Rare barihunk trio in Puccini's Tosca

Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Marco Vratogna and Douglas Williams

Puccini operas aren't known for great baritone roles, like Verdi or Wagner, and certainly not a lot of great barihunk roles. Gianni Schicchi is a dying old man, Michele is an old barge operator, Jack Rance is the law and order town sheriff with his eye on the girl, Scarpia is usually played as a lecherous old police chief and The Bonze is usually a despicable old relative.

The only Puccini opera where we regularly get one and sometimes two barihunks is La bohème where the young Parisians often include a sexy Marcello and lower-voice Colline. So imagine our delight when we learned that the online broadcast of the composer's Tosca would include the barihunk trio of Marco Vratogna as Scarpia, Alexander Tsymbalyuk as Cesare Angelotti and Douglas Williams as Sciarrone. We've always liked the idea of a younger Scarpia, as it adds some sexual tension to the Act II "seduction" scene with Tosca.

The trio will join Kristine Opolais as Tosca and Marcelo Alvarez as Mario Cavaradossi for the Berlin Philharmonic's fifth visit to the Easter Festival of the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.

The performance will be on Arte TV for free starting on April 17th.

All-Star Don Giovanni in Baden-Baden with Schrott & Pisaroni

Erwin Schrott as Don Giovanni (left) and Faust (right)

It's no secret that we love Mozart's Don Giovanni, since it's not only one of the greatest operas ever written, but it seems to provide us with an endless supply of barihunks. The Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, Germany has not only given us two of the most prominent barihunks in the world, but an all-star cast from top to bottom that would be the envy of any opera company in the world.

Erwin Schrott as Don Giovanni and Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, head a cast that includes Anna Netrebko as Donna Anna, Charles Castronovo as Don Ottavio, Jonathan Lemalu as Masetto and Malena Ernman as Donna Elvira. Performances will run from May 17-26 and tickets are available online.

Luca Pisaroni sings Leporello's Catalogue Aria. 

On June 1, Schrott will return to his Rojotango tour of Argentinian tangos and folk songs by Astor Piazzolla and Pablo Ziegler throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Luca Pisaroni will be flying to the United States to join the Milwaukee Symphony in performances of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius on May 31 and June 1. Joining him will be mezzo Tamara Mumford and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey.