Teddy charms

“There could not have been a more dashing, roguish Count than the New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes,” writes Janelle Gelfand in a Cincinnati Enquirer review of Cincinnati Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro, in which Tahu Rhodes played the philandering Count Almaviva. “He was commanding whenever onstage, as he grew more and more baffled at the events around him, and his nuanced baritone was a joy.” Bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu also performed, in the role of the Count’s valet Figaro. “His Act IV aria, ‘Aprite un po’ quegli’ occhi,’ warning men about women, was his finest moment.”