Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto), Rosa Feola as Gilda), Ensemble Andrea Mastroni (Sparafucile), Varduhi Abrahamyan (Maddalena) Andrea Mastroni (Sparafucile), Varduhi Abrahamyan (Maddalena), Piotr Beczaa (Duke of Mantua), Rosa Feola (Gilda), Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto) Quinn Kelsey (Rigoletto), Rosa Feola (Gilda) Performance reviews Rigoletto 2021-2022 Season. But the finest singing of the evening came from Benjamin Bernheim, making his long-overdue Met debut. Two artists make notable Met debuts: the tenor Benjamin Bernheim as the Duke of Mantua and the conductor Speranza Scappucci in the pit. And instead of doing the predictable crescendo from Vieni, e senti to the high B flat on palpitar, Bernheim actually diminuendoed the phrases, luring us in, before springing the high note with an even more intense forte, emphasizing the Dukes manipulative game. Compounding Bernheims performance during this scene was how much fun he seemed to be having, not only flirting with Akhmetshina, but even caressing a cross on the wall, a childish smile on his face. dammi coraggio was sung with a glorious piano to forte crescendo that expressed Gildas fear and pain all at once. It was also quite present during the S vendetta where the initial tempo surged forward so immediately that the actual stringendo written into the score near its climax sounded like a slowdown instead. She brought a seemingly endless supply of energy to the evening, with swift tempi and impressively monolithic brass. But she eventually found her way back with the cadenza, and the arias coda where her elegant legato line returned us to the initial bliss. The Act three trio was a mess of sounds without any real grounding and during the final duet, Lass in ciel, the violin syncopations were so accented as to sound plodding and heavy that they didnt fit into the general soundscape of the moment, even disrupting it. The 70-minute work, scored for four singers and instrumental septet, is a lighthearted science-fiction opera that looks at the purpose of art in challenging times through the lens of comedy. Audio from the December 31, 2021, as well as the January 4, 19, and June 8, 2022, performances will be streamed live on the Mets website, metopera.org. The collection of #PBSForTheArts programs is available at pbs.org/arts , PBS.org, and the PBS Video App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. If you are using Internet Explorer or other browsers you may encounter problems with certain sections of our website. It was the epitome of style over substance and after seeing it a few times, no singer however great could get me to subject myself to its charmlessness. Other aspects work better, including the dark alley scene between Rigoletto and Sparafucile, which also makes an argument for the less is more principle. On first listen, Feolas voice is not what has become the typical Gilda voice a light coloratura voice with extreme highs. The opening lines of the duet were sung with utmost delicacy, the soprano slowly building up to the high A on daglocchi il cor, the high note suddenly full of rage and anger, before the line diminuendoed to a tearful resolution. Croatian bass Ante Jerkunica makes his Met debut as Sparafucile this season. Confusion, unless part of the thematic underpinning of the story, never makes for good storytelling. He has conducted all of the major Italian symphony orchestras, as well as many throughout Europe, and has also led productions at La Scala, Staatsoper Berlin, Dutch National Opera, the Paris Opera, Pesaros Rossini Opera Festival, and in Aix-en-Provence, Valencia, Venice, Madrid, Stuttgart, Zurich, Tokyo, Rome, and Naples, among others. It gave off the aria less of a playful feel and emphasized the romantic longing of Gilda. It provided a seamless transition into the Piangi, with Kelsey crescendoing from the C natural into the ensuing D flat. The Met rings in the new year with the gala premiere of a bold new take on Verdi's timeless tragedy from Bartlett Sher. and purity of tone. Opera in the Park; Don Giovanni (Mozart) . The Vienna State Opera's production of Rigoletto did its job, proving an appropriately grim staging for a very dark opera. Verdi doesnt waste a moment and every single note in the piece plays a crucial role in building its tension and tragedy. Directors love Wagner's operas, which infuse the suggestive sketchiness of parables into clearly conceived plots and characters. Rigoletto (Verdi) The Abduction from the Seraglio (Mozart) The Merry Wives of Windsor (Nicolai) La bohme (Puccini) 1993-1994 Season. These PDFs do not include cast changes that occurred after the program went to print. The customary dark leather jacket that is a staple of the Sher operatic universe is here (its really something that the Duke of Mantua, Romeo, Count Almaviva, and Otello, all get to wear the same-looking coat at some point in their respective operas; perhaps theres some thematic connection there?) In the Mets production, the action unfolds in Weimar Germany in the 1920s, a time and place with surprising parallels to the decadentand dangerousworld of the original setting. Director: Leo Paur. He made his Met debut with a production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia during the 200607 season, followed by stagings of Les Contes dHoffmann, LElisir dAmore, Otello, and Romo et Juliette, as well as the company premieres of Le Comte Ory and Nico Muhlys Two Boys. Gothic horror, magic and romance at the 2023 Savonlinna Opera Festival, At the helm of the world's most expensive opera house: Met General Manager Peter Gelb, From our French editor: ode to the diehards, Guilty pleasures: Yoncheva and Beczaa star in a new. She has also held tenures as deputy music director of Staatsoper Hamburg, interim chief conductor at the Maribor Slovene National Theatre, and first kapellmeister at the Vienna Volksoper. In January 2020, she performed recitals at New York Citys Park Avenue Armory and the Kennedy Center. The winner of the 2015 Beverly Sills Artist Award, his other company credits include Amonasro in Aida, Count di Luna in Il Trovatore, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Peter in Hansel and Gretel, Monterone in Rigoletto, Marcello in La Bohme, and Giorgio Germont in La Traviata. Soprano Nadine Sierra stars as the self-sacrificing courtesan Violettaone of opera's ultimate heroinesin Michael Mayer's vibrant production of Verdi's beloved tragedy. 2022 | 19:00 Rigoletto, Verdi, The Metropolitan Opera | New York City, United States ti. ****1 A fine showing for the 1884 Italian version of Don Carloat the Met Robert Levine, 9th November Despite serious initial problems, the opera had a triumphant . The December 31 performance, as well as the January 4, 19, 29, and June 8, 2022, performances of Rigoletto will be broadcast live on Met Opera Radio on Sirius XM Channel 355. Rigoletto is in three acts to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. American lighting designer Donald Holders credits at the Met include the Gershwins Porgy and Bess, Die Zauberflte, Nico Muhlys Two Boys, Otello, and Samson et Dalila. What they presented as soprano is actually coloratura, which is the very highest voice type, up there in the range of the very highest choral descants. There were other moments, where the textures simply didnt cohere. During the ensuing scene with Gilda, he was fierce in his defense of Gilda, staring down the other men and ordering them out. Quinn Kelsey and Rosa Feola lead a superb cast in Bartlett Sher's new staging of Verdi's classic drama. The character-driven chamber opera, a collaboration between acclaimed American composer Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer, based on a script by Terrence McNally, will be directed by Gary Briggle and presented at the Jungle Theater. Met Opera | April 15, 2023. She has designed for opera houses around the world, including English National Opera, Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Salzburg Festival. However, things started getting a bit off during the dolce sixth leaps on a te and the ensuing sixteenth note runs; the soprano sounded stretched and there was even a moment where she went a bit flat in the runs. Check out the latest photos and bios of the cast and filmmakers of The. Kevin Puts'. The Met Operas faithfulness to Michael Mayers increasingly unnerving Las Vegas production which, once youve experienced the saturation from the spectacle itself, comes off as rather empty in its storytelling. Genre: Opera. The HD broadcasts are supported by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder. Verdis Rigoletto is one of my favorites and the use of music to reveal the horrific fact that the Duke is still alive is so chilling, she noted. Metropolitan Opera Announces Cast Change For RIGOLETTO Performances are May 28 and June 1, 4, 8, and 11. by Stephi Wild May. One might argue that we live in a moment of multi-tasking and that this should be a no-brainer, but breaking the spell of a performer like Quinn Kelsey in the middle of a character-defining scene is unfortunate, if not disrespectful. 2010-2023 Bachtrack Ltd. All rights reserved. Karel Mark Chichon conducts. Polish tenor Piotr Beczaa reprises his portrayal of the Duke of Mantua, the role of his Met debut in 2006. Though her voice is not especially large it carries nicely, especially her plummy chest voice. Prior to creating OperaWire, DAVID SALAZAR, (Editor-in-Chief) worked as a reporter for Latin Post where he interviewed major opera stars including Placido Domingo, Anna Netrebko, Vittorio Grigolo, Diana Damrau and Rolando Villazon among others. Kelsey reprises the title role opposite Kristina Mkhitaryan as Gilda and Stephen Costello as the Duke of Mantua. Desperation took over with the subsequent phrases aggressive, accented, and frantic. Great Performances Season 16 features Metropolitan Opera stars Angel Blue, Isabel Leonard, Lise Davidsen, Ren Pape, Matthew Polenzani, Sonya Yoncheva, Elna Garana and more. Baritone Quinn Kelsey portrays the title role at the Met for the first time, starring alongside soprano Rosa Feola as Gilda and tenor Piotr Beczaa as the Duke of Mantua. His most-recent work on Broadway includes Tootsie, Kiss Me Kate, and My Fair Lady. After opening with hushed pianissimo on the opening line, his voice exploded with intensity and desperation before resorting back to another soft repetition of Quel vecchio maledivami! Bitterness ensued during O rabbia! Abbonamento a partire da 12,50/mese Often times, she was very flexible and allowed the lines to bend and flow organically, but more often than not, those moments would be followed by shockingly fast tempi that threatened to derail the entire enterprise. When he does, out comes a richly human creature . He has previously conducted at opera companies around the world, including the Bavarian State Opera, Paris Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Rigoletto | Opera | Performances, schedule and tickets | The Metropolitan Opera | View more information on Operabase . Samson et Dalila (Saint-Sans) Tosca (Puccini) The Elixir of Love (Donizetti) And in this case, there is nothing confusing about the Act three trio, which is as straightforward as Rigoletto gets both musically and dramatically (there is nothing subtle about a murder performed with a ghostly choral accompaniment and underscored by an orchestral thunderstorm). From the opening line of the recitativo to the end of the aria, Bernheim was all in on delivering a performance of utmost intensity. Arizona Opera officially announced its 2023/24 Season, featuring four opera productions including a World Premiere in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as the companys inauguralNew Works Festivalin Phoenix, and a new series of community concerts in Tucson. He has appeared at many of the worlds leading opera houses and festivals, including Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Salzburg Festival. Last night's affair proved this entirely wrong no fewer than three Met debutants galvanized this performance into one of the best performances ofRigoletto I've heard in years. Metropolitan Opera Review - Rigoletto: Oropesa, Grigolo, Gagnidze Give Winning Performances In Vegas April 14, 2013 . British costume designer Catherine Zuber has been designing for productions at the Met since her debut with Bartlett Shers staging of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in 2006. Its virtually been in and out of the stage throughout the years, but I stopped attending it over the past few years (I hadnt seen the opera at the Met since before the launch of OperaWire in late 2016). His other recent performances include Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Vienna State Opera, des Grieux in Manon in Zurich, and Rodolfo in Luisa Miller at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. His entire duet with Rigoletto in Act one was fascinating, the bass digging into his thick and earthy tone with each phrase. His body opened up at its most forte, as if ready to take on the world, only to shrink back into itself on his piano lines. 17 des. Whats left to say, but that vocally this was some of the finest casts that the Met has assembled for a production this season. Makes for good storytelling these PDFs do not include cast changes that occurred after the program to. Was fascinating, the bass digging into his thick and earthy tone with each phrase extreme highs Mkhitaryan! 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