LA Opera is delivering a simultaneously moving and thrilling Rigoletto with world-class singers and musicians.

Baritone Quinn Kelsey, who is considered as one of the great current Verdi baritones, stars in this production. He plays the title role of the mocking jester and subtly evolves through the three acts to the closing curtain when, as a broken man, he finally assumes his guilt and the burden of the “maledizione” – the curse. Kelsey’s outsized talent is to be able to sensitively shape his rich baritone to the many deep layers of the character he portrays. His voice is cool and cruel when we first meet him as the court clown but reveals deep love and beautiful vulnerability when it comes to Gilda his daughter. He equally conveys the seething anger that the forced role of being a jester brings him and the heartbreak at the end when he learns he is responsible for the death of his daughter. Kelsey has a beautiful warm baritone full of nuance with rich top and bottom notes that add color.

His rendition of “Pari siamo” (“we are the same”), is forceful, full of humanity, and leaves the audience with a clear message to take home. My favorite, “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” (“courtiers, vile damned race”), left me in tears, as it was meant to; Kelsey allowed his voice and his dramatic performance to move through all the ranges of Rigoletto’s emotions, ending with a simple heartbreaking plea, on his knees, for the return of his daughter. Kelsey completely inhabits the role of Rigoletto, both through his voice and dramatic performance.

Soprano Lisette Oropesa plays the young Gilda with a beautiful sound and the carefreeness of a young girl, devoted to her father, who is also learning to express her curiosity about her own origins, his life, and about love. Her voice evolves from a delicate sound at the start to a more mature soprano during the course of the opera. She delivers a lovely coloratura in “Caro nome” (“sweet name”). In “Piangi, fanciulla” (“weep, young girl”), Oropesa and Kelsey sing in beautiful harmony.

René Barbera is the powerful Duke of Mantua, swaggering about flamboyantly and with entitlement, and even a hint of cruelty, as we hear about his exploits and see him in action. His bright lyric tenor and ringing high notes lend themselves perfectly to the well-known arias of Rigoletto, including a sincere and sensitive “Parmi veder le lagrime” (“I seem to see the tears”), and the famous “La donna è mobile” (“woman is fickle”).

The LA Opera production succeeds in showing the depth of Giuseppe Verdi’s 1851 opera. In his penultimate season as the company’s Music Director, James Conlon is the expert conductor, building the drama with reserved pacing and then momentum that inevitably leads to the tragic ending. The unity between the orchestra and performers elevate this production into one of the best Rigolettos I have ever seen.

The staging is persuasive. The brutalist set is meant to evoke fascism rising in Italy in the 1920s and 30s, and the staging highlights the class, privilege and violence of that era, according to the program notes of director Tomer Zvulun, who is the General and Artistic Director of The Atlanta Opera. The set rotates between a staircase where the court action takes place and a balcony in Rigoletto and Gilda’s home. The courtiers, dressed in tuxedos, wear creepy cartoon masks that bring an eery feel of violence and foreshadows the disaster. The production resoundingly delivers Rigoletto’s universal themes – a clown’s vulnerability under his face paint, the anger that leads to his ultimate tragedy, a powerful man seeking sexual conquests, and a naïve young woman being taken in by charming words.

Bass Peixin Chen is Sparafucile, the assassin. He ominously sharpens his knife with focused relish on the night of the murder, sending chills into the audience. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino has a lush voice that perfectly portrays a teasing and seductive Maddalena. Baritone Blake Denson also deserves a very commendable mention as Count Monterone who casts the curse on Rigoletto. The quartet in the final act highlights the richness of each of the singers voices bringing them into beautiful harmonious balance. I think I was not alone to appreciate a refreshing change in the staging at the end when Gilda does not sing from her body bag but enters instead as an apparition singing to Rigoletto’s conscience as he realizes he is to blame for his own undoing.

Los Angeles Opera’s Rigoletto opened on May 31 and runs through June 21. Soprano Kathryn Lewek will take on the role of Gilda for the final two performances.