I am engaged to play the title role in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro this summer. It's a joy AND a challenge. This is my third go-around of this opera, and my first essaying of Figaro in English. My first experience of this opera was in graduate school as Dr. Bartolo. What a mistake. This role is traditionally cast as a basso buffo, and at the time I just didn't have the low notes. My sound is slightly darker and much fuller now thanks to wonderful teachers like Seth McCoy and Steven Tharp, but I am still a lyric baritone and proud of it. I played Count Almaviva in my second production of Nozze years later. That role was a perfect fit for me, musically and dramatically.

I am thankful to have been invited to join this production, but I have to admit that I have to be vigilant in my concentration while I'm onstage with the baritone and basso who sing Count Almaviva and Dr. Bartolo, so I don't sing their lines!

Figaro is a challenge, as his arias are high, but his ensemble parts are quite low. In every ensemble, Figaro sings the lowest line. In the Act IV finale, Mozart groups together Figaro with Antonio and Bartolo; in the Act III sextet, Figaro's line is a third below Bartolo's. This is an especial challenge for me, as our Bartolo for this production is young basso cantante with solid, resonant low notes. Well, I'm not worried about it....I researched some recordings and DVDs to see how other lyric baritones have fared as Figaro. As I suspected, sometimes you can hear the singer in question, sometimes you can't. There are so many elements that come into play here: where the singer playing Figaro has been blocked onstage, how many other singers are onstage singing simultaneously, the dynamics written for the orchestra and the voices, on and on. So I'm not going to worry if you can't hear a low-lying phrase here or there. It's happened to plenty of very fine (and more famous) singers before me!

In this production (Light Opera Co of Salisbury -- see my "Upcoming Performances" news block on this page), I'm very lucky to work with my friend and colleague, mezzo-soprano Toby Newman. Toby is gifted singer, and she makes a dynamite Cherubino. The role is a perfect fit for her, both musically and dramatically. She and I met and worked together on another Mozart piece, La finta giardiniera, produced by Little Opera Theatre of New York. I played Nardo, while Toby was the chambermaid Serpetta. The libretto for La finta giardiniera is not as sophisticated as Da Ponte's Le nozze di Figaro, so its depiction of romantic intrigue can come off as convoluted instead of complex. Nardo and Serpetta spend most of the opera embroiled in a farce that is brimming with sexual tension. After clawing and scratching at each other, Serpetta finally resigns herself to the obligatory happy ending, and agrees to marry Nardo in the opera's finale. Toby was a consummate professional and lots of fun. Working with her again is one of the highlights of my summer.