“The villain in both operas is played with menace and malice by baritone Quinn Kelsey. He’s a Lyric favorite, having first made a strong impression when he was a member of the company’s Ryan Center. Here, he exudes both sexual strength and a kind of Mafioso masculinity. He deploys the dark aspects of his voice with lethal flair.”
“Despite his mobster-like social promotion, Kelsey’s Alfio is clearly still someone you don’t want to mess with. Singing fluently with his dark, oakey tone, the baritone delivered a spirited account of his aria and conveyed the lurking violence beneath the character’s respectable exterior in his duet with Santuzza…
Quinn Kelsey’s great night continued as Tonio. The baritone delivered a virtual seminar with his magnificently sung and acted Prologo before the curtain, ideally setting the stage for the drama to follow. In the opera proper, Kelsey conveyed the affecting heartbreak of the disabled troupe member who loves Nedda but is treated with cruel contempt by her, leading him to take revenge by revealing her adultery to her husband.”
““Pagliacci” starts off fabulously well with Kelsey’s magnificently sung prologue.”
“Baritone Quinn Kelsey’s Alfio was loaded with smarmy confidence and vocal velvet…. The musical pleasures continued in “Pagliacci.” Kelsey traded in his “Cavalleria” small-town mob boss for a splendid portrait of the vindictive clown Tonio and delivered the famous “Prologue” with possibly the most aural allure heard in this music at Lyric since Cornell MacNeil decades ago.”
