera was hitherto unknown to me.
Accompanied by our describers Julia Grundy and Jonathan Nash from Sightlines and Jenny from WNO, those VI’s who were able to get to the theatre by 6 pm were taken onto the stage for the touch tour, where we able to see the back for Act 1 and some of the props including the desk in the Oval Office which was based on the one used by J F K - complete with his family photos and model brass canons – which we had already heard about on the CD.
At the end of both intervals Jonathan and Julia briefly set the scene for the following act and during the music itself they were meticulous in delivering their commentary so as not to spoil our enjoyment of the WNO’s wonderful singing – most particularly that of Simon Keelyside in the title role.
Welsh National Opera’s next audio-described performance at the Birmingham Hippodrome is another real treat for opera aficionados and newcomers alike - Beethoven’s Fidelio - on the evening of Friday 12 November, and details on ticket prices, how to book headsets and places on the touch tour, can be obtained from the box office on 0844 338 5000.
