I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with baritone Guido LeBrón about Rigoletto, and I was fascinated by how he perceives each of the facets of Rigoletto’s character, and how that personality is displayed through his singing. Hope you enjoy it as well!

We asked some of the artist from our upcoming production of Verdi’s Rigoletto what their favorite moment is:

What’s yours?

Research into the source material for Rigoletto led me on a relatively uneventful journey. It’s a straight-line road with only a single possible destination – Victor Hugo and his tragic play Le roi s’amuse. Verdi and his librettist Piave created such a respectfully faithful operatic version of the original drama that the comparisons scene to scene and character to character are essentially one to one and require no particular insight to parse at first glance. As I read through the Hugo work, though, I found myself fascinated with the malignant court jester Triboulet and began to understand Verdi’s particular attraction to his part in the tale. Verdi considered Triboulet a “creation worthy of Shakespeare” and after judiciously renaming him Rigoletto (based on the French rigoler – to laugh) he named the opera, and hence the entire story, after him.

While I listened later to the fantastic music of the opera and read the words of its main character, my mind kept going back to Triboulet, not Hugo’s character but the actual historical figure he was based on and the true headwaters of the inspiration that led to Rigoletto. Triboulet’s sad life among the nobility of 15th/16th century France must have been a constantly fitful volley between their laughter and scorn. His job, such as it was, included general entertainment, some occasional palace intrigue and, when the courtiers’ whims dictated, a limited taste of the privileged class. He was perfect for it, built for it in fact. His rapier wit made them howl. His finesse in the arts of foul play made him indispensable during their political sparring matches. And his unfortunate physical deformities required them to keep him at a comfortable, expensively-clad arm’s length. He was their fool, their hilarious, spiteful hunchbacked fool.

I had so many questions for him. What kind of toll does it take to suffer such disdain? And to know that your own actions will eventually make you worthy of it? And to do it all anyhow though you know enough secrets about the petty horrible people you work for to keep your beloved daughter hidden from them? Hugo’s Triboulet, like his more modern incarnation Rigoletto, was as much the author as victim of his personal tragedy. If only I could have asked him (the real one) about it. I understood him, I believed, and if I could have simply interviewed him, it might well have gone a little something like…

JC: So, when did you begin…performing for King Francis I?

Triboulet: It started before him actually, with King Louis XII. His majesty heard that his footmen were antagonizing the village idiot – me – and demanded I be presented to him. I suppose I…well, impressed him.

JC: Just like that? He made you his jester on the spot?

Triboulet: Of course. Look at me.

JC: Yeah, we should talk about that.

Triboulet: What’s to discuss? It is my lucky birthright to look as I do. The absurdly small size of my head is due to a condition called microcephaly. The hump is real too but, in truth, I do favor it a bit for effect. I was truly born to this life. This blessed life.

JC: I…okay. Was it different with Francis I? Your role in the court?

Triboulet: Role? With Louis I was a mere buffoon, a curiosity. Francis made me necessary. I was his Iago, more present in court than his chief consort.

JC: Really? Did you begin to feel like you were one of them? The nobility?

Triboulet: Of course! I spread their rumors for them. I delivered their insults when they feared to. I was the all-knowing shadow during all of their ridiculous jealousies. You don’t trust that sort of role to the fool. That is the function of a colleague.

JC: You can’t truly believe that.

Triboulet: No?

JC: No. You were a pet to them. They mocked you openly. Come on, why else would you have worked so hard to keep your daughter a secret?

Triboulet: You have me confused with Monsieur Hugo’s and Maestro Verdi’s versions of me. Sadly, I was childless.

JC: Oh…I apologize…

Triboulet: But had I been a father – and of a daughter no less – rest assured that I would have kept her away from the palace at all costs.

JC: Why?

Triboulet: It was no place for her. It was a place for vipers.

JC: Exactly, vipers! Including, by all accounts, you by the time King Francis began to tire of you.

Triboulet: Maybe so, maybe so. But I survived did I not?

JC: But at what cost? They treated every aspect of your existence with such smiling disgust. Not even your daughter was out of bounds. It drove you to arrange a murder!

Triboulet: Again, sir, you mistake me for…

JC: Right, sorry. At least please tell me how you survived. What did you have to become to endure it for so long, through two kings and countless other noble men?

Triboulet: Hmm. That question gives me pause.

JC: Take your time.

Triboulet: No, no. Time is something I want no more of. I will answer thusly: My tears were no less salty than their spit.

JC: I’m not sure I…

Triboulet: Look, you called my bluff correctly before. I was never their colleague. I was only their jester. But even a jester can make perfect use of himself, if cunning enough and willing enough to employ a certain viciousness on occasion. It is true that in their sport I was merely the ball, but it is just as true that without the ball, the games could not be played. I’ll ask you a question now that you, even though you have already answered in your preamble. Who is most remembered today? Did Maestro Verdi name his opera for one of the court lackeys? The monarch himself? Or even my daughter? Or did he name it for a fool?

Utah Symphony | Utah Opera invites community musicians to take part in our first annual Symphony Pro-Am. Adult amateur musicians can apply online for an opportunity to play the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in a side-by-side performance with Utah Symphony musicians and conductor Vladimir Kulenovic on March 29, on stage in Abravanel Hall.

For more information and to apply, visit our website!

I’m always happy when we can highlight some of the great work that comes out of our Utah Opera Scene Shop, and here’s a time-lapse video of one of the drops they just finished working on for our friends over at Ballet West:

Two weeks ago, five brave Resident Artists journeyed to Piute, Wayne, and Garfield counties to bring opera to the children of this beautiful yet remote region of Utah. The Utah Opera Resident Artists (Baritone-John Buffett, Pianist-Daveth Clark, Mezzo-Sishel Claverie, Soprano-Jennie Litster, and Tenor-Andrew Penning) go on 5 week-long tours throughout the year. While on this most recent tour they gave twelve performances in five days for approximately 1,000 students and teachers. The remote location of this tour gave the Resident Artists the unique experience of performing for two very small schools of eleven and fifteen students, each with only one teacher. The students were very appreciative of the entertainment and the teachers told the artists on multiple occasions, “these kids so rarely get programs like this.” Students at Escalante Elementary in Garfield County showed their appreciation by coming to school dressed in their Sunday Best.

During the tour, while they weren’t performing, the Resident Artists spent their free time exploring their beautiful natural surroundings. This included a hike in Capitol Reef to a lookout of Chimney Rock. It had just snowed and our Mexican mezzo, Sishel Claverie, got her first real experience with trekking through snow. The whole gang discovered that they should have brought along proper footwear.

Evenings included home-made meals and intense games of Hearts and Settlers of Catan. The communities were also very hospitable, allowing the Artists to practice for upcoming auditions and concerts in their churches and schools.

On the drive from Boulder to Escalante the young artists made frequent stops at scenic overlooks to get out of the van, take pictures, and read the information at these sights. They learned that before the road from Boulder to Escalante was built, supplies and deliveries between the towns were made via mule-trains. The artists found this very amusing since one of the pieces they perform in their “Opera Star” program for the elementary school kids is called “The Muleteer Duet,” from Offenbach’s La Perichole. Every time this duet is performed, Andrew Penning always explains to the kids that “a Muleteer is basically a delivery man who uses a mule to carry his deliveries,” and further he explains, “a Mule is a combination of a horse and a donkey.” So at their last show at Escalante Elementary, John Buffett, who was hosting the “Opera Star” performance, added the historical anecdote about mules and Muleteers in Escalante. During this show we also took a moment to observe that the time was 11:11 on 11/11/11 and that we should all make a wish.

After the last concert the Artists parted ways with John, Andrew, and Daveth heading back to Salt Lake City via Bryce Canyon National Park, while the girls, joined by Education Director Paula Fowler and Assistant Tracy Hansford, took the same journey home the following day after doing some more exploring in the Escalante area. Taking in the spectacular views of the hoodoos in the giant natural amphitheater of Bryce Canyon was certainly a fitting end to a magical tour.

Concertgoers this past weekend might have spotted something unfamiliar and intriguing in the lobby of Abravanel Hall – an interactive, educational display presented by our Symphony Season Sponsor – UBS. We’ve been working with UBS for the past few months on the project, and we’re thrilled to present Classical Connections – A Listen and Learn Experience.

The purpose of Classical Connections is to further engage Utah Symphony guests during their experience at the hall, offering a new level of contextual understanding about the various connections that each performance has to other disciplines, art forms, and community issues. It’s basically another way for us to make your experience at the symphony as insightful and enjoyable as possible!

In the coming weeks, you can plan on seeing the display at most concerts, with various rotating content topics that relate to that evening’s repertoire. This past weekend, Classical Connections featured information about the human voice and how it is such a versatile musical instrument. It was a pleasure for us to also work with the National Center for Voice and Speech to compile most of the educational content for this particular display.

Come join us this weekend for the Messiah Sing-In to see this particular content rotation of Classical Connections up in the lobby again, and don’t forget to share YOUR voice on the display’s comment board as well as with the 3,000-voice audience choir that will fill the hall each night!

Happy Belated Birthday to German pianist and composer Fanny Mendelssohn, who was born 206 years ago. Fanny was the older sister of Felix Mendelssohn, but she was a talented composer and pianist in her own right.

Fanny Mendelssohn’s musical talent was tolerated by her father, but she didn’t receive the musical training and encouragement that her brother did. She was primarily self-taught. Fortunately her husband was supportive of her composing and performing in private salons. Her first, and probably only public performance took place when she was 33, performing her brother’s first piano concerto. Fanny composed over 450 pieces, most of them solo piano works. Most of her works were unpublished during her lifetime, or published under Felix’s name, but the year before her death she decided to publish a song collection under her name.

Fanny wrote many solo piano works entitled Song Without Words. Here’s one of them:

The Utah Opera Resident Artists have a busy week this week – they are traveling to Layton High School, Lomond View Elementary, North Layton Jr. High, Decker Lake Elementary, and Mountain View Elementary!

If you or your children attend this schools, keep a look out, and cheer on the Resident Artists!

We are very excited for the performance this weekend – Berlioz’ Childhood of Christ. If you’ve noticed a bit more Berlioz being programmed lately, it’s because our Music Director, Thierry Fischer, is a huge Berlioz fan. In his own words:

“I don’t just like Berlioz, I need to perform Berlioz very regularly. He’s a composer very close to my inspiration. He wrote music by putting his own life in music, so it’s very easy to identify all his troubles, fears, hopes, nightmares. His imagination was absolutely stupefying.”

Childhood of Christ is a very interesting work for many reasons. First, Berlioz was not a religious man, so the fact that he composed a “sacred trilogy”, as he called it, was unusual. But he was a huge fan of church music, so that was his inspiration. Second, it’s one of the few works of his that the audiences and critics of the time actually liked! They usually felt that his music was bizarre sounding, but they loved how simple and melodic this work is:

During the second performance on December 24, calls of “encore” drowned out the Alleluias at the end of “The Repose of the Holy Family,” prompting the composer to turn to the audience and shout, “We’re going to play the piece again, but this time please allow it to finish.”
- John Mangum, Program Designer/Annotator, Los Angeles Philharmonic

For such a beautiful work, it doesn’t get performed very often, perhaps because of the large chorus and soloists needed. If you’re a fan of choral music, this is a concert you won’t want to miss!

NPR Music had a great article two years ago about the piece, which includes a complete recording! Check it out!