Quinn Kelsey Has Shared His Rigoletto With 12 Opera Houses Since 2011

Summary: Quinn Kelsey has shared his Rigoletto with 12 opera houses since his 2011 debut of the jesting role in his company debut at Den Norske Opera & Ballett.

Quinn Kelsey's fifth Rigoletto opera house, Santa Fe Opera's Crosby Theater, summer 2015; costumes and sets designed by British theatre designer Adrian Linford; image by American major opera company photographer Ken Howard: Santa Fe Opera, via Facebook July 17, 2015

Quinn Kelsey has shared his Rigoletto with 12 opera houses since his 2011 debut of Verdi's jester at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet (Norwegian: Den Norske Opera & Ballett) in central Oslo's Bjørvika neighborhood.

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

After an absence of two seasons, Kelsey returned to Met Opera to add a second opera and a second role to his Met Opera portfolio. In the 2010-2011 season, Kelsey became elderly Count Monterone, jestee and curser, in Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Rigoletto's 15 performances in the 2010-2011 season were scheduled as five performances each for autumn (opening, Wednesday, Sep. 29, 2010; Saturday, Oct. 2; Tuesday, Oct. 5; Friday, Oct. 8; Thursday, Oct. 14), winter (Tuesday, Jan. 11; Saturday, Jan. 15; Tuesday, Jan. 18; Saturday, Jan. 22; Thursday, Jan. 27) and spring (Tuesday, April 26; Saturday, April 30; Tuesday, May 3; Friday, May 6; closing, Thursday, May 12). Kelsey sang in the last 10 performances as the season's winter and spring Monterone.

Kelsey added a company debut and a new role in Verdi's opera of tragic jests to his repertoire in the break between his winter and spring performances as Met Opera's Monterone. On Thursday, March 24, Quinn made his debut at Den Norske Opera in the title role of Rigoletto, ridiculer and cursee. The tragically ironic Verdian opera staged 12 performances in the professional company's contemporary-designed home, Oslo Opera House (Norwegian: Operahuset), located dramatically at the head of the Bunnefjorden, the innermost part of southeastern Norway's Oslofjord (Norwegian: Oslofjorden).

Den Norske Opera's Rigoletto schedule wrapped around Kelsey's spring performances as Monterone at the Metropolitan Opera. Oslo's Rigoletto was scheduled as seven spring performances, opening with three March (opening, Thursday, March 24; Monday, March 28; Wednesday, March 30) and four April (Sunday, April 3; Tuesday, April 12; Thursday, April 14; Saturday, April 16) dates, and closing with five early summer dates (Wednesday, June 8; Friday, June 10; Monday, June 13; Wednesday, June 15; closing, Friday, June 17).

In the following season, Kelsey's debut at the Canadian Opera Company (COC) added a second opera house to his Verdian jester portfolio. The 2011-2012 season's 12 performances were held in autumn, with two September (opening, Thursday, Sep. 29; Friday, Sep. 30) and 10 October (Sunday, Oct. 2; Wednesday, Oct. 5; Saturday, Oct. 8; Thursday, Oct. 13; Friday, Oct. 14; Sunday, Oct. 16; Monday, Oct. 17; Tuesday, Oct. 18; Thursday, Oct. 20; Saturday, Oct. 22) dates at the company's Modernist-styled home, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, in downtown Toronto. Kelsey opened and closed the title role, with eight of the opera's 12 performances (opening; third through fifth; seventh and eighth; 10th; closing 12th).

The next season garnered a third opera house for Kelsey's Rigoletto with his company debut with Zürich Opera (German: Oper Zürich). The opera company in Switzerland's German national language region (Deutschschweiz) offered 10 performances at the company's neoclassical- and rococo-styled home, Zürich Opera House (German: Opernhaus Zürich), on the northeastern shore of Lake Zurich (German: Zürichsee; Swiss German/Alemannic: Zürisee). The 2012-2013 season's performances took place on seven winter (opening, Sunday, Feb. 3; Tuesday, Feb. 5; Friday, Feb. 8; Sunday, Feb. 10; Wednesday, Feb. 13; Sunday, Feb. 17; Tuesday, Feb. 26) and three summer (Saturday, June 29; Thursday, July 11; closing, Saturday, July 13) dates.

Kelsey added Rigoletto to his English National Opera (ENO) portfolio via the 2013-2014 season's 11 performances at the company's home, the London Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum Theatre, located in Inner London's City of Westminster. The season's performances sequenced as five late winter (opening, Friday, Feb. 13; Saturday, Feb. 15; Thursday, Feb. 20; Saturday, Feb. 22; Tuesday, Feb. 25) and six early spring (Saturday, March 1; Wednesday, March 5; Friday, March 7; Monday, March 10; Wednesday, March 12; closing, Friday, March 14) dates.

The following season found Kelsey's Verdian jester at Crosby Theater, the open-air performance venue for the Santa Fe Opera (SFO) in north central New Mexico. The 2015 festival season's nine performances were held in the summer, with three July (opening, Saturday, July 4; Friday, July 10; Wednesday, July 15) and six August (Tuesday, Aug. 4; Monday, Aug. 10; Saturday, Aug. 15; Wednesday, Aug. 19; Tuesday, Aug. 25; closing, Friday, Aug. 28) dates.

In the 2015-2016 season, Kelsey returned to Opernhaus Zürich and also added two new opera houses for his Rigoletto. Zürich Opera's six performances were scheduled in winter, with one in January (opening, Sunday, Jan. 31) and five in February (Friday, Feb. 5; Tuesday, Feb. 9; Friday, Feb. 12; Sunday, Feb. 14; closing, Thursday, Feb. 18).

Opéra Bastille ("Bastille Opera House"), the main facility for Paris Opera (French: Opéra de Paris), provided the sixth opera house for Kelsey's Rigoletto. The 2015-2016 season's 18 spring performances comprised eight April (opening, Saturday, April 9; Monday, April 11; Thursday, April 14; Sunday, April 17; Wednesday, April 20; Saturday, April 23: Tuesday, April 26; Thursday, April 28) and 10 May (Monday, May 2; Thursday, May 5; Saturday, May 7: Tuesday, May 10; Saturday, May 14: Monday, May 16: Saturday, May 21; Tuesday, May 24: Friday, May 27; closing, Monday, May 30) dates. Kelsey sang Rigoletto in 10 performances (opening through fourth; sixth and seventh; ninth; 12th; 14th; 16th). He shared Rigoletto with Milanese baritone Franco Vassello (born Aug. 1, 1969) and French baritone (born Sep. 10, 1968) Ludovic Tézier.

Kelsey returned to his hometown of Honolulu to establish the Neal S. Blaisdell Center's Concert Hall as the seventh venue for his Rigoletto. Hawai'i Opera Theatre's (HOT) 2015-2016 season featured Verdi's Rigoletto as the fourth of four operas. Rigoletto was staged Sunday, June 26, as the opera company's first ever concert-formatted opera.

In the next season, 2016-2017, Kelsey garnered two more opera houses for his Rigoletto. West central Germany's Frankfurt Opera (German: Oper Frankfurt) staged 11 spring performances at the company's glass-fronted home, Opern- und Schauspielhaus, on Willy-Brandt-Platz in Frankurt am Main's central business district, Bankenviertel ("Banking Quarter"). Rigoletto was performed with three March (opening, Sunday, March 19; Friday, March 24; Thursday, March 30), six April (Sunday, April 2; Friday, April 7; Thursday, April 13; Sunday, April 16; Saturday, April 22; Friday, April 28) and two May (Monday, May 1; closing, Thursday, May 11) dates.

San Francisco Opera (SF Opera) offered eight performances at the company's classic Roman Doric order-styled venue, War Memorial Opera House, in the Foggy City by the Bay's downtown Civic Center neighborhood. Kelsey's first titular jester in the Golden Gate City took place on the last day of spring (opening, Wednesday, May 31), followed by a summer set of six June (Tuesday, June 6; Friday, June 9; Wednesday, June 14; Sunday, June 18; Thursday, June 22; Tuesday, June 27) and one July (closing, Saturday, July 1) dates.

Chicago-based Kelsey added the title role to his bulging Lyric Opera of Chicago (LOC; the Lyric) portfolio in the 2017-2018 season. His 10th Rigoletto opera house, the U-shaped, Art Deco-styled Civic Opera House, also known as Lyric Opera House, in downtown Chicago's Loop district. The Lyric scheduled eight autumn performances, with seven October (opening, Saturday, Oct. 7; Wednesday, Oct. 11; Saturday, Oct. 14; Thursday, Oct. 19; Sunday, Oct. 22; Thursday, Oct. 26; Monday, Oct. 30) and one November (closing, Friday, Nov. 3) dates.

The next season marked Kelsey's third set of appearances as Rigoletto at Opernhaus Zürich. The 2018-2019 season's six winter performances comprised four January (opening, Thursday, Jan. 17; Sunday, Jan. 20; Wednesday, Jan. 23; Wednesday, Jan. 30) and two February (Wednesday, Feb. 6; closing, Friday, Feb. 8) dates.

The 2020-2021 season added a new opera house for Kelsey's Rigoletto. The City of Vienna's opera company and house, Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper), located in the Opernring section of the Vienna Ring Road (German: Ringstraße) in the City of Music's historic Innere Stadt (Central Bavarian: Innare Stod; "Inner Town"), numbered as Kelsey's 11th Rigoletto opera house. The Renaissance Revival opera house's four 2020-2021 season performances were held in March (opening, Sunday, March 21; Wednesday, March 24; Saturday, March 27; closing, Tuesday, March 30).

The 2021-2022 season marked the addition of Kelsey's 12th Rigoletto opera house. His first Met involvement with Verdi's Rigoletto had occurred as the elderly secondary character of Monterone in the 2010-2011 season. In his Met revisit of Verdi's Rigoletto in the 2021-2022 season, Kelsey assumed the title role. The season's 14 performances were scheduled as nine in winter, with one in December (opening, New Year's Eve, Friday, Dec. 31) and eight in January (Tuesday, Jan. 4; Friday, Jan. 7; Tuesday, Jan. 11; Saturday, Jan. 15; Wednesday, Jan. 19; Saturday, Jan. 22; Tuesday, Jan. 25; Saturday, Jan. 29); one in spring (Saturday, May 28); and four in summer (Wednesday, June 1; Saturday, June 4; Wednesday, June 8; closing, Saturday, June 11). Kelsey sang his new role in 11 (opening; fifth through closing 14th) of the season's 14 performances at the company's Modernist-styled Metropolitan Opera House ("The Met") at Lincoln Center in New York City's Upper West Manhattan.

The 2021-2022 season also returned Kelsey to Opernhaus Zürich for a fourth set of Rigoletto appearances, which occurred between his January and May Met Rigoletto. The season's five spring performances were held in April (opening, Sunday, April 10; Wednesday, April 13; Monday, April 18; Friday, April 22; closing, Wednesday, April 27).

In the 2022-2023 season, Kelsey makes his first reprisal of the title role at the Metropolitan Opera. He sings in the first seven (opening, Thursday, Nov. 10; Monday, Nov. 14; Thursday, Nov. 17; Sunday, Nov. 20; Saturday, Nov. 26; Tuesday, Nov. 29; Saturday, Dec. 3) of the season's 14 performances.

Rigoletto (Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey) with the jester's tragically deceased daughter, Gilda (American soprano Anna Christy), at Kelsey's fourth Rigoletto opera house, the English National Opera's London Coliseum, winter 2013-2014 season; costumes and sets by Canadian theatre designer Michael Levine; image by UK performing arts photographer Alastair Muir: English National Opera @englishnationalopera, via Facebook Feb. 13, 2014

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Quinn Kelsey's fifth Rigoletto opera house, Santa Fe Opera's Crosby Theater, summer 2015; costumes and sets designed by British theatre designer Adrian Linford; image by American major opera company photographer Ken Howard: Santa Fe Opera, via Facebook July 17, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/santafeopera/posts/10153503151489252/

Rigoletto (Hawaiian baritone Quinn Kelsey) with the jester's tragically deceased daughter, Gilda (American soprano Anna Christy), at Kelsey's fourth Rigoletto opera house, the English National Opera's London Coliseum, winter 2013-2014 season; costumes and sets by Canadian theatre designer Michael Levine; image by UK performing arts photographer Alastair Muir: English National Opera @englishnationalopera, via Facebook Feb. 13, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/englishnationalopera/posts/10152011101008429

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