“Verdi at his white-hot best.”
The edge is a tightrope for Rigoletto. And he treads it very carefully.
In court, the famous hunchback does the lecherous Duke’s dirty work, helping him seduce one innocent woman after another. A monster, some might say. But at home, his love for his daughter—and his desire to protect her from all danger—distinguish him as something else entirely.
You can imagine, then, his horror . . . as he holds that daughter, dying in his arms. All because of that same Duke.
Verdi at his white-hot best, with music that is muscular and emotional.
Sung in Italian with projected English translations.
Performances are held at the Keller Auditorium.
Download the study guide here.
Cast
| Rigoletto | Mark Rucker |
| Gilda | Sarah Coburn |
| Duke | Richard Troxell |
| Maddalena | Jossie Pérez |
| Sparafucile | Peter Volpe |
| Director | Christopher Mattaliano |
| Conductor | George Manahan |
The Plot
ACT I — Mantua, 1500s. At his palace, the Duke lightheartedly boasts to his courtiers of amorous conquests, escorting Countess Ceprano, his latest prize, to a private chamber as his hunchback jester, Rigoletto, makes fun of her husband. Marullo announces that Rigoletto is suspected of keeping a mistress, and Ceprano plots with the courtiers to punish the hated buffoon. Attention is diverted when Monterone, an elderly nobleman, enters to denounce the Duke for seducing his daughter. Ridiculed by Rigoletto and placed under arrest, Monterone pronounces a curse on both the Duke and his jester.
On his way home that night, Rigoletto broods on Monterone's curse. Rejecting the services offered by Sparafucile, a professional assassin, he notes that the word can be as deadly as the dagger. Greeted by his daughter, Gilda, whom he keeps hidden from the world, he reminisces about his late wife, then warns the governess, Giovanna, to admit no one. But as Rigoletto leaves, the Duke slips into the garden, tossing a purse to Giovanna to keep her quiet. The nobleman declares his love to Gilda, who has noticed him in church. He tells her he is a poor student named Gualtier Maldè, but at the sound of footsteps he rushes away. Tenderly repeating his name, Gilda retires. Meanwhile, the courtiers stop Rigoletto outside his house and ask him to help abduct Ceprano's wife, who lives across the way. The jester is duped into wearing a blindfold and holding a ladder against his own garden wall. The courtiers break into his home and carry off Gilda. Rigoletto, hearing her cry for help, tears off his blindfold and rushes into the house, discovering only her scarf. He remembers Monterone's curse.
ACT II — In his palace, the Duke is distraught over the disappearance of Gilda. When his courtiers return, saying it is they who have taken her and that she is now in his bedchamber, he joyfully rushes off to the conquest. Soon Rigoletto enters, warily looking for Gilda; the courtiers bar his way, though they are astonished to learn the girl is not his mistress but his daughter. The jester reviles them, then embraces the disheveled Gilda as she runs in to tell of her courtship and abduction. As Monterone is led to the dungeon, Rigoletto vows to avenge them both.
ACT III — At night, outside Sparafucile's run-down inn on the outskirts of town, Rigoletto and Gilda watch as the Duke flirts with the assassin's sister and accomplice, Maddalena. Rigoletto sends his daughter off to disguise herself as a boy for her escape to Verona, then pays Sparafucile to murder the Duke. As a storm rages, Gilda returns to hear Maddalena persuade her brother to kill not the Duke but the next visitor to the inn instead. Resolving to sacrifice herself for the Duke, despite his betrayal, Gilda enters the inn and is stabbed. Rigoletto comes back to claim the body and gloats over the sack Sparafucile gives him, only to hear his supposed victim singing in the distance. Frantically cutting open the sack, he finds Gilda, who dies asking forgiveness. Monterone's curse is fulfilled.
— Courtesy of Opera News
Origins: Rigoletto
“As soon as you get this letter, get yourself four legs: run all over the city, and try to find an influential person who can get the permission for Le Roi s’amuse. Don’t go to sleep: get moving: hurry.”
Verdi to Venetian impresario, Marzari, enclosed with the signed contract for Verdi’s new opera. It was to become Rigoletto.
On December 1, 1850, Carlo Marzari, owner/producer of the Teatro Fenice, in Venice received the following letter, three months before the proposed opening of celebrated composer, Giuseppe Verdi’s next opera:
His Excellency of the Military Governor Chevalier Gorzkowski…directs me to communicate to you his profound regret that the poet Piave and the celebrated maestro Verdi should not have chosen a more worthy vehicle to display their talents than the revolting immorality and obscene triviality of the libretto of La maledizione submitted to us for intended performance at the Teatro Fenice.
His above mentioned Excellency has decided that the performance shall be absolutely forbidden, and wishes me at the same time to request you not to make further enquiries in this matter. I am returning the manuscript sent to me with your accompanying letter…
The Imperial and Royal Central Director, Martello
Verdi appears to have been shocked by this response, having been “assured” by his librettist Piave “in several letters” that there would be little trouble getting the subject approved. It is hard to imagine that anyone was shocked by the censor’s responses, given the outrage that greeted Victor Hugo’s play, Le Roi s’amuse in 1832 in Paris where it was subsequently banned. Hugo’s play depicted the current King of France, Francis I, as a libertine, depraved and lecherous; the daughter of the deformed jester is brutalized (offstage, but in no uncertain terms) and the desperate, enraged father curses the indifferent courtiers, crying, “Bastards! Your mothers slept with their lackies!” The fact that the central figure was an ugly, brutish and malformed court jester was another drawback. If the French had banned it, could the Austrian authorities do no less?
Teatro Fenice was in a financial bind. In order to meet Verdi’s not unreasonable contractual demands, they needed his opera to be successful and to be successful, it must open. Revisions were made. The title was changed. The demands of “decency” were met. And the censors approved the libretto, which was sent forthwith to Verdi.
“My artistic conscience will not allow me to set this libretto to music,” was his emphatic reply.
The novelty, the passion, the drama of the play that Verdi had found so compelling had been gutted. Verdi did not object to the names being changed, but he wanted the ruler to be an “absolute ruler,” a libertine, otherwise there was no dramatic sense to the jester’s anxiety or the sense of violation, that would drive him to the ultimately tragic conclusion. The censors had even demanded that the mode of the Gilda’s death be eliminated, prompting Verdi to rail, “I don’t understand why the sack has to be eliminated. What difference does a sack make to the police? Are they afraid it won’t be effective? But let me ask this: why do they think they know more about it than I do?”
To Verdi, the greatest insult in the “improved” libretto seems to have been that the Rigoletto character, here called Triboletto, was not to be a hunchback. In the same letter, Verdi fires back, “What is their motive? A singing hunchback? Why not? Will it be effective? I don’t know—But if I don’t know, neither does the person who proposed these changes.”
After this letter, Verdi wrote caustically to his librettist, Piave, that the contract was necessarily cancelled and that while he could keep 200 of the 500 lire Verdi had paid for the libretto, he was to return the other 300 lire immediately. This was a fortnight before Teatro Fenice opened its season and the posters were about to be printed!
Flustered, frustrated, caught between the infuriated “Bear of Busetto” and the intractable Austrian censors, Marzari and Piave once again approached the Imperial and Royal Central Director and crafted a compromise on the offending libretto. Verdi could retain his “absolute ruler” and his “deformed buffoon,” as well as the sack, but the implied rape must be less explicit and the kidnapping must “conform to the demands for decency on stage.” Then the two men traveled to Busetto to visit its obstreperous Bear. Things seem to have moved very quickly after that. A contract was quickly knocked out—although Verdi later did have to alter the due date for the piece, requesting that the newly named Rigoletto be mounted at the end of the season rather than the beginning to make up for time lost censor wrangling. It is said that Verdi wrote Rigoletto in 40 days. The truth is that he had had it in mind much longer—almost a year and that he had begun on the music.
Still, despite all of the strain getting the thing on its feet, Rigoletto remains one of Verdi’s greatest triumphs. It was immediately successfuI and has never been very far from the opera house. It is the first of his “middle period” operas, along with Il Trovatore and La Traviata, each a crown jewel of the opera house. In Rigoletto, Verdi shows himself the master of operatic form, but not mastered by it—he breaks the long established rules of the bel canto gods as he deems fit to best depict the drama and characters. In this opera, we see Verdi’s building blocks as full scenes, rather than the typical arias and duets, which, rather than having obvious applause breaks, seem to ebb and flow naturally from the through line of the music. This is not to say that Verdi ever abandoned traditional Italian forms, simply that he was not driven by them. In Rigoletto, Verdi has given us a remarkable gift of drama, melody and characterization, thoroughly impervious to the vagaries of individual productions and performances. As one critic at the time says, and it rings true today, “There was never such powerful eloquence in sound.”
About the Composer: Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
“That’s it! That’s the one! To work at once!”
--Verdi, on the feeling of finding the right libretto
 | In later life, Verdi liked to style himself as a self-taught peasant. This is not strictly true. While not fabulously wealthy, Verdi’s family was solidly middle class and his parents supported his musical passions going so far as to obtain for him an old spinet, which accompanied him all the rest of his life and bore the inscription of the tuner who repaired it for free, “in view of the young Giuseppe Verdi’s eagerness to learn to play this instrument.” While not self-taught, Verdi also did not receive the finest musical education available. After residing in Busseto for several years, he went to study in Milan, but the Milan Conservatory rejected his application, citing a lack of piano technique and “contrapuntal discipline.” Still they recognized him as a gifted composer. In 1835, Verdi returned to Busseto to serve as the maestro di musica. This offered Verdi some financial stability and he married in 1836. In 1839, his first opera, Oberto, opened happily and Verdi moved his family to Milan. La Scala commissioned three more operas and he began work on a comedy, Un giorno di regno. It was a resounding failure. Verdi lost his beloved wife during its composition, having previously lost his toddler daughter before he moved to Milan and his infant son before Oberto opened. The momentous grief he felt led him to vow he would compose no more. La Scala impresario Mirelli refused to accept Verdi’s decision. He told him, “Listen, Verdi, I cannot force you to compose! [But] my faith in you remains unshaken. Who knows whether you may or may not decide some day to begin to write again. Just let me know two months before a season and I promise you your opera will be given.” Verdi did indeed have another opera in him. It became Nabucco, his first international success. During the first phase of his career, Verdi created works frequently, often at the rate of two or three per year. His techniques of this period were perfected with Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853) and La Traviata (1853), three of his most famous operas. Verdi took an active interest in Italian politics, and during the war for Italian independence from Austria he served as a senator. A commission for La forza del destino brought him back to the theater after a seven-year hiatus. This opera marks the beginning of what musicologists deem Verdi’s middle period, which includes Simon Boccanegra (1857) and Un ballo in maschera (1859). Verdi’s significant struggles with censors left him disillusioned with Italian opera companies and after Un ballo he never wrote for an Italian company again. Subsequently, his style began to expand and reflect more elements of French grand opera. Don Carlos and Les Vêspres Siciliennes were composed for the Paris Opera. Verdi’s most famous opera, Aida, is in the French grand opera style. Verdi’s final two works, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893) defy classification. They are the fruition of an extensive and brilliant career and are arguably the finest examples of tragedy and comedy in Italian opera. During the last years of his life, Verdi founded a home for aging musicians, the Casa di Riposo in Milan, for his second wife, singer Giuseppina Strepponi. He regarded this home, which still exists today, as his greatest work, a place for musical greats to spend their twilight years. He said it was for “people who are less fortunate than I.” He died on January 27, 1901 in Milan. His remains and those of his wife, Giuseppina Strepponi were moved shortly after Verdi’s initial burial to the Casa di Riposo, in accordance with his wishes. |
Mark Rucker - Tonio
Baritone
Previously at Portland Opera: Rigoletto, 2009
From the time of his debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, American baritone Mark Rucker has been in demand in opera houses and on concert stages throughout the world. He most recently was called to the Vienna State Opera as Stankar in Stiffelio.
 | Mark Rucker - TonioBaritonePreviously at Portland Opera: Rigoletto, 2009 From the time of his debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, American baritone Mark Rucker has been in demand in opera houses and on concert stages throughout the world. He most recently was called to the Vienna State Opera as Stankar in Stiffelio. "The star of this opera evening was neither on the stage nor in the orchestra pit. The revival of Verdi’s “Stiffelio” became, at the state opera, the unexpected triumph for a singer, that did not act the role in this evening at all: Mark Rucker was at the edge of stage and sang Stankar from a music stand … The big aria of Stankar at the beginning of the third act was one of those moments, which constitutes the wonder of opera. Owing to the strength of the music, the magic of the moment and vocal intensity, Mark Rucker was able to construct excitement. Cheers of jubilation.” – Wiener Zeitung, Vienna Staatsoper 11 February 2009Mr. Rucker made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Amonasro in Aida and has since been heard in the house as Don Carlo in La forza del destino, Tonio in I pagliacci, and as Rigoletto for the Met in the Parks. He made his European debut as Alfio and Tonio for Opera de Nice, and has continued his European career with performances as Alfio at the Vienna State Opera, Amonasro in Aida for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin with Fabio Luisi and with the Concertgebouw Orkest under the baton of Riccardo Chailly, made his Italian debut as Rigoletto with Daniele Gatti at the Teatro Communale in Bologna, and his debut at the Arena di Verona as Amonasro. In recent seasons Mr. Rucker has returned to Bologna as both Macbeth and Nabucco, made his Carnegie Hall debut as Don Carlo in La forza del destino opposite Maria Guleghina and Salvatore Licitra, returned to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam as both Antonio in Linda di Chamounix and Le Comte de Toulouse in Verdi’s Jerusalem with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra, has been Macbeth in Trieste, Rigoletto with the Israel Philharmonic, Nabucco in Athens and Liège, and was Rigoletto and Amonasro at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam. Mr. Rucker’s extensive American career has taken him to the New York City Opera for his debut as Rigoletto, to the San Diego Opera as Renato in Un ballo in maschera and Amonasro in Aida, to Miami with the Florida Grand Opera as Rigoletto, Macbeth, and for Cavalleria rusticana and I pagliacci, to the Baltimore Opera as Nabucco, to L'Opéra de Montréal as Di Luna in Il trovatore, the New Orleans Opera as Rigoletto, Tonio and Alfio, to Vancouver as Rigoletto and Amonasro, Mexico City as Amonasro, and for the majority of the dramatic baritone repertoire to the theaters of Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cleveland, Connecticut, Detroit, Dublin, Graz, Jesi, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Opera Pacific, Orlando, Portland, Taipei, Virginia, among many others. Mr. Rucker has been heard in the Festivals of Bregenz and Savonlinna, in concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the Columbus Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, and the Chicago Civic Symphony. Mr. Rucker can be heard as Amonasro on the Naxos release of Aida. On the concert stage Mr. Rucker has appeared as guest soloist in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast with the Baltimore Symphony under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, has appeared also as guest soloist with the Detroit Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Los Angeles Civic Orchestra, Atlantic Chamber Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Chicago Civic Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. His concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Noah in Britten's Noye's Fludde, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem, and Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ. Mr. Rucker can be heard on a new CD, Mark Rucker Sings Lena Mclin Songs For Voices And Piano. |
Sarah Coburn - Gilda
Soprano
Praised as "blissfully sublime" by Opera News, Sarah Coburn is captivating audiences with her "precision placement, mercury speed, and a gorgeous liquid gold tone, gilded by a thrilling top and bottom register" (The Globe and Mail).
 | Sarah Coburn - GildaSopranoPraised as "blissfully sublime" by Opera News, Sarah Coburn is captivating audiences with her "precision placement, mercury speed, and a gorgeous liquid gold tone, gilded by a thrilling top and bottom register" (The Globe and Mail). Following her performances as Lucie de Lammermoor at Glimmerglass Opera, the New York Observer noted "she turns out to have qualities that have made legends out of so many of her predecessors, from Adelina Patti to Maria Callas: stage charisma, a thrilling upper register and, crucially, a fearlessness about abandoning herself to opera's most abandoned heroine ... this is a palpably exciting voice ... Ms. Coburn is a budding prima donna of exceptional promise."Sarah Coburn's 2007-08 season includes the role of Asteria in Tamerlano with Washington National Opera, the title role of Lakmé with Tulsa Opera and the role of Princess Yue-yang in the revival of The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera. She returns to Seattle Symphony as soloist in Bach's Mass in B Minor, to Washington Concert Opera as Elvira in I puritani, to Cincinnati Opera in the title role of Lucie de Lammermoor, and to Glimmerglass Opera in the summer of 2008 to sing Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Future engagements in the 2008-09 season currently include the roles of Vittoria in Pedrotti's Tutti in maschera at Wexford Festival Opera, Euridice in Haydn's L'anima del filosofo under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington at the Handel & Haydn Society, and Gilda in Portland Opera's Rigoletto. She will also appear as soloist in Carmina Burana with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, in concert with Bryn Terfel in Florida Grand Opera's Superstar Series, and in recital with Lawrence Brownlee for the Vocal Arts Society. Ms. Coburn's recent appearances include the role of Princess Yue-yang in the world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera, created the role of Kitty in the world premiere of Anna Karenina at Florida Grand Opera, and later reprised the role with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. She sang the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Utah Opera, the title role in Linda di Chamounix at the Caramoor Festival, and Euridice in Haydn's L'amina del filosofo with Glimmerglass Opera. Other performance highlights include Adele in Die Fledermaus with both Seattle Opera and Michigan Opera Theater, Amenaide in Tancredi with Washington Concert Opera, Olympia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera with Cincinnati Opera, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Chicago Opera Theater, and the title role in Lucie de Lammermoor and the title role of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience with Glimmerglass Opera. Ms. Coburn's many appearances with Florida Grand Opera include Norina in Don Pasquale, Sandrina in La finta giardiniera, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera and she has also performed Adina in L'elisir d'amore with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Gilda in Rigoletto with Indianapolis Opera, and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Wolf Trap Opera Company. On the concert stage, Ms. Coburn has sung Mozart's Mass in C Minor with the Seattle Symphony; Carmina Burana with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Haddonfield Symphony at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and the Dallas Wind Symphony. Sarah Coburn is a winner of the 2004 George London Foundation Awards, a 2004 recipient of a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, a 2004 Jensen Foundation Award Winner, a 2003 Liederkranz Foundation Award Winner, a 2002 Opera Index Career Grant recipient, and was a National Grand Finalist in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She received a Master of Music degree from Oklahoma City University and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Oklahoma State University. |
Richard Troxell - Duke
Tenor
Richard Troxell’s beautiful lyric tenor voice has been heard on operatic and concert stages in the United States and around the world. His powerful stage presence and ability to connect with people have set him apart and made him a favorite with audiences of all ages.
 | Richard Troxell - DukeTenorRichard Troxell’s beautiful lyric tenor voice has been heard on operatic and concert stages in the United States and around the world. His powerful stage presence and ability to connect with people have set him apart and made him a favorite with audiences of all ages. On film, he can be seen in the role of Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, a film that was widely acclaimed by music and film critics alike. The New York Times calls his portrayal “ the most dramatically satisfying vocal characterization” in the film.The 2007-2008 season was a busy one for Mr. Troxell. Most recently, he sang his now signature role of Lieutenant Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in a sold out début with Opéra de Montréal. Just prior to that, he was Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac in a début with Opéra de Monte Carlo. In Paris, he sang the title role in Zampa in another début with the Opéra Comique. Other recent engagements included the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Opera Narodowa in Warsaw, Poland and Don José in Carmen with the Portland Opera, as well as concert engagements with the Colorado Symphony and tenor soloist in the Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of Carmina Burana. During the 2008-2009 season, he will appear as Alfredo in La Traviata for Portland Opera and return to the Opéra Comique for additional performances in Zampa followed by a début with Opera Lyra in Ottawa as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Mr. Troxell has sung leading roles with opera companies in the United States and abroad, including Los Angeles Opera (Pinkerton), Washington Opera (Roméo, Roméo et Juliette, Prunier in La Rondine telecast on PBS) New York City Opera (the Prince, The Love for Three Oranges, Nanki Poo, The Mikado), Houston Grand Opera (title role, The Tales of Hoffmann), Opera Company of Philadelphia (Piquillo, La Périchole. with Denyce Graves), Opera Pacific (title role, Candide), Boston Lyric Opera (title role, Faust,) Spoleto Festival USA (title role, L’île de Merlin). Internationally, he has also appeared with l’Opéra National de Montpellier, Vancouver Opera, New Israeli Opera, New Zealand Opera, Théâtre du Capitôle Toulouse and Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville. Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr.Troxell has been tenor soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, l’Orchestre de Paris, the Berlin Radio Symphony, and l’Orchestre de Monte Carlo among others as well as in performances at Avery Fisher Hall (Lincoln Center) with the American Symphony Orchestra (title role, Der Zwerg), and in Bach’s Magnificat at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Mr. Troxell’s recording credits include the role of Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly on the Sony label, Marvin David Levy’s Masada with the Berlin Symphony Radio Orchestra, a solo pops CD What a Wonderful World, and, on DVD, Madame Butterfly and Cyrano de Bergerac. Richard Troxell hails from Thurmont, Maryland and presently lives in the countryside of Chester County, Pennsylvania with his wife Lisa Lovelace, a dancer/ choreographer and their two sons Wilder and Shane. |
Jossie Pérez - Maddelena
Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano Jossie Pérez’s voice has been described as “a big smoky, mezzo-soprano with strong chest voice, expansive range and striking power all the way up to clarion top notes.”
 | Jossie Pérez - MaddelenaMezzo-sopranoMezzo-soprano Jossie Pérez’s voice has been described as “a big smoky, mezzo-soprano with strong chest voice, expansive range and striking power all the way up to clarion top notes.” This season, her interpretation of the title role in Carmen has been seen with Seiji Ozawa at the Veroza Company Japan and at Portland Opera, as well as in the future with the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Earlier successes in the title role of Carmen include performances on the Boston Common for over 150,000 people with Boston Lyric Opera, as well as Les Amis du Lyrique en Bretagne in France. The 2007 – 2008 season will see Ms. Pérez as Charlotte in Werther in Seville under the baton of Michel Plasson and mezzo-soprano soloist at the Operalia Winners Gala in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Future seasons will see Ms. Pérez at the Liceu in Barcelona as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Cloe in L’arbore di Diana, as well as Maddalena in Portland Opera’s production of Rigoletto. Other recent engagements for the Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano have included successful performances of Sesto in La clemenza di Tito at the Liceu in Barcelona, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Michigan Opera Theatre, Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri with Opera Pacific, Annio in La clemenza di Tito with Washington National Opera, and Sifare in Mitridate in Granada, Spain as well as concerts of the Mozart Requiem in Madison, Wisconsin. Ms. Pérez has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera in such roles as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, the Second Lady in the premiere of Julie Taymor's production of Die Zauberflöte, Lola in Cavalleria rusticana, Ascanio in Les Troyens, and Siébel in Faust, as well as roles in Ariadne auf Naxos, La traviata, Carmen, Hänsel und Gretel, and Parsifal. She has appeared in recital with Carol Vaness at the Casals Festival, and had successes as Maffio Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia in Oviedo, Spain, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in San Antonio, and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte in Santiago, the Spoleto Festival USA, and in Boston, as well as Idamante in Idomeneo in Washington, D.C. with Plácido Domingo. She also performed Ravel’s Chansons madecasses with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Ensemble at Weill Recital Hall. Ms. Pérez was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the 2001 OPERALIA competition in Washington, D.C, and a Sara Tucker Study Grant from The Richard Tucker Music Foundation. She was also a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. |
Peter Volpe - Sparafucile
Bass
American bass Peter Volpe continually receives critical and popular acclaim on four continents. Possessing a vast and ever-expanding repertoire of over 80 roles in 6 languages, he commands an impressive expanse of style and interpretive skill.
 | Peter Volpe - SparafucileBassAmerican bass Peter Volpe continually receives critical and popular acclaim on four continents. Possessing a vast and ever-expanding repertoire of over 80 roles in 6 languages, he commands an impressive expanse of style and interpretive skill. From Mozart’s title role in Don Giovanni to Gounod’s Mephistopheles in Faust, and Verdi’s Zaccaria in Nabucco to Archbishop Thomas á Beckett in Pizzetti’s L’assassinio nella Cattedrale, Mr. Volpe embraces the depth of historical and fictional characters, and the music of composers from the past and present. Of a recent portrayal in Faust, the American Record Guide exclaims, “Bass Peter Volpe as Mephistopheles seemed in constant motion for each new manifestation of his trickery...his vocal resources are impressive.” Mr. Volpe remains in constant demand in houses worldwide including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Portland Opera, Atlanta Opera, Arizona Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Spoleto Festival U.S.A., Hawaii Opera, L’Opera de Montreal, Vancouver Opera, as well as European opera companies of Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Bremen, Strasbourg, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Saarbrüken, Darmstadt, Duisburg, Trier, Braunschweig, Württenburg, Colmar, Mulhouse, Riccione, Imola, and Prague. Mr. Volpe made his notable Metropolitan Opera debut in their new production of Prokofiev’s War and Peace, and subsequently returned for new productions of Berlioz’ Les Troyen, Strauss’ Salome, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, as well as Falstaff, Gianni Schicchi, Carmen, Aida, I Vespri Siciliani, Cyrano di Bergerac, and Andrea Chenier. In addition, he has appeared with San Francisco Opera in productions of Salome, Nabucco, and Romeo et Juliette, with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Falstaff, and most recently with Washington Opera for Britten’s Billy Budd and Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orleans, Mephistopheles in Faust and Ramfis in Aida with Palm Beach Opera, Mephistopheles in Faust with Vancouver Opera, a debut with Portland Opera as Banquo in Macbeth, and bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall. In the 2007-2008 Season and beyond, Mr. Volpe performs Deguiche in world premiere of Cyrano with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Theatre of Philadelphia and Florida Grand Opera, as well as returning to the Metropolitan Opera as Jacqueau in War and Peace. In addition, he will sing Gremin in Eugene Onegin with Opera Lyra Ottawa, Sparafucile in Rigoletto with the Arizona Opera and Portland Opera, the bass soloist in the Austin Lyric Opera Gala, and the bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Arizona State University. Most recent engagement from the 2006-2007 Season include Banquo in Macbeth with Arizona Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni with Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Frere Laurent in Romeo et Juliette with Atlanta Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre, the Bass Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall with the Manhattan Philharmonic, and Zuniga in Carmen with the Seiji Ozawa Opera Project in Japan. As a concert soloist, he has performed Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London at the Chichester Festival, the Manhattan Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, L’Orchestra d’Imola in Italy, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Queens Symphony, and the Augusta Choral Society. He has also performed Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the New York Metropolitan Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony and Augusta Choral Society, Handel’s Messiah with Edmonton and Louisville Symphonies, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Choral Society of Philadelphia. Other concert credits include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat, St. John’s Passion and numerous cantatas, Dvorak’s Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, and Mozart’s Mass in C minor. Conductors Mr. Volpe has performed with include James Levine, Joseph Rescigno, George Manahan, Vincent La Selva, Valery Gergiev, Sir John Pritchard, Semyon Bychkov, Marcello Viotti, Maurizio Arena, Heinz Fricke, and Hans Vonk.
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Christopher Mattaliano
Host
Portland Opera's General Director
Christopher Mattaliano’s recent revival of Hugo Weisgall’s Esther at New York City Opera received high praise from The New York Times’ critic Anthony Tommasini.
 | Christopher MattalianoHostPortland Opera's General DirectorChristopher Mattaliano’s recent revival of Hugo Weisgall’s Esther at New York City Opera received high praise from The New York Times’ critic Anthony Tommasini. |
George Manahan - Conductor
In his twelfth season as Music Director of New York City Opera, the wide-ranging and versatile George Manahan has had an esteemed career embracing everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. He has been hailed for his leadership at City Opera, where he "gets from his players the kind of heartfelt involvement unthinkable in the City Opera orchestra pit 20 years ago...these musicians operate with such consistent energy and involvement." (The New York Times)
| George Manahan - ConductorACCLAIM George Manahan has distinguished himself throughout the world as one of the foremost conductors of our time, and is especially known in the opera world for his musical guidance of diverse productions including productions of La Faniculla del West, Daphne, Ermione, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Cendrillon, Die Tote Stadt. He has also toured Japan with NYCO's production of Little Women. Mr. Manahan’s guest appearances include the symphonies of Atlanta, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and New Jersey, where he served as acting Music Director for four seasons, as well as the National Symphony and Juilliard and Manhattan Schools of Music, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Music Academy of the West, and the Aspen Music Festival. He is a regular guest with the opera companies of Santa Fe, Portland, and Glimmerglass Opera, and has also appeared with the opera companies of Seattle, Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera National du Paris, Teatro de Communale de Bologna, the Bergen Festival (Norway), the Casals Festival (Puerto Rico) and Minnesota Opera, where he was principal conductor. As music director of the Richmond Symphony (VA) from 1987-98, where in addition to conducting, he also appeared as piano soloist, he was honored four times by the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) for his commitment to 20th-century music. That passion for the music of our time was ignited when, in one season, Mr. Manahan was chosen as the Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony and he made his mark on the opera world debuting with the Santa Fe Opera conducting the American premiere of Arnold Schoenberg's opera Von Heute Auf Morgen. That enthusiasm continues today; he has conducted numerous world premieres, including Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Tobias Picker's Emmeline and many others. His many appearances on television include productions of La Boheme, Lizzie Borden, and Tosca on PBS. Live from Lincoln Center’s telecast of New York City Opera's production of Madame Butterfly under his direction won a 2007 Emmy Award. Mr. Manahan's discography includes the Grammy Award nominated recording of Edward Thomas' Desire Under The Elms, with the London Symphony, and Steve Reich's Tehillim on the EMI-Warner Brothers label, as well as two albums of 20th century concertos for clarinet featuring Richard Stolzmann. He also appears on the Elan, New Albion, and Naxos label. His recent Carnegie Hall performance of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra was hailed by audiences and critics alike, "What a difference it makes to hear the piece performed by an opera conductor who palpably believes in it,” said the New York Times, “The fervent and sensitive performance that Mr. Manahan presided over made the best case for this opera that I have encountered." For the 2009 – 2010 season, Mr. Manahan continues as Music Director at New York City Opera and will conduct performances of Weisgall’s Esther and Madama Butterfly. He will also conduct Portland Opera’s productions of Così fan tutte and Il barbiere di Siviglia. Last season for Mr. Manahan included the World Premiere of ASK YOUR MAMA at Carnegie Hall, a collaboration between Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman and soprano Jessye Norman based on the text of Langston Hughes, in which Mr. Manahan led the orchestra of St. Luke's and soloists Jessye Norman, Lizz Wright, and The Roots. The work will also be heard at the Hollywood Bowl and elsewhere across the country. Also in 2008 – 2009, Mr. Manahan conducted performances of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe with the San Francisco Symphony, appeared in a concert performance of Gluck's Alceste featuring Deborah Voigt and the Collegiate Chorale, with the Westchester Philharmonic, and conducted Rigoletto at Portland Opera, Mignon at the Music Academy of the West and La bohème at the Aspen Music Festival. He received his formal musical training at the Manhattan School of Music, studying conducting with Anton Coppola and George Schick, and was appointed to the faculty of the school upon his graduation, at which time The Juilliard School awarded him a fellowship as Assistant Conductor with the American Opera Center. |
Listen to the Music
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Musical excerpts used courtesy of Angel Records/EMI Classics.
Schedule
May 8, 2009
Friday 7:30 pm
Friday 7:30 pm
May 10, 2009
Sunday 2:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm
May 14, 2009
Thursday 7:30 pm
Thursday 7:30 pm
May 16, 2009
Saturday 7:30 pm
Saturday 7:30 pm
Tickets
Purchase Now! (You will be redirected to Ticketmaster.)
To purchase tickets through the Portland Opera,
call 503-241-1802, M-F, 9a-5p.