Juha Uusitalo

"Juha Uusitalo the bass-baritone stole the show in his role as the suitably menacing depraved and lustful Baron Scarpia, the conspiratorial chief of police. Not only was the Finn in excellent voice so rich and characterful, his acting was superb too. Incredibly effective was his first act aria Va, Tosca! Nel tuo cuor s’annida Scarpia! with his ominously intimidating threats to ravish Tosca or have Cavaradossi hung at the gallows." (Tosca - Bayerische Staatsoper - Seen and Heard, May 2011)

"Central to these operatic excerpts was Finland's so-called answer to Bryn Terfel, the burly bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo. It's a claim that is not overstated. Both performances revealed a voice that can harness the power required to project above Wagner's orchestral might, yet still have the latitude to imbue the music with a poetry and passion that can be as subtle as it is explosive." (The Scotsman, August 2010)

"Elsewhere I have been effusive in my praise of Juha Uusitalo’s Wotan in the Valencia Ring. His greatest skill is to point up the vulnerability of Wagner’s great figures without losing the grandeur. So it was here: the searing pain of the Dutchman and the infinite regret of Wotan was etched into every note and the power of his interpretation was never in doubt. The highlight was the sequence at the end of the Dutchman’s monologue when he looks forward to Judgement Day, a climax the intensity of which I will remember for a long time." (Seen and Heard, August 2010)