Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 15

Kelsey’s first extended run of Giorgio Germonts in La traviata began with Lyric Opera (2013) and included Zurich Opera (2015, below). ELSEY IS NOW WIDELY SPOKEN OF as the best of the Verdi baritone breed today. The great Italian bass Feruccio Furlaneto has com- pared him to such legendary singers as Piero Cappuccilli. In the US, his name is firmly en- sconced in a glorious line of American Verd- ians that includes Lawrence Tibbett, Leonard Warren, Robert Merrill, Cornell MacNeil, Sherrill Milnes, and Mark Delavan—a fact that Kelsey finds “pretty exciting. I mean, it freaks me out that people combine me with those greats. Wow. I chalk it up to responsibility. This is what I was trained to do, and if this luminous opportunity came along that I could represent the art form as this specific voice type; and if the art form would ac- cept—hell, choose me, I damn well better understand what I’m representing.” Along the way, he has had some poignant interfaces with predecessors. An opportunity to coach Rigoletto with Sherrill Milnes initially intimidated him, especially when a friend and colleague quipped that ‘taking Rigoletto to Milnes is like taking the Bible to God.’ “I didn’t know what to expect,” Kelsey recalls. “What will Milnes think of this nobody kid fromHawaii? I don’t have a pedigree, no big music school under my belt. We had a great time. He dug into everything with me. He gave me all these tricks he used. It was blowing my mind that he accept- ed me like that.” There was another meeting of giants in Dallas this past season when Kelsey sang Ford to the Falstaff of Mark Delavan. “The crazy thing was, I have covered him a bunch. Which is fine, I don’t mind picking up the rear with somebody like him. But I wondered what it was going to be like to be on his level. He walked up with this big smile and big hug. And the things we were able to do together because he was treating me like an equal, the moments we had! That was right up there with the best situation I could ever wish for. I would do it again in a heartbeat.” Kelsey now has throngs of fans and internet followers who celebrate his every move, and with whom he will occasional- ly interact online in his typical down-to-earth manner. “Again, that is part of the responsibility. It has been totally positive. I think about those remote types—I don’t want to be that guy. Authenticity is very important to me.” Needless to say, Chicago audiences adore the man. We have watched Kelsey from his early days singing small roles at Lyr- ic and Ravinia (he sang in concert presentations of Otello and Madama Butterfly in 2005 and 2007) on to international star- dom, and we have loved him all the way. He’s ours , damn it. “And I am more than happy to hear that,” he laughs, “Seriously. Chicago represents that last big chunk of my development. Peo- ple ask where I am from, and I say Chicago—born and raised in Hawaii for 25 years, but the last 16 in Chicago. I still keep my home address here. There are so many things I love about Chi- cago. Going to that one little restaurant or grocery store. My dad and I love to shoot pool, so going to that pool hall out west on Milwaukee and Lawrence. I feel like this recital is for the home crowd. I love doing recital work. I haven’t done one in Chicago in a while, and to be able to do it in such a prestigious venue as Ravinia—well, I feel like it is a nice Chicago homecoming. “I will always put the audience first,” Kelsey says firmly. “I will only do onstage what I would want to see if I were sitting in the audience. Because if it is not interesting enough, then why am I doing this? Why should that audience come back to any stage anywhere? This is one of the responsible things an artist must do, to make sure they do right by the audience. So, we are back to responsibility again!” Indeed. And back to his disarming authenticity, too. Mark Thomas Ketterson is the Chicago correspondent for Opera News . He has also written for the Chicago Tribune , Playbill , Chicago magazine, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. K ROBERT KUSEL/LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO (2013); TANJA DORENDORF (2015) 20 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 26, 2019 – MAY 9, 2020