Arias is Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott's third solo recital album for Sony, the first a collection of arias and the second is made up of vocal tangos. There are a few standards here -- the Toreador Song, Le veau d'or from Faust, and the Te Deum scene from Tosca -- but for the most part these selections come from off the beaten track. There are arias or scenes from I Lombardi, Attila, Mefistofele, and Don Quichotte, as well as from real rarities like Antônio Carlos Gomez's Salvator Rosa and Pablo Sorozábal's zarzuela, La taberna del Puerto. Schrott seems even more vocally secure than he did in his 2008 debut album, particularly in his more focused intonation, and his voice has darkened somewhat. His is a powerful, resonant instrument full of color and character, and he deploys it with plenty of force in these high energy arias. The vast majority of the characters in these selections are villainous, and he tears into the roles with ferocious intensity. He's effective throughout, but he's especially impressive in the scenes from Mefistofele, Faust, Tosca, and the Verdi. A striking exception to the villainy is the tenderness and frailty he conveys in Don Quichotte's poignant death scene. Daniele Rustioni leads ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and Wiener Staatsopernchor in persuasive accompaniment. The sound is clean but the voice is foregrounded a little too prominently; the balance and ambience just don't sound realistic, like any actual live performance situation. That's not likely to be a deterrent to Schrott's fans, who won't want to miss these outstanding performances.