This review is almost a month overdue; I went four weeks and five weeks ago tomorrow, and so much has happened since. It gets more difficult to write a review as time passes, but I think it would be a serious lacuna to omit this one.
After I came out from this on 6 July, I decided that it was, without doubt, the best opera performance I had ever been to in my life. Two days later, it was no longer the best. But I wasn't complaining! I felt that overall, the performance of 6 July was better than the 13th, but I still very much enjoyed the 13th.
The cast was:
Duke of Mantua: Rolando Villazón
Rigoletto: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Gilda: Ekaterina Siurina
Sparafucile: Eric Halfvarson
Maddalena: Viktoria Vizin
This was Cast B. I didn't get to see Cast A, which included Piotr Beczala, Paolo Gavanelli and Anna Netrebko, all getting good reviews, in the main parts. There was some joking that the line-up I saw must be the best 'second cast' ever assembled, but I don't suppose it was ever the intention of ROH to suggest 'less good'. And people who saw both casts believed that Cast B shaded it.
When I heard Rolando Villazón eighteen months ago, I vowed that I would endeavour to see every production in which he appeared in London. Unfortunately, I fell at the second hurdle, when he provided a late replacement for two performances of La Bohème, by all accounts, superbly.
Occasionally one hears a voice and falls in love with it immediately: I certainly did with Rolando, and I love his Italian Arias CD. I have to confess the French one 
does not thrill me as much, but is still pleasant.
It is difficult to find a review of Rolando that doesn't rave about him. Not just his voice, but also his stage presence, interpretation, musicality. A few people find his voice on the small side; perhaps they are only satisfied by stentorian foghorns. As far as I am concerned, it is big enough. Otherwise, the only downside is that he does bear a passing physical resemblance to Rowan Atkinson, although better looking. So if you can imagine the Duke of Mantua as Blackadder, or perhaps do I mean Blackadder as the Duke of Mantua...? But, of course, Rigoletto is no Baldrick. I have a DVD of Leporello Don Giovanni) in the style of Baldrick.
Rigoletto was played by Dmitri Hvorostovsky, whom I have never heard live. Recorded, he has never really done it for me, so I was curious as to how he would sound live. Critics say he is no Verdian. At the first performance he was fine; he was better for the second. He still doesn't do it for me, but I shall be booking to see him in Eugene Onegin in the Spring. I don't believe he will bear any comparison to Gerald Finley's portrayal at ENO, but it will be good to compare the two. (And Lensky will be played by Rolando...).
Some critics said Hvorostovsky played Hvorostovsky, rather then Rigoletto, which I thought unfair, but it wasn't the total portrayal as essayed by Paolo Gavanelli on the DVD, although people say Gavanelli is a barker, not a singer.
The revelation for me was Ekaterina Siurina. I saw here as Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann last year, and I now recall that I did like her very much then. As Gilda, she was lovely. I am quite fussy about my sopranos - I like them to soar ethereally to a crystal clear sound at the top - any hint of squall and they've lost me. And I think 'squall' to me is 'body at the top' to many others. So I very much liked Ekaterina. I have never previously realised just how gorgeous Care nome is as an aria. And the love duet between her and the Duke of Mantua was moving in its beauty and sincerity.
To sum Rigoletto up is difficult. It is full of glorious tunes, coming one after the other. The storyline has elements in which are difficult to believe, but the overall story is a great morality of tale about love and human frailty/venality/evil.
The best tunes include Questa o quella. This is a light ditty; an ideal piece to be sung to the audience to show the lyricism of the tenor. But an intelligent acting singer has to portray the depraved cynicism of the Duke. Which Rolando did, so, on the first night, I felt slightly disappointed. But I understood better second time around.
The highlight of the opera, for me, and for many others, is Bella figlia dell'amore, a quartet that contains perhaps the most achingly beautiful music of all that Verdi wrote (apart from all the others, of course...)
And, of course, the famous canzone La donna è mobile, the aria Verdi refused to let the musicians see until the last moment, and within hours of the premiere, it was being played by the street musicians.
I could not fault the orchestra under the baton of Edward Downes. I also liked the production - mainly - for the reasons that many people dislike it. Mainly because the opening scenes, in the court of Duke of Mantua contain nudity, including full-frontal, and simulated sex-acts, heterosexual and homosexual, not all consensual. It seems a perfectly sensible way to portray sexual depravity. And, in general, I saw no inconsistencies or silliness in the actual production.
I just didn't like the set, which, for the first three acts was centred on a metal construction. It revolved from time to time - one side was the Duke's Court; the other side was Rigoletto's hovel. I found it neither court-like nor hovel-like: It puzzled me why Rigoletto only had one bedroom (And one bed) yet there was a convoluted series of stairs and landings to get there. And it failed to maximise the entire stage, which I also think is a shame, unless there is a specific dramatic reason in any specific scene or Act.
The production is available on DVD, but I preferred Rolando Villazón live to Marcelo Álvarez on video.
I also have a CD version I would highly recommend and another DVD, which I'd also recommend. 
