High Praise for La Rondine at Minnesota Opera
Critics hail Leonardo Capalbo as a definitive triumph in Minnesota Opera’s La rondine
Leonardo Capalbo and Celine Byrne in La rondine
“But it was Act Three before the evening really caught fire dramatically, in the festering performance of Ruggero by New Jersey tenor Leonardo Capalbo. Unleashing a voice with marked baritonal colorings and muscular heft, Capalbo railed at the rejection of his marriage proposal to Magda, the raw emotion of abandonment flung despairingly out into the Ordway arena. It was a riveting conclusion to a production that seemed often prim and proper in its examination of what happens when sex and money form a fatal combination, and love itself becomes the victim.”
- Terry Blain, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 2018
“But it’s also a love letter to love, and the principal singers make that equally palpable… Leonardo Capalbo proved endearing in his infatuation and passionately stormy when his dreams started to unravel.”