Giuseppe Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno (King For A Day) will open the 50th anniversary season for Toronto’s VOICEBOX: Opera In Concert. The performance will take place on November 5.
The production features an all-Canadian cast. It’s a rarely performed opera that Verdi wrote early in his career — and which almost caused him to quit operas altogether.
The Opera
Of all his operatic works, Un Giorno di Regno is among the least known, and is rarely performed. It was written to a libretto by Felice Romani, and based on a play by the French writer Alexandre-Vincent Pineux Duval.
Verdi sadly saw the premiere of his comedic opera in two acts hissed off the stage by audiences at its premiere in 1840 at Teatro alla Scala. Verdi had been commissioned to write this, the first of three projected operas, based on the success of his debut, Oberto, in 1839. During the period he composed it, his wife and child both died.
The remaining performances were canceled, and the negative reaction caused Verdi to temporarily turn away from opera; lucky for music lovers, he was persuaded to come back to the genre. The opera was remounted a few years later in Rome and Naples, where it was well received.
The Story
The opera’s story is propelled by a real historical figure, King Stanislaus I of Poland. During the early 1700s, he lost, then regained, then lost his throne, and ended up in exile in France. The opera takes place in 1733, when he leaves the Cavaliere di Belfiore, a French officer, to impersonate him in France while he returns to Poland in secret.
The plot involves unwanted betrothals, one of which involves the Marchesa del Poggio, who will notice the impersonation when she arrives at the castle Kelbar. Naturally, after a twisted path, true love and justice prevail.
The Cast
Baritone Cesar Bello (Belfiore)
Cesar Bello began vocal training in his native Mexico before moving to Italy to continue his studies. There, he studied at the Accademia Lirica Osimo, or International Academy of Lyric Art. The academy was founded in 1979 in Osimo in order to specialize in training young opera singers. Cesar went on to perform with the Teatro dell’opera di Roma in 2012. Since coming to Toronto in 2013, he’s performed in a variety of roles and in recitals, including with BrottOpera. Cesar has performed a wide variety of roles in Mexico and Italy as well as in Canada, with a repertoire that includes Morales in Bizet’s Carmen, Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Mozart’s and Fauré’s Requiems, among many others. He’s become a company favourite with VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert, where he’s performed a variety of roles.
Soprano Holly Chaplin (Marchesa)
Lyric coloratura soprano Holly Chaplin is based in Toronto. She began studying music with piano lessons at age six, and is a graduate of York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Voice performance. In 2019, she received the Stuart Hamilton Memorial Foundation Award for Emerging Artists, and won first prize in Women on the Verge SongSLAM Competition. She’s performed with companies such as Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera By Request, and The Toronto Choral Society, among others across Ontario. Internationally, she sang in the Netherlands for Camerata De Bardi Opera Festival in Ubbergen (Gilda in Rigoletto), and under conductor Samuel Tamarit-Orteo with the Flehite Sinfonietta in Amersfoort (Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi). She premiered the role of Leontine in Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme with Opera in Concert, conducted by David Fallis, and the role of Persephone in Elizabeth Raum’s opera Romance of the Gods. She’s on a recital tour with New Opera Lyra.
Baritone Justin Welsh (Barone di Kelbar)
Baritone Justin Welsh just finished a highly successful run as Schaunard in the Canadian Opera Company’s acclaimed La Boheme. A native of British Columbia, Justin was one of the participants in Pacific Opera Victoria’s first Young Artist programme, and made his company debut in 2005. He’s since returned to Pacific Opera Victoria to perform in several productions, including Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, and Don Giovanni. In 2022-23, he performed in the premiere of Tapestry Opera’s Of the Sea, and appeared Tim Brady’s Backstage at Carnegie Hall in Montreal, among other engagements. He’s a former member of the COC’s Ensemble Studio, and has performed extensively throughout Canada and in the US. Justin holds a Masters of Music degree from the University of British Columbia.
Tenor Tonatiuh Abrego (Edoardo di Sanval)
Tonatiuh holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Voice Performance from the Schulich School of Music in Montreal, and he is a graduate of the Calgary Opera Emerging Artists programme. He is also the winner of the St. Andrew’s council of the arts International Aria Competition. Tonatiuh has performed across Canada and in the US, including tours with Jeunesse Musicales du Canada, and various roles with the Canadian Opera Company. In Toronto, he’s also performed several roles with Toronto Operetta Theatre, and Opera Sustenida. He also occasionally performs with his sibling Nayeli Abrego, a New York based musical theatre artist.
The cast is rounded out by Belle Cao (Giuletta) and Handaya Rusli (La Rocca), both recent alums of Toronto’s prestigious Summer Opera Lyric Theatre (SOLT) programme.
Suzy Smith will act as Music Director and pianist, with dramatic advisor, lighting and décor by Guillermo Silva, and Robert Cooper as Chorus Director.
The performance takes place at the Jane Mallet Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on November 5. Tickets and more information [HERE].
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