This time, I didn’t head to the Swiss capital to hear Verdi’s masterpiece — instead, I went to Switzerland’s largest city, home to its most prestigious opera house. You guessed it: I was in Zurich! The Opernhaus Zürich, which was recently praised for its upcoming 2025/26 season, featuring as its climax La Forza del Destino with none other than Anna Netrebko. The last time she sang that role was at the opening of La Scala’s season — no less!
I won’t go over the beauty and quality of this Swiss theater again. If you’ve been reading me for a while, you already know how much I admire it — always surprising us with excellent casting, a warm and professional welcome, and a media team that’s as kind as it is efficient.
But what I was looking forward to above all else was hearing Quinn Kelsey as Rigoletto. For the past 14 years, Kelsey has toured the world’s greatest stages — particularly the Metropolitan Opera in New York — in his signature role. Rigoletto fits him as perfectly as it did Leo Nucci. It’s easy to see that he is on his way to becoming the definitive Rigoletto of our time, in a field that’s fiercely competitive right now with singers like Ludovic Tézier and Amartuvshin Enkhbat. What a joy, what a thrill it was to hear him! His duets with Gilda, sung by Brenda Rae, were breathtaking, and his acting was top-notch.
Although the orchestral direction by Andrea Sanguineti was beautiful, I personally found it a bit slow (judging by the applause he received, I’m clearly in the minority here). That’s just my taste — I like a Rigoletto that runs fast and hot. For me, the best version should be 1 hour 40 minutes max, and basta! That said, I had an incredible evening, and I’m already eager to see Kelsey on stage again soon.
Opposite him was Brenda Rae, who I last heard in 2023 as Lucia di Lammermoor in Paris. Needless to say, her bel canto skills served her perfectly in the role of Gilda. Her “Caro nome” was met with thunderous applause that lasted for what felt like an eternity. Despite a dreadful staging, she absolutely shone — delivering a beautiful and moving Gilda. This, just three days after I heard Patricia Westley as Gilda in Bern — whose voice was still echoing in my mind as the curtain rose in Zurich.
Rounding out the cast was Liparit Avetisyan, whom I’d also seen a few months ago on the main stage of the Opéra Bastille in Paris. He played the Duke of Mantua with simplicity — detestable as always — though it’s hard to shine when you’re sharing the stage with a powerhouse like Kelsey and a radiant Brenda Rae. At 35, there’s no doubt this Armenian tenor has a brilliant career ahead.
You know I always like to focus on the positive and leave the negative aside, but I can’t help but say one thing about the utterly meaningless staging: it offered no insight, no emotion, nothing — except the urge to close your eyes and just listen to the music. That’s two Rigoletto performances in three days where the staging amounted to nothing more than a central table and some generic costumes. The only clever touch was the sneaker switch at the end, which made it look like the Duke had died instead of Gilda — that, I liked.
Still, there are three more performances left of this Rigoletto in Zurich, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to go — if only to hear Quinn Kelsey and Brenda Rae live.
And more than ever: VIVA VERDI!
CAST
Il Duca di Mantova Liparit Avetisyan
Rigoletto Quinn Kelsey
Gilda Brenda Rae
Sparafucile Brent Michael Smith
Maddalena Elena Maximova
Giovanna Ena Pongrac
Il Conte di Monterone Stanislav Vorobyov
Marullo Andrew Moore
Borsa Daniel Norman
Il Conte di Ceprano Samson Setu
La Contessa di Ceprano Maria Stella Maurizi
Paggio della Contessa Sylwia Salamonska
Usciere Steffan Lloyd Owen
