Piedmont Opera presents Verdi’s tragic masterpiece Rigoletto, directed by Steven LaCosse, general manager of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the UNCSA and conducted by Piedmont Opera’s General Director, James Allbritten.
The show has an all-star cast that includes world famous tenor René Barbera as the Duke of Mantua, soprano Amy Maples, originally from Chattanooga, as the sheltered Gilda and baritone Robert Overman in the title role.
Opening performance at the Stevens Center of the UNCSA in Winston-Salem, N.C., will be on Friday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m., with two additional performances on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 336-725-7101 or online at PiedmontOpera.org.
Verdi’s tale of passion, revenge and sacrifice is a classic of the opera repertory featuring some of his most famous music, including the instantly recognizable aria ‘La donna è mobile’ (Women abandon us).
Based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse (The King Has Fun), Rigoletto is considered to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career. Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. The opera's original title, La maledizione (The Curse), refers to the curse placed on both the Duke and Rigoletto by a courtier whose daughter had been seduced by the Duke with Rigoletto's encouragement. The curse comes to fruition when Gilda likewise falls in love with the Duke with catastrophic consequences.
René Barbera is a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center and of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute. He has swiftly established himself as one of the most exciting and sought after singers of his generation. At Placido Domingo’s Operalia 2011 in Moscow, he was awarded first prize for both Opera and Zarzuela and the Audience Prize: the first artist to be the sole recipient of all three awards since the competition began in 1993. He performed Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) for his debuts with Seattle Opera and Los Angeles Opera, Arturo (I Puritani) for his Opera National de Paris debut and Tonio (La Fille du Regiment) for his debut with Opera Theatre St Louis. Other engagements include Ernesto (Don Pasquale) with the Lyric Opera Chicago; Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) with Opera National de Paris, the Los Angeles Opera, Michigan Opera and Moscow’s Stanislavky’s Music Theatre; Ramiro and Iopas (Les Troyens) for San Francisco Opera; Rodrigo (La Donna del Lago) for Santa Fe Opera; Nemorino (L’Elisir d’amore) for Austin Lyric Opera and Opera Theatre St Louis and Tonio with Greensboro Opera. In the summer of 2015 he made his debut at the Pesaro Festival in La Gazza Ladra.
Robert Overman, who will sing the title role of Rigoletto, was educated at UNC-Greensboro and at the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, Austria. While a student, Mr. Overman won both the National Metropolitan Opera auditions and National Opera Association Auditions. He made his European debut in the role of Scarpia in Tosca in the Grosses Festspielhaus (Grand Festival Hall) in Salzburg. He debuted in the Salzburg Festival the next year. Mr. Overman served as principal baritone in the national German opera house in Karlsruhe and the international opera house in Bonn before becoming a freelance artist. He performed leading roles in including the title roles in Verdi’s Nabucco and Rigoletto, Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata, Don Carlos in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Enrico in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen and Iago in Verdi’s Otello. Mr. Overman sang with such noted singers as: Katja Riccerelli, Giuseppi Giacomini, Barbara Daniels, Vladimir Atlantov, Waltraud Meier, Julia Varady, Sherrill Milnes and Placido Domingo in venues such as Vienna, Zurich, Bern, Basel, Strasbourg, Nice, Montpelier, Warsaw, Torino, Luxembourg, Heidelberg, Nüremberg, Leipzig, Weimar, Aachen, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, Kiel, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Munich Houston, San Francisco and New York. He has appeared with Piedmont Opera as Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca, Renato in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, Germont La Traviata, and the Father in Hansel and Gretel. He also sang the role of King Melchior in Piedmont Opera’s Amahl and the Night Visitors for three years. He was a soloist for the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Messiah and Orff’s Carmina Burana.
American soprano Amy Maples performs the role of Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda. This is her debut as Gilda. Ms. Maples is a Tennessee native who currently resides in Denver, Co. with her new husband and furry child. Quickly gaining a reputation for her crystalline coloratura, relentless high notes, and witty theatrics, Ms. Maples compels audiences with her fearless artistry and attention to detail. Performing with such orchestras as the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestra Kentucky among others, Ms. Maples is making her mark as a respected concert soloist as much as an operatic performer. She was the 2014 recipient of the Pike’s Peak Opera League Career Grant Award. She received her MM in Voice Performance from Florida State University where she studied with tenor Stanford Olsen, after receiving her BM in Voice Performance at Lee University in her home state of Tennessee.
Piedmont Opera receives funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council.
