Verdi: Rigoletto

Giuseppe Verdi may have written his most glamorous and heroic roles for tenors, but he often assigned his more psychologically complex and conflicted character portrayals to baritones—and Rigoletto is just such a role: perhaps the greatest baritone role ever written. It demands not only a magnificent voice, but also a supremely gifted actor who is able to convey a broad range of emotions, human qualities, and inner subtleties. Enter universally beloved Dmitri Hvorostovsky: a prolific Delos artist and supreme Verdi baritone. The resplendent beauty and incomparable versatility of his voice is matched only by the depth of his interpretive soul.

In this—Dmitri’s first-ever (and long-awaited) complete recording of Rigoletto—he performs the title role magnificently, along with an all-star supporting cast. Choral-orchestral splendor comes courtesy of renowned maestro Constantine Orbelian, his Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, and the men of the Kaunas State Choir.