Bass Clef Envy

Perhaps the most perfect moment in opera is the 2nd Act finale of Le Nozze di Figaro. I'm listening to it now (in the new recording by Rene Jacobs, which, Simon Keenlyside's Count aside, I'm not taking to much), and I'm reminded how there are certain baritone and bass roles that I've always coveted.

The baritone parts always seemed the most interesting. Look at Figaro for instance. The Count is trying to use his power to sleep with Figaro's wife. When Figaro discovers this, he tries to outwit the Count with his cunning schemes. When was the last time you've heard the words wit or cunning used to describe anything having to do with a tenor?

The other part I always wished I could play was Scarpia. Here is an interesting character. Intelligent, clever and self-aware. "Come tu m'odi, così ti voglio!" He doesn't need charisma or romance to win Tosca, he has power and guile.

I'm not complaining, mind you. In my busiest days I got to sing some of the great romantic tenor roles (Rodolfo, Hoffman, Don Jose), but most tenor characters have always struck me as one-dimensional: fall in love, get the girl and then either she dies, you die or both. There are exceptions of course, but on the whole, not many in the core Italian/French repertoire that I sang. The mitigant is of course the beautiful music that you get to sing as a leading tenor. I guess I shouldn't kvetch. After all I did get to sing Che gelida manina et. al.

But for once, I would have loved to play the bad guy, the funny guy or maybe just the interesting guy.