Palm Beach Opera Announces Lead Performers in Giuseppe Verdi's RIGOLETTO

Palm Beach Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto for one weekend only, March 10-12, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.

One of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Rigoletto, "The Power of a Curse," is "a must-see masterpiece" of passion and vengeance, filled with some of opera's most famous arias, such as "La donna è mobile," and "Questa o quella." Powerful forces unravel this tragic tale of a father's love, deception, debauchery and revenge.

Rigoletto will be sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage. Performances are at 7:30 pm on March 10 & 11 (Friday and Saturday) and 2 pm on Sunday, March 12.

The conductor for this production is Antonello Allemandi, making his Palm Beach Opera debut, with Jay Lesenger serving as director. The lead performers of the upcoming production of Rigoletto include:

Friday/Sunday

+ Michael Chioldi (title role):

American baritone Michael Chioldi is quickly gaining the reputation as one of the most sought-after dramatic baritones of his generation. Praised for his "warm, rich tone" (Opera News) and "deeply communicative phrasing" (The Baltimore Sun), he has received unanimous acclaim from critics and audiences around the world for his portrayals of the dramatic baritone roles of Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss. His recent role debuts include as the title roles in Verdi's Rigoletto with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, Macbeth with Palm Beach Opera, and Nabucco with Lyric Opera Baltimore; as Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore with Utah Opera; and as Rodrigo in Don Carlo with Austin Lyric Opera.

+ Andrea Carroll (Gilda)

Hailed by Opera News for her "strong, vibrant soprano" with a "rich, dark low register and gleaming top," rising soprano Andrea Carroll's current season includes performances of Micaela in Carmen with Opera San Antonio, a return to Houston Grand Opera both as Mary Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life and as Woglinde in Götterdämmerun, and the role of Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with Garsington Opera. On the concert stage, she performs Mozart arias with Musica Angelica Baroque in Los Angeles.

+ Alexey Tatarintsev (Duke of Mantua):

Alexey Tatarintsev has been a resident artists at the Novaya Opera since 2008 with repertoire including lyric tenor roles from Rossini to Puccini, such as Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Conte Almaviva, Belfiore in Il Viaggio a Reims, Nemorino, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Duca in Rigoletto, Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème, Roméo in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Lensky, Young Gipsy in Aleko, Lykov in The Tsar's Bride, Vladimir Igorevich in Prince Igor. He debuted at the Bolshoi Theatre as Yasha in the world premiere of Fenelon's opera The Cherry Orchard in 2010, a role that he repeated at the Opéra National de Paris. He is a guest soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre and the Mariinsky Theatre, and performed Lensky at the Teatro Regio in Turin.

Saturday

+ Alexander Krasnov (title role):

Bass-baritone Alexander Krasnov's recent and upcoming engagements include Holländer (Deutsche Oper Berlin), Otello (Mariinsky Theatre, Deutsche Oper am Rhein), Tosca (Deutsche Oper Berlin, St. Margarethen, Vienna State Opera, Ekaterinburg, Mariinsky Theatre), Rigoletto (Bratislava), Lohengrin (Mariinsky Theatre), Snow Maiden (Ekaterinburg, Mariinsky Theatre), and The Tsar's Bride (Bolshoi Theatre Moscow). He won the 2014 Bravo Award for best male role in opera for Iago in Otello.

+ Deanna Breiwick (Gilda):

American soprano Deanna Breiwick, hailed by critics for her "sweet sound and floating high notes" and for being a "vocal trapeze artist" (NY Times), is enjoying an exciting and diverse career. She is a 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finalist, a 2012 Grand Prize Winner of the Sullivan Foundation Vocal Competition, and a First Prize Winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition. She also holds awards from the George London Foundation, the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. Breiwick is an ensemble member of the Zürich Opera House where she has sung a variety of roles, and she was featured as Mabel (Pirates of Penzance) and Johanna (Sweeney Todd) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and with the Metropolitan Opera, she covered the role of Ariel in the premier of The Enchanted Island and was a featured soloist in the company's Summer Recital Series.

+ Alok Kumar (Duke of Mantua)

Tenor Alok Kumar performed Don Jose in La Tragedie de Carmen at Le Domaine Forget International Music Festival, the Duke in Rigoletto in New York and Alfredo in La Traviata in Baltimore. In 2015, he made his debut at the Sanibel Music Festival in Florida in an Italian Arias concert and in Opera Delaware's production of La Tragédie. Kumar has appeared with the Santa Fe Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Opera Delaware, Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Portland Opera Repertory Theater among others. His festival appearances include the Spoleto Festival in Italy, Le Domaine Forget International Music Festival in Canada, the Sanibel Music Festival in Florida and the Crested Butte Music Festival.

Appearing in all three performances of Rigoletto will be Audrey Babcock (Maddalena), Stefan Kocan (Sparafucile), Matthew Trevino (Monterone), Spencer Viator (Borsa), Joshua Conyers (Marullo), Andrew Simpson (Ceprano), Danielle MacMillan (Countess Ceprano), Tara Curtis (Giovanna) and Kasia Borowiec (Page).

All of the performers are making their Palm Beach Opera debut with the exception of Chioldi, Conyers and Viator. The Benenson Young Artists in Rigoletto include Borowiec, Conyers, Curtis, MacMillan, Simpson and Viator.

How to Get Tickets to Rigoletto:

Tickets start at $20 and are available at 561-833-7888 or pbopera.org. Tickets are also available at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts at 561-832-7469 or www.kravis.org.

Co-Producers of Palm Beach Opera's Rigoletto:

Palm Beach Opera gratefully acknowledges the following members of its Co-Producer Program, and additional sponsors for making this performance possible:

+ Executive Producer: Cornelia T. Bailey

+ Double Co-Producers: Mr. & Mrs. Howard Lester, Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Williams

+ Single Co-Producers: The Daft Family Foundation, Nathan Leventhal, Marc Solomon

+ Associate Co Producers: Mr. & Mrs. Charles Gottesman (Season Concertmaster Sponsor); Mr. & Mrs. Ed Streim

+ Assistant Co-Producer: Dr. & Mrs. John Strasswimmer

+ Co-Producer Society Season Celebration Hosts: Drs. Henry & Marsha Laufer

+ Subtitle Sponsor: Palm Beach Opera Guild

About Palm Beach Opera:

Palm Beach Opera is dedicated to producing live opera at an international standard of excellence and to enriching the life of the communities it serves with a diverse offering of educational programs. Founded in 1961, the fully professional Palm Beach Opera presents main stage performances at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach and is a proud member of OPERA America and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. For more information, please visit pbopera.org.

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