Baron Scarpia
Michael Chioldi
Baritone Michael Chioldi has received acclaim for his portrayal of the dramatic baritone roles of Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss. Recent role debuts include the title roles in Rigoletto with the Filarmónica de Jalisco in Guadalajara, Mexico; Macbeth with Palm Beach Opera, and Nabucco with Lyric Opera Baltimore; Conte di Luna in Il trovatore at the Utah Opera; Rodrigo in Don Carlo and Renato in Un ballo in maschera with Austin Lyric Opera; and Giacomo in Giovanna D’Arco for Chicago Opera Theater. His 2014-15 season included debuts as Macbeth at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman; Scarpia with Toledo Opera; Jochanaan at Virginia Opera; and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at New Orleans Opera. Mr. Chioldi has performed with nearly every major American opera company, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, and Los Angeles Opera, and appeared as Sharpless in the “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcast of the Washington National Opera and New York City Opera production of Madama Butterfly.
Carlo Guelfi
Italian baritone Carlo Guelfi has appeared at the world’s leading opera houses in signature roles, including La Scala (La Gioconda, Tosca, Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida); Metropolitan Opera (Rigoletto, Otello); Vienna State Opera (Il trovatore, Macbeth), and the opera companies of Rome, Florence, Bologna, Genoa, Venice, Zurich, Munich, Madrid, and Barcelona; as well as the Arena di Verona, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and the Salzburg Festival. In the opera house and concert platform, Mr. Guelfi has collaborated with conductors Semyon Bychkov, Daniele Gatti, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano, and Christian Thielemann, among others, and made recordings for EMI, Decca, and the RAI Trade label.