The production’s high points were Harmer’s duets with Michael Chioldi as the Dutchman. and the pair’s chemistry was palpable from the moment their characters met.

Chioldi, who last worked with Utah Opera in its 2019 production of La Traviata, has a deep, rich voice that matched Harmer in power and intensity, and he displayed striking musicality, especially when singing directly to Senta…….he gave his character a weight and gravitas that made his suffering real and believable as the production progressed.

The wonderful cast is led by Michael Chioldi, as Henry, with a firm and attractive baritone; he commands the stage whenever he sings. Chioldi was recently in the spotlight when he was seen at the Met in the new production of RIGOLETTO, singing the title role on short notice.

I must start with the surprise of the evening: baritone Michael Chioldi as Rigoletto. His is a true Verdian voice that displays booming power, tender softness, ravaging tragic colors, and that “lagrima nella voice” (the Italian “tear in the sound”—that certain essence of sorrow that practically elicits tears from the audience). This is what a true Verdi baritone does: he is at once capable of heartbreaking, multilayered tenderness and of unleashing an abundance of vocal power that gives the impression that he has hardly reached his limit and has even more to offer behind those roof-blowing cascades of sound. 

"Michael Chioldi, stepping in for an indisposed Quinn Kelsey, scored a triumph in the title role. His baritone is muscular and grand, but can be scaled back for intimate moments with Gilda. His “Cortigiani” was a damning attack on the courtiers he so despises and later, a pathetic plea – warm, sad and tragic. His superb enunciation of the text allowed for a truly terrifying spitting out of the vicious moments – “Si, vendetta” was dangerous."

Those fortunate enough to be in Carnegie Music Hall last evening enjoyed a genuine treat. Michael Chioldi, a truly gifted baritone, sang his way through an interesting and generous program as the second Pittsburgh Festival Opera Legends in the Limelight offering.

As the title character Michael Chioldi is quite simply perfect. Not only does he give us every note in his beautiful baritone, he makes us feel his love, anger, pain and grief at every moment.

Michael Chioldi’s Rigoletto filled the theater with a darkly commanding baritone, while he lent the accursed role a measure of all but redeeming humanity.

Michael Chioldi commands every scene he is in as Giorgio Germont, Alfredo’s father.   As so often is the case with this opera, the most interesting relationship in the show is between the elder Germont and Violetta. Stentorian and incisive in his initial appeal for propriety, Chioldi’s voice and demeanor soften and warm as Germont realizes Violetta is a better woman than he imagined her to be.

I also thought that Michael Chioldi was magnificent as Giorgio Germont, the father.

Michael Chioldi’s performance as Giorgio Germont brings much to the character of Alfredo’s father. The moment he enters the stage, he sings with the commanding power and purpose of a protective father.

“Henry VIII” given full reign at Odyssey Opera

Michael Chioldi sang with a rich, clarion baritone that fully captured all facets of Henry’s tenderness, arrogance, and jealousy. When he sang of Anne in his Act 3 aria, he took on the personal warmth of any potential suitor. But Chioldi’s hefty singing also reflected the bitterness that Henry felt towards Catherine.  At opera’s end his lines smoothed out just enough to capture his concern when he learned that she is close to death.

“Amongst an entirely praiseworthy cast and powerful chorus, the three principals achieved outstanding dramatic and vocal results. Michael Chioldi’s dramatic baritone, an uncommonly versatile voice could summon royal magnanimity, stentorian obduracy, ingratiating charm, veiled or open threats, etc.”.

But the lead singers commanded the show from beginning to end. Michael Chioldi in particular made for a commanding Henry VIII: his mannerisms throughout the performance were pitch-perfect (he elicited some laughs from a particularly well-placed chuckle in response to Anne Boleyn asking him something in Act II), but his voice easily shone above all else. He easily overpowered Saint-Saëns’ thick orchestration with great ease, with a voice that could be both tender and menacing, often at the flip of a hat.

“The gifted Michael Chioldi appeared in the title role, and the audience was treated to some true, world class baritone singing. The voice is scaled for a venue larger than Jordan Hall. It is dark in timbre, and extremely focused. Moments such as Henry's Act IV monologue and the final passages of the opera were nothing short of thrilling.”

...Michael Chioldi embody Henry VIII in the seldom, no, very seldom performed opera by Saint-Säens at Odyssey Opera. Mr. Chioldi filled cavernous Jordan Hall with music of such power and volume that the roof lifted off, and then he took the music inside and sang with an audible splendor that would not blow the glisten off a dandelion. He showed us a monster of a man, cruel, savagely sensual, filled with doubt and rage and the guile of a wild boar rooting in our hearts. His wielding of text and exploration of character was extraordinary, the savage wit, the appetite, the lust disguised as sentimental attraction: this was Henry VIII. Astounding. This is what Opera can do. When it is sung by Michael Chioldi.

Michael Chioldi quite simply owns the role of Scarpia. Not only did he sing magnificently with his thrilling, utterly masculine baritone, but he gave us a Scarpia that the audience loved to hate. He gave us elegantly understated villainy, with an occasional glimpse at the vulnerability of a disturbed soul that desires love without really understanding it, and therefore perverts it

There must be a bad guy in opera, and Michael Chioldi was effective as Scarpia, the evil police chief who lusts after Tosca.  Chioldi used his deep baritone to build a character that was necessary to set up the opera’s central relevance for today, illuminating the Me Too movement.

Beczala is well complemented by the remarkable Miller of Michael Chioldi, brilliant at the third act.

The rest of the company also worked well including the brilliant, powerful, and well phrased Miller of Michael Chioldi.

It is not easy to program Luisa Miller, among other things because beyond the protagonist couple, it requires four other important voices (a baritone, a mezzo and two basses), almost like a Don Carlo. Michael Chioldi's Miller - whose timbre at times reminds one of the great Sherill Milnes - succeeded by the use of his powerful voice and thoughtful phrasing, especially in the second half of the show (splendid next to Radvanovsky in "Andrem raminghi e poveri".)

Michael Chioldi - A perfect Miller

Baritone Michael Chioldi, a local favorite, has appeared in major roles in five Austin Opera productions since 2013, and should be appearing regularly in all the leading houses in North America and Europe. A commanding figure on stage, his voice is enormous; he was totally credible as Iago, the very incarnation of evil.

Desdemona’s infidelity is a lie sold to Otello by his venomous ensign, Iago. Michael Chioldi, a familiar face and voice with Austin Opera, embraced the character’s malevolence with a macho swagger – feet set apart, arms thrown open, smile broad.

Red faced and evil-eyed Iago, played by Michael Chioldi, was venomous - much to the audience's delight. With Verdi's thematic focus of Catholicism, Iago's motivation differed from classical vengeance and more so as if our antagonist wore a friendship bracelet with the devil. A highlight BWW Review: Austin Opera Festively Reimagines Verdi's OTELLO in Austin, TXfrom Chioldi's performance was his rendition of "Inaffia l'ugola" or for the average audience member, "the drinking song from OTELLO". The coloratura Chioldi delivered was catchy and invited the audience to revel in his wickedness.

In a pleasing return, baritone Michael Chioldi’s voice has grown and ripened into something quite powerful since his appearance in WNO’s Lucia in 2011. Tall and ramrod straight of spine, he growled and threatened as Germont.

The villainous "Baron Scarpia" was superbly played by the baritone Michael Chioldi, who - in a powerful and well-modulated voice – matched the histrionic demands of the evil police chief who devises a Machiavellian intrigue to subdue to his lascivious deliriums the desperate Tosca who is willing to do anything to save her Cavaradossi from the scaffold . During the second act, Chioldi took hold of the audience's hatred; and the thunderous ovation he received at the end was a just recognition of his carats.

Baritone Michael Chioldi was extremely impressive in his portrayal of what is lowest in a human being. He took on Scarpia with absolute commitment: he abused his power, cursed, lied and tried to rape Tosca, dying by her knife in his attempt. His performance in the demented sequence of scenes during the second act, shares the masterful capacity to sing and embody evil that brought international fame to Justino Díaz.

American baritone Michael Chioldi scored a triumph as Gérard. His is a fine-grained instrument, wielded with power and finesse. Excellent not only in his singing but in his acting, he relished the chance to explore the contradictions of Gerard, certainly a character of greater complexity than many of opera’s baritone antagonists.

My personal favorite of the evening is Michael Chioldi as Germont, Alfredo's father. Chioldi wrings every ounce of feeling from every note he sings and brought tears to my eyes with his forgiveness and grace.

American Baritone, Michael Chioldi also had a double debut, who sang his first Carlo Gérard at the Liceu. His voice pleasantly surprised from its first moment having great dimensions and with generous harmonics, complex timbre and a dark color ideal for the role. Here his verismo voice sounded ideal for the performances, equaling the orchestral grandiosity with ease, a homogeneous and unalterable tessitura and a facility in the upper register of great power. With correct diction, Chioldi can only be reproached for improving the fluency of phrasing, he has a tendency to sing on the granite of the instrument that at times can remind one of the mythical Sherrill Milnes.