This Tuesday (Oct 20), Stephen Costello Makes Met Role Debut as Duke of Mantua in Michael Mayer’s Rigoletto
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After launching the season at the Metropolitan Opera in Anna Bolena, Stephen Costello returns to the New York house this Tuesday, October 20, to make his company role debut as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (Oct 20–Nov 10). In an electrifying treatment of Verdi’s opera from Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, Costello will give seven performances of the role in which he has already proved himself “one of the best lyric tenors in the business” (Theater Jones).
Mayer’s staging transports the action from 16th-century Italy to Rat Pack-era Vegas, with the Duke recast as a Sinatra figure; to research this new conception of the role, Costello spent time in Las Vegas over the summer. He will be joined at the Met by George Gagnidze in the title role, Olga Peretyatko as Gilda, and Pablo Heras-Casado on the podium, in the production that prompted WQXR to declare: “Rigoletto hits the jackpot!” Click here to see the Met’s Rigoletto TV spot.
In late November, Costello is set to reprise the Duke at Madrid’s Teatro Real, where he will rejoin Olga Peretyatko under Nicola Luisotti’s leadership, for six performances of an alternative take on Rigoletto by Sir David McVicar (Nov 30–Dec 19). The 2009 Richard Tucker Award-winner also looks forward to taking time out to perform alongside his fellow laureates and other operatic luminaries – including Andrea Bocelli, Renée Fleming, and this year’s winner, Jamie Barton – at the 2015 Richard Tucker Music Foundation’s annual gala, which will be held at Lincoln Center’s newly renamed David Geffen Hall (Nov 1).
The New Year finds Costello back at the Met for two more appearances as Lord Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (Jan 5 & 9). It was in the same production that he launched the new season last month, 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 two January performances will feature Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role, with Ildar Abdrazakov’s Henry VIII, Jamie Barton’s Jane Seymour, and Marco Armiliato conducting McVicar’s gripping period production.
High-resolution photos can be downloaded here.
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Stephen Costello: upcoming engagements
Oct 20, 23, 28, 31; Nov 4, 7, 10
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Rigoletto (Duca)
Nov 1
New York, NY
David Geffen Hall
2015 Richard Tucker Opera Gala
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)
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© 21C Media Group, October 2015