Singing the role of Baron Scarpia – the corrupt and lusting antagonist of Puccini’s Tosca – is like meeting an old friend, says bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes.

“If you were mad enough to have a friend like Scarpia,” he laughs. “He’s hardly the greatest guy around.”

Opera at Jimbour, 2023. Photo supplied

Tahu Rhodes is preparing to sing the murderous role during this year’s Opera at Jimbour event at Jimbour House, a historic homestead near Dalby on Queensland’s Western Downs, about 180km to the east of Brisbane. It’s a part he’s deeply familiar with, having sung it in several productions of Tosca previously, such as the West Australian Opera staging in 2017.

“I’m finding it’s a more role interesting role as I get older,” Tahu Rhodes says. “The singing is different, certainly. Some of the things I found difficult when I was younger are much easier now, particularly when it comes to the kind of stamina required, because it’s such a weighty voice. But I also think the way I see Scarpia as a character has a bit changed over the years, too.”

“When I was younger, the temptation was...