TGIF – Kelsey returns for his signature role in Verdi’s classic opera

Photo by Jamm Aquino from The Star-Advertiser

Quinn Kelsey, the heralded baritone born and raised in Hawaii, returns to Honolulu for a concert performance of what has become his signature role, Verdi’s “Rigoletto.”

It is a moment local opera lovers have been waiting for. Since first performing the role in 2011 in Norway, Kelsey has performed “Rigoletto” around the world.

A 2014 production by the English National Opera catapulted him to prominence as perhaps the world’s leading “Verdi baritone” — a term reserved for the uniquely challenging roles that the composer created for the baritone voice, with “Rigoletto” at the head of the list. Kelsey has performed it in four productions since then, in Sante Fe, N.M.; Canada; Paris; and Switzerland, with the reviewers gushing over the quality of his voice and his stage presence.

“Top vocal honours went to the magnificent Rigoletto of Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey. What a voice! He has beauty of tone, ample dramatic intensity, volume without resorting to pushing, youthful timbre, and most of all, his is an authentic Verdi baritone, a rare breed,” said the Canadian online music site La Scena Musicale.

KELSEY TOOK his time and paid his dues before performing the role of the jester with a secret. He covered the role — akin to understudying — in Chicago in 2006, then stepped away from it for five years before actually performing it.

“This is one of those roles for which they always warn young singers, ‘Be careful. This is not a little kid’s kind of role,’” said Kelsey, who now makes his home in Chicago. “It’s the kind of role where you really have to pay attention to it, because it requires a lot of stamina, it requires a lot of really intelligent singing. It’s the kind of role where one can really let it run away from them, in getting caught up in the emotion of it.

“I really think it was these five years that really made the difference — that I studied it, had the opportunity to sing the whole thing through in rehearsal, then left it on the shelf for awhile.”

Kelsey, still young by opera standards at 38, said he believes he’s the only baritone of his age who has performed “Rigoletto” as often as he has. He has three more productions slated for next year, and while he is interested in other Verdi baritone roles, he has to “be careful not to burn myself out.”

The story of “Rigoletto,” based on a Victor Hugo play, calls for him to portray one of the more complex characters in opera. Rigoletto is a court jester, poking fun at people for his master, the licentious Duke of Mantua. At the same time, Rigoletto is keeping secret the fact that he has a daughter, Gilda, securing her away in a church. It’s like a politician hiding away a secret love-child.

“The conflict is him balancing his ‘professional life’ and his personal life, and how sensitive, how delicate that balance is,” Kelsey said.

The duke’s predatory ways eventually lead to a curse being put on both him and Rigoletto, with tragic results for Gilda.

“Rigoletto is a bully. That’s his job,” Kelsey said. “He goes around the court every day, picking on the courtiers, all for the duke’s pleasure. The duke will prey on the women within the court as well, and this is the way the curse comes about. The duke has preyed on Monterone’s daughter. Monterone is an older lord of the court, and he’s had enough of it, and he goes right into the duke’s own court and calls him out.

“And at the same time, he calls out Rigoletto as well. He says ‘You, as the father,’ and no one else catches it because no one else knows, but Rigoletto kind of flinches, because somebody else knows his secret.”

THE ROLE calls for Kelsey to alternately be a jokester with a mean streak, a protective father, a panicked parent and a schemer.

A moment of insight is portrayed in his second-act aria, “Pari Siamo,” (We are two of a kind”), in which Rigoletto compares himself to an assassin. “The assassin uses his knife, and he uses his voice,” Kelsey said.

In his other main aria, “Cortigiani,” in the third act, Rigoletti rages against the court that has played him for a fool. “This is the one that everyone thinks of when they think of this role,” Kelsey said.

Kelsey played a major role in putting together the cast for the concert performance, recommending his sister Blythe Kelsey, well-known to local audiences, for one role, and bringing in guests for others.

“I’m so pleased that (Hawaii Opera Theatre) gave me such flexibility to recommend the cast,” he said.

Playing the lascivious duke is tenor Barry Banks. Kelsey performed with Banks at the English National Opera, enjoying the tenor’s “energy” so much that he promised to pick Banks for the role if given the opportunity to cast a production.

Portraying Gilda is Nadine Sierra, who has sung at La Scala and the Met. Kelsey has not sung with Sierra, but heard her perform in Europe, and is enthusiastic about working with her. “She knows exactly what her voice is, and she uses it perfectly,” Kelsey said.

Matthew Trevino, as the assassin Sparafucile, and Cynthia Hanna as Maddalena fill out the cast. Hal France conducts the orchestra.

By Steven Mark for The Star-Advertiser