OPERA REVIEW: Quinn Kelsey Sings the Title-Role in RIGOLETTO
Though he has sung here before in various roles, Quinn Kelsey returned to San Francisco Opera this season as Rigoletto, in what has become a signature role for this Hawaiian-born baritone. Verdi’s Rigoletto, his “revolutionary” opera as the composer himself called it, opened on May 31 and runs through July 1. I attended the second performance on Tuesday, June 6. Adapted from Victor Hugo’s play, Le Roi s’amuse, Verdi’s Rigoletto focuses on the jester, Rigoletto, who wields his caustic tongue at the expense of the courtiers surrounding the Duke of Mantua. But beneath the hard-boiled exterior and the barbed wit, Rigoletto has a soft heart for his beloved daughter, Gilda, whom he keeps under lock and key in a vain attempt to protect her from the depravities of life at court. There is indeed an almost Shakespearian complexity to Rigoletto’s character; and Quinn Kelsey succeeded in bringing out all the nuances – the humiliation, the self-pity, the anger, the desire for vengeance, and also the deep abiding love for his daughter – that make Rigoletto such an interesting character. -more-