Next Monday (Nov 30), Stephen Costello Makes House Role Debut as Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Teatro Real Madrid
Next Monday, November 30, Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello makes his house role debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto at Spain’s Teatro Real Madrid (Nov 30–Dec 19). There he rejoins Olga Peretyatko, with whom he has just completed a run of Verdi’s masterpiece at the Metropolitan Opera, for six performances of Sir David McVicar’s “sensational” production (The Guardian), led by Maestro Nicola Luisotti. Click here to see Costello sing the Duke’s iconic aria “La donna è mobile” from Act III of Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera.
The Met’s staging recast the Duke as a Sinatra figure. The New York Times praised Costello’s “bright tenor that … was perfectly suited to [the] character,” while the New York Classical Review – calling the production “one of the great successes of the Peter Gelb era” – observed:
“The cast in this year’s production adds to [Michael] Mayer’s concept, especially tenor Stephen Costello as the Duke. Costello is a fine Verdian tenor, with an ideal range and a rounded, colorful sound. … [He] sang the character, who must be attractive and repellent at the same time, beautifully.”
As for the tenor’s onstage chemistry with co-star Peretyatko, his Gilda in both New York and Madrid, the New York Classical Review found that “the combination of Costello’s voice and presence made a real impression on her character.” Costello “spontaneously enthused” about the soprano in a recent Examiner interview, in which he confides: “She’s great! She’s so lovely to work with. She’s a great colleague and a wonderful singer.”
On his return from Madrid, the tenor heads back to the Met for another gripping McVicar production. On January 5 and 9, he makes two appearances as Lord Percy in the same treatment of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena in which he launched the present season, impressing the New York Times with his “robust sound and impetuous fervor,” and the New York Classical Review with his “golden, creamy tone” and the “soaring nobility of his portrayal.” As then, the January performances will feature Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, with Ildar Abdrazakov’s Henry VIII, Jamie Barton’s Jane Seymour, and Marco Armiliato on the podium.
Elsewhere this winter, Costello teams up with sopranos Maria Agresta and Angel Joy Blue for a concert with the PKF-Prague Philharmonia. As spring approaches, he returns to the Dallas Opera for another house role debut: Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon.
Stephen Costello at the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala Concert in New York (photo: Dario Acosta)
These operatic winter engagements follow the tenor’s appearance earlier this month at the 2015 Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s annual gala in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, where Costello – winner of the 2009 Richard Tucker Award – demonstrated “a fineness of tone and depth of feeling” (Voce di Meche) on a program that also featured Andrea Bocelli, Renée Fleming, and other operatic luminaries, including this year’s winner, Jamie Barton.
Costello has also recently enjoyed a spate of colorful media coverage. Click here to hear the musically omnivorous tenor introduce excerpts from his ideal dinner party playlist, on which Verdi rubs shoulders with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and Miles Davis, and here to read a recent and revealing interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, in which Costello dishes about Sinatra, a recent encounter with Plácido Domingo, and more.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.
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Stephen Costello: winter engagements
Nov 30; Dec 3, 6, 10, 15, 19
Madrid, Spain
Teatro Real
Rigoletto (Duca)
Jan 5 & 9
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Anna Bolena (Percy)
Jan 26
Prague, Czech Republic
Smetana Hall
Recital with Maria Agresta, Angel Joy Blue and PKF-Prague Philharmonia
March 4, 6, 9, 12
Dallas, TX
Dallas Opera
Manon (Des Grieux)
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© 21C Media Group, November 2015