Verdi's Rigoletto opens Friday at the San Diego Civic Theatre for three performances, and the man directing it wants newcomers in the seats as much as longtime subscribers. Christopher Mattaliano, who has directed 10 productions of the 1851 tragedy since 1988, hopes this staging introduces opera newcomers to a work he first encountered as a 16-year-old at the Metropolitan Opera's summer festival, where he saw Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. Two days later, he returned to see Jon Vickers in Otello.
Mattaliano later ran opera companies and built a career directing productions, including for San Diego Opera. He has directed the opera 10 times since 1988, building a résumé that spans the company he now brings to downtown San Diego.
The production stars baritone Michael Chioldi as Rigoletto, marking his first appearance with San Diego Opera since 2000, when he sang Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni. The 26-year gap is notable given that Chioldi has recently performed the title role at both the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera, according to BroadwayWorld.
A Debut Soprano and a Returning Design
Soprano Madison Leonard makes her San Diego Opera debut as Gilda, following an appearance at Garsington Opera. The Union-Tribune's reporting adds that José Simerilla Romero will sing the Duke, Peixin Chen will sing Sparafucile, and Guadalupe Paz will sing Maddalena.
The production reuses the company's sets first featured in its 2019 staging, physical designs by scenic designer Robert Dahlstrom that critics previously praised as grand and traditional, per BroadwayWorld's account. Performances will be sung in Italian with English and Spanish supertitles, a practice the company has leaned on to serve border-region audiences, a detail Hoodline noted in its coverage of a San Marcos opera troupe's bilingual Figaro.
Yves Abel, San Diego Opera's Principal Conductor, will lead the San Diego Symphony for all three performances, according to Operabase. The symphony serves as the company's official resident orchestra and employs 82 full-time musicians who perform for more than 250,000 attendees annually, a scale Hoodline detailed in its report on the symphony's first European tour.
Verdi's 17th Opera, Rooted in Hugo
Rigoletto, written with librettist Francesco Maria Piave, features two of Verdi's most recognizable numbers, La donna è mobile and Caro nome. Set at the court of the Duke of Mantua, the opera centers on the duke and his court.
San Diego Opera first staged Rigoletto in October 1968 during its fifth season, when British baritone Peter Glossop starred under conductor Walter Herbert, according to San Diego Opera. This October's run marks the eighth time the company has mounted the opera in its history.
Seeking First-Time Opera Audiences
The Rigoletto run follows the company's July season opener, Fellow Travelers, an opera by Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce based on Thomas Mallon's novel. The production was staged at the Balboa Theatre.
The production is also aimed at introducing opera to first-time attendees.
That audience-building push centers on bringing new audiences to live opera. Mattaliano has emphasized the value of introducing newcomers to the art form.
A Director Balancing Two Companies
Mattaliano served as general director of Portland Opera from 2003 to 2019 before launching his own venture, OrpheusPDX, in 2022. OrpheusPDX produces opera on an intimate scale.
Tickets and Showtimes
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave. in downtown San Diego. Tickets range from $51 to $363. San Diego Opera offers free pre-opera talks, and a preconcert talk is scheduled 50 minutes before each performance, according to We the Italians.
