Palm Beach Opera Presents Verdi's RIGOLETTO, 3/10-12

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 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."

Rigoletto, "The Power of a Curse"

Powerful forces unravel this tragic tale of a father's love, deception, debauchery and revenge. Originally named "The Curse," the lives of a hunch-backed jester and a lecherous duke collide in this story of a daughter abducted, a father outraged, and a curse fulfilled.

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 pmon Sunday, March 12.

The conductor for this production is Antonello Allemandi, making his Palm Beach Opera debut, with Jay Lesenger serving as director.

Allemandi's recent and future highlights include Rigoletto at the Opernhaus Zu?rich; La Cenerentola, IL Barbiere di Siviglia, Il Trovatore and Rossini's Guillaume Tell at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich; Donizetti L'elisir d'amore and Verdi Otello at Teatro Municipal in Santiago de Chile; Donizetti La Favorite at The?a?tre du Capitole de Toulouse and Aida and Massenot Werther at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. He is the former Musical Director of the Orchestre Colonne in Paris and received the Médaille d'or on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bilbao Opera.

With a career spanning more than 25 years and 200 productions, Jay Lesenger's stagings have been seen on stages across the country and recently Europe as well. his directing skills are reflected in a wide repertory of operas, operettas and musicals that includes Werther, MacBeth, Lohengrin, Il Tritico, The Bartered Bride, The Turn of the Screw, Die Fledermaus, The Coronoation of Poppea and the five Mozart comedies. Lesenger is the Artistic/General Director of the Chautauqua Opera and in 2008 became the Director of the Opera Department at Northwestern University.

Palm Beach Opera favorite Michael Chioldi will perform the title role in Rigoletto on Friday and Sunday, with Alexander Krasnov singing it on Saturday night. Krasnov is making his Palm Beach Opera debut along with Andrea Carroll and Deanna Breiwick (Gilda), Alexey Tartarintsev and Alok Kumar (Duke of Mantua),Stefan Kocan (Sparafucile), Audrey Babcock (Maddalena) and Matthew Trevino (Monerone).

The Benenson Young Artists in Rigoletto include Kasia Borowiec (Page), Joshua Conyers (Marullo), Tara Curtis (Giovanna), Danielle MacMillan (Countess Ceprano), Andrew Simpson (Ceprano) and Spencer Viator (Borsa).

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 orwww.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 mainstage 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 visitpbopera.org.

Attached Jpegs:

1. Antonello Allemandi, Conductor

2. Jay Lesenger, Director

3. PBO 2008 production of Rigoletto

4. PBO 2008 production of Rigoletto

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