Mongolian baritone E.Amartuvshin, is getting ready for a new ‘Rigoletto’. He returned to La Scala in the title role less than two years after his debut there in “Aida” in October 2020. Bringing the role of the cursed court jester to La Scala is a personal milestone for Mr. E.Amartuvshin, 36. It is also a signature role, but never an easy one, especially at an opera house as prestigious as La Scala.

“I’ve sung the role of Rigoletto about 60 times, but this time at La Scala is a little bit intimidating and exciting,” E.Amartuvshin said in a phone interview from Milan last month, the day before rehearsals began.

After this “Rigoletto,” which runs from June 20 to July 11, E.Amartuvshin will sing in no fewer than five other Verdi operas in the coming months: “Nabucco” and “Aida,” in Verona this summer, followed this fall by “La Forza del Destino” in Parma, “Il Trovatore” in Florence and “La Traviata” in Vienna. He will repeat “La Traviata” for his Metropolitan Opera debut in January. It is the kind of schedule befitting in-demand opera singers who book engagements months or years in advance.

He began singing opera professionally after graduation — including “Prince Igor” and “Rigoletto” in Mongolia. He was a winner in the Operalia competition in 2012 and won the audience award at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2015.