Quinn Kelsey Has Tallied Nine Met Roles, Seven Operas, 90 Performances

Summary: Prior to Met Opera's 2022-2023 season, Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey has tallied nine Met roles, seven operas and 90 performances in eight seasons.

Verdi's Rigoletto qualifies as Quinn Kelsey's most performed opera at Met Opera; he sang distraught Count Monterone in 10 performances in the 2010-2011 season; he switched to the title role for 11 performances in the 2021-2022 season; he makes his first reprisal of the dishumored jester in seven performances in Met Opera's 2022-2023 season: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Dec. 30, 2021

Prior to the Metropolitan Opera's 2022-2023 season, native Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey has tallied nine Met roles, seven operas and 90 performances in eight seasons, spread across 14 years.

Met Opera's 2007-2008 season debuted 110 performers and production team members. Baritones accounted for 13 of the debuts.

Quinn Kamakanalani Kelsey (born March 7, 1978) numbered as the season's 12th debuting baritone. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut Saturday, March 29, 2008, as Schaunard in the opera company's 1,194th performance of La Bohème by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). He sang the role of the bohemian musician in six of the opera's seven performances in the 2007-2008 season. Kelsey's Schaunard appeareed in the first four (Saturday, March 29; Tuesday, April 1; Saturday, April 5; Wednesday, April 9) and last two (Tuesday, April 15; Friday, April 18) of the opera's seven performances in the 2007-2008 season.

Three seasons later, Kelsey returned to Met Opera for his second opera and second role. He sang the paternal role of Count Monterone, curser of jesting Rigoletto and of the jester's patron, the seduction-fixated Duke of Mantua, in Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901). The 2010-2011 season offered 15 performances of Rigoletto, with Kelsey singing Monterone in the last 10 (Tuesday, Jan. 11; Saturday, Jan. 15; Tuesday, Jan. 18; Saturday, Jan. 22; Thursday, Jan. 27; Tuesday, April 26; Saturday, April 30; Tuesday, May 3; Friday, May 6; Thursday, May 12).

After an absence of three seasons, Kelsey returned for two operas in Met Opera's 2014-2015 season. His return added a third opera and two role debuts to his Met repertoire.

Kelsey revisited his first Met opera, La Bohème, for his third Met role debut. His switch from musical Schaunard to painterly Marcello also added a second role to his La Bohème portfolio at Met Opera. He sang Marcello in the first four (Tuesday, Sep. 23; Friday, Sep. 26; Monday, Sep. 29; Saturday, Oct. 4) of the 2014-2015 season's 15 performances of Puccini's poignant, popular bohemian opera.

Kelsey's third Met opera and fourth Met role debut occurred in Verdi's La Traviata as Giorgio Germont, a father who, tragically later than sooner, accepts the true love shared by his son, Alfredo, and courtesan Violetta Valéry. The 2014-2015 season offered 12 performances of La Traviata, with Kelsey as the paternal Germont in the first nine (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014; Tuesday, Dec. 16; Friday, Dec. 19; Monday, Dec. 22; Saturday, Dec. 27; Tuesday, Dec. 30; Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015; Saturday, Jan. 10; Wednesday, Jan. 14).

The specifics of Quinn Kelsey's appearances in Met Opera's 2014-2015 season included the addition of a second Verdi opera to the native Hawaiian baritone's Met repertoire. Of his four roles, two were paternal, as Rigoletto's Count Monterone and as La Traviata's Giorgio Germont. Also, his 13 performances (4 La Bohème plus 9 La Traviata) increased his total Met performances from 16 pre-2014 performances (6 La Bohème in 2008 plus 10 Rigoletto in 2011) to 29.

Kelsey's first reprisal of his second La Bohème role occurred consecutively. In the 2015-2016 season the opera received 16 performances, with Kesley singing Marcello in the seventh through 11th performances (Wednesday, Jan. 6; Saturday, Jan.9; Wednesday, Jan. 13; Saturday, Jan. 16; Tuesday, Jan. 19). His five performances increased his Met Opera performance tally to 34.

After an absence of one season, Kelsey returned to Met Opera for three operas. The 2017-2018 season added three operas and three role debuts to his Met Opera repertoire. The season also initiated a set of three consecutive seasons (2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020) as a Met Opera performer for Kelsey.

Kelsey's fifth Met role debut occurred in his fourth Met opera, Hänsel und Gretel by German composer Engelbert Humperdinck (Sep. 1, 1854-Sep. 27, 1921), as Peter, the broom-making father of two Gingerbread Witch-defeating children. In the 2017-2018 season, the fairy tale opera received seven performances, with Kelsey singing paternally in the first three (Monday, Dec. 18, 2017; Friday, Dec. 22; Tuesday, Dec. 26) and last three (Saturday, Dec. 30; Monday, Jan. 1, 2018; Saturday, Jan. 6).

Kelsey's appearances as Count di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore qualified as his sixth Met role debut and his fifth Met opera. In the 2017-2018 season, Il Trovatore received eight performances, with Kelsey as the unknowingly fratricidal Count di Luna in the first four (Monday, Jan. 22; Friday, Jan. 26; Tuesday, Jan. 30; Saturday, Feb. 3).

Lucia di Lammermoor by Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848) numbered as Kelsey's sixth Met opera. The tragical opera's Lord Enrico Ashton, whose uncompromising decisions unhinge his sister, provided him with his seventh Met role debut. In the 2017-2018 season, the 17th century Scotland-themed opera received 12 performances, with Kelsey singing Enrico in the last five performances (Wednesday, April 25; Saturday, April 28; Wednesday, May 2; Saturday, May 5; Thursday, May 10).

Kelsey's appearances in the 2017-2018 season profiled as his third Verdi opera, his third paternal role (Peter) and his first two fraternal roles (Count di Luna, Enrico). His 15 appearances (6 Hänsel und Gretel plus 4 Il Trovatore plus 5 Lucia) increased his total Met performances to 49.

In the following season, 2018-2019, Kelsey sang in two operas. The season provided Kelsey with his seventh Met opera, his eighth Met role debut, his fourth paternal role and his first reprisal of a Verdi role.

Kelsey's eighth Met role debut occurred as Amonasro, King of Ethiopia and Princess Aida's father, in his seventh Met opera, Verdi's Aida. The compelling, ancient Egypt-themed opera received 14 performances, with Kelsey as Amonasro in the first seven (Wednesday, Sep. 26, 2018; Saturday, Sep. 29; Tuesday, Oct. 2; Saturday, Oct. 6; Thursday, Oct. 11; Monday, Oct. 15; Thursday, Oct 18) and last three (Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019; Monday, March 4; Thursday, March 7) performances.

Kelsey's reprisal of La Traviata's Germont marked his first reprisal of a Verdi role. In the 2018-2019 season, the opera received 15 performances, with Kelsey as Giorgio Germont in the first eight performances (Tuesday, Dec. 4; Friday, Dec. 7; Tuesday, Dec. 11; Saturday, Dec. 15; Tuesday, Dec. 18; Saturday, Dec. 22; Wednesday, Dec. 26; Saturday, Dec. 29).

The 2018-2019 season detailed as Kelsey's fourth Verdi opera and as paternal roles in both of the operas in which he performed. The season's tally of 18 Kelsey performances (10 Aida plus 8 La Traviata) increased his career Met performance total to 67. Both of his roles were paternal.

The subsequent season, 2019-2020, brought Kelsey back to Met Opera for one opera. His revisit to Verdi's La Traviata numbered as his second reprisal of the role of Giorgio Germont. La Traviata's revival received 12 performances, with Kelsey singing the paternal role in the first eight (Friday, Jan. 10, 2020; Tuesday, Jan. 14; Saturday, Jan. 18; Thursday, Jan. 23; Sunday, Jan. 26; Friday, Jan. 31; Monday, Feb. 3; Friday, Feb. 7). His eight Germont appearances increased his career Met performance total to 75.

After an absence of one season, Kelsey returned to Met Opera in the 2021-2022 season for two operas. His appearances qualified as one Met role debut of a new paternal role and one reprisal.

Kelsey achieved his ninth Met Opera role debut in the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto. His switch from his 2010-2011 season portrayal of paternal Count Monterone to paternal Rigoletto in the 2021-2022 season added a second role to his Rigoletto portfolio at the Metropolitan Opera. The tragic opera, transplanted from Verdi's 16th century north central Italy to American theater director Bartlett Sher's reimagined 1920s Weimar Germany, received 14 performances, with Kelsey in 11. Kelsey sang the title role in the new production's opening night (New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31, 2021) and in the last 10 performances (Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022; Wednesday, Jan. 19; Saturday, Jan. 22; Tuesday, Jan. 25; Saturday, Jan. 29; Saturday, May 28; Wednesday, June 1; Saturday, June 4; Wednesday, June 8; Saturday, June 11).

His appearances in his second 2021-2022 season opera, Puccini's La Bohème, signaled Kelsey's second reprisal of painterly Marcello. Puccini's bohemian Paris-situated, poignant opera received 15 performances, with Kelsey's Marcello in the last four (Monday, May 16, 2022; Friday, May 20; Tuesday, May 24; closing night, Friday, May 27).

His 2021-2022 season's clinches of ninth Met role debut and second Puccini role reprisal contributed 15 performances (11 Rigoletto plus 4 La Bohème) to Kelsey's Met Opera repertoire. At the end of the season, Kelsey tallied nine Met role debuts, seven operas and 90 performances.

Kelsey's Met Opera repertoire emphasizes Verdian operas, with five Verdian role debuts in four Verdian operas. The Verdi preponderance in Kelsey's Met repertoire correlates with artist and now retired Hawai'i Public Radio reporter and co-host Noe Tanigawa's description of Quinn Kelsey as "fast becoming the Rigoletto and Verdi Baritone of his generation" in "Quinn Kelsey: That Hawaiian Baritone," published Aug. 21, 2018, for Hawai'i Public Radio's Culture & Arts section.

Bartlett Sher's new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, modernly reset from 16th century north central Italy to 1920s Weimar Germany, debuted in the 2021-2022 season and featured Quinn Kelsey (kneeling, center) in the title role; Michael Yeargan, set designer, and Catherine Zuber, costume designer: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Jan. 28, 2022

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Verdi's Rigoletto qualifies as Quinn Kelsey's most performed opera at Met Opera; he sang distraught Count Monterone in 10 performances in the 2010-2011 season; he switched to the title role for 11 performances in the 2021-2022 season; he makes his first reprisal of the dishumored jester in seven performances in Met Opera's 2022-2023 season: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Dec. 30, 2021, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10165976408660533&set=pb.100044543344646.-2207520000..

Bartlett Sher's new production of Verdi's Rigoletto, modernly reset from 16th century north central Italy to 1920s Weimar Germany, debuted in the 2021-2022 season and featured Quinn Kelsey (kneeling, center) in the title role; Michael Yeargan, set designer, and Catherine Zuber, costume designer: The Metropolitan Opera, via Facebook Jan. 28, 2022, @ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10166056126915533&set=pb.100044543344646.-2207520000..

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