Album

Mustering up his most menacing grimace for the front cover image—and looking a little like the way Victor McLaglan looked in John Ford's The Informer—bass-baritone Bryn Terfel delivers his latest DG offering, Bad Boys, a collection of arias drawn from the repertoire of the bad guys in opera: Mephistopheles, Scarpia, Iago, Sportin' Life, and others. Terfel is very much in his element and on his game here, and the recording is gloriously full and well detailed, featuring the Swedish Radio Symphony under Paul Daniel with the expert Swedish Radio Choir tipping in at key points. The orchestrations are all original, so those who complained about the contemporary-styled orchestrations on some of Terfel's more crossover-flavored projects should have no reason to carp with Bad Boys, save the one created for "Stars: There, out in the darkness" from Les Misérables. Indeed, the weakest selections seem to be the more contemporary ones—"Moritat" and "It ain't necessarily so"—but these make up only a small part of a menu consisting of 15 items here. Terfel has been struggling for some time leading up to this to deliver an album that will please his fan base, split between camps that either favors opera or those who just his like voice generally and don't necessarily care for opera. Bad Boys is a good concept and this disc should appeal to most everyone in Terfel's retinue; it gives every appearance of having been compiled with care with an eye toward good taste, even if the subjects of these various roles were inherently "bad."

© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi

CD 1
Arrigo Boito Composer Mefistofele (opera)...Act 1: Easter Sunday - The Pact Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
1	7.Son lo Spirito che nega sempre tutto	3:39			$0.99
Giacomo Puccini Composer Tosca (opera)...Act 1 Work Balcarras Crafoord Baritone, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
2	16.Tre sbirri, una carrozza...Te Deum	4:23			$0.99
Gaetano Donizetti Composer L'elisir d'amore (opera)...Act 1 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
3	9.Udite, udite, o rustici	7:15			$1.49
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Otello (opera)...Act 2 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
4	2.Vanne! la tua meta già; 3.Credo in un Dio crudel	4:42			$0.99
Carl Maria von Weber Composer Der Freischütz, Op.77 (opera)...Act 1 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
5	10.Caspar's Aria: Schweig! Schweig! Der Holle Netz hat dich	3:12			$0.99
George Gershwin Composer Porgy and Bess (opera)...Act 2 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
6	11.Scene 2: It ain't necessarily so	3:50			$0.99
Kurt Weill Composer Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera; opera)...Prelude Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
7	2.Moritat von Mackie Messer (The Ballad of Mack the Knife)	2:56			$0.99
Sir Arthur Sullivan Composer Ruddigore (operetta) Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
8	When the night wind howls	2:33			$0.99
Stephen Sondheim Composer Sweeney Todd, musical play Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Anne Sofie von Otter Mezzo-Soprano, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
9	Epiphany	3:17			$0.99
Claude-Michel Schoenberg Composer Les Miserables, musical Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
10	Stars: There, out in the darkness	3:10			$0.99
Amilcare Ponchielli Composer La Gioconda, opera in 4 acts Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
11	O monumento!	4:16			$0.99
Gioacchino Antonio Rossini Composer Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville; commedia)...Act 1 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
12	18.La calunnia è un venticello	3:28			$0.99
Ludwig van Beethoven Composer Fidelio, Op.72 (opera)...Act 1 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
13	7a.Piazarro's Aria with Chorus: Ha! Welch ein Augenblick!	3:07			$0.99
Charles Gounod Composer Faust (opéra)...Act 2 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
14	4.Le veau d'or est toujours debout (Song of the Golden Calf)	2:05			$0.99
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Composer Don Giovanni, K.527 (opera buffa)...Act 2 Work Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Orchestra, Bryn Terfel Bass-baritone, Arne Lundmark Chorus Master, Sveriges Radiokor Chorus/Choir, Paul Daniel Conductor
15	29.Don Giovanni, a cenar teco m'invitasti	6:20			$0.99