09/05/15 – San Francisco begins! – RIGOLETTO @1pm
San Francisco Opera
RIGOLETTO by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA PRODUCTION (2012)
One of opera’s most vivid and compelling characters, a vengeful court jester, desperately tries to protect his daughter from disaster in this heart-wrenching tragedy. The first of two world-class casts led by Music Director Nicola Luisotti stars Željko Lučić, “whose vocal artistry is exceptional” (The New York Times); Aleksandra Kurzak, “a superstar in the making” (The Guardian, London); and, as the lecherous Duke,Francesco Demuro, “whose open, bright, superbly focused tone was reminiscent of Pavarotti” (Opera News). The equally impressive next cast stars Marco Vratogna, who, as the sinister Iago in Otello (2009), thrilled San Francisco Opera audiences with his “vocal power and theatrical electricity” (San Francisco Chronicle); Albina Shagimuratova, “a phenomenon that must be heard to be believed” (Opera News); and Merola Opera Program graduate Arturo Chacón-Cruz with his “clarion tone and piercingly clean top notes” (Washington Times).
Sung in Italian with English supertitles
Approximate running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes including one intermission
Rigoletto: Željko Lučić
Gilda: Aleksandra Kurzak
Duke of Mantua: Francesco Demuro
Maddalena: Kendall Gladen
Count Monterone: Robert Pomakov
Sparafucile: Andrea Silvestrelli
Borsa: Daniel Montenegro
Marullo: Joo Won Kang
A Page; Countess Ceprano: Laura Krumm
Giovanna: Renée Rapier
Count Ceprano: Ryan Kuster
An Usher: Jere Torkelsen
Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
San Francisco Opera Chorus, Ian Robertson, chorus master
DIRECTOR HARRY SILVERSTEIN
SET DESIGNER MICHAEL YEARGAN
COSTUME DESIGNER CONSTANCE HOFFMAN
LIGHTING DESIGNER CHRISTOPHER MARAVICH
CHORUS DIRECTOR IAN ROBERTSON
CHOREOGRAPHER LAWRENCE PECH
* SAN FRANCISCO OPERA DEBUT
photo credit: Cory Weaver
