I must start with the surprise of the evening: baritone Michael Chioldi as Rigoletto. His is a true Verdian voice that displays booming power, tender softness, ravaging tragic colors, and that “lagrima nella voice” (the Italian “tear in the sound”—that certain essence of sorrow that practically elicits tears from the audience). This is what a true Verdi baritone does: he is at once capable of heartbreaking, multilayered tenderness and of unleashing an abundance of vocal power that gives the impression that he has hardly reached his limit and has even more to offer behind those roof-blowing cascades of sound.