One of the unfortunate things about this site is that we don't find as many Verdi barihunks as we'd like. Some roles scream barihunk casting, particularly Attila and we've featured it regularly. Most of the roles range from the G below low C to the A♭ above middle C (G2 to A♭4), which includes singers like Ettore Bastianini and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. However, most barihunks seems to have a sweeter, lighter and slightly higher placed voice, so we tend to post a disproportionate amount of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Handel and baroque opera.
So on the occasion of the debut of Verdi's Otello on this date in 1887, we decided to celebrate the role of Iago, who we think should be regularly cast as a barihunk, as it adds such a wonderful dimension to the storyline.
Here are two of our favorite barihunks, Tito Ruffo singing the opera's famed duet with Enrico Caruso and Dmitri Hvorostovsky singing Iago's Credo.
That is quite the maniacal laugh Hvorostovsky's got there. <3 <3 <3
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