Raves for Crossley-Mercer and Maltman in sexy Marriage of Figaro

Malin Christensson and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Los Angeles (Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times)

We posted about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Mozart -Da Ponte Trilogy awhile back. If you missed getting tickets for Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, you missed some serious eye-candy, with three barihunks who have been on this site. Leading the way was the sexy Figaro of Edwin Crossley-Mercer.  

The LA Times wrote, "Baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer was a distant, angry, virile yet, as Alaïa dressed him, metrosexual Figaro." After seeing the pictures, we would have added "smoking hot" to the list of superlatives. Also in the cast is Christopher Maltman as the Count. The LA Times wrote, "Maltman [wore] tight whites that only a powerful man could get away with, but Maltman is a magnetic baritone scarily uncowed. When outwitted, he still holds all the power, and he sang that way." In the small role of Antonio is Barihunk calendar model Brandon Cedel.

Dorothea Röschmann and Christopher Maltman (Genaro Molina)

There are still two performances remaining on May 23 and May 25. Conducting wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel is leading the orchestra. Visit their website for tickets.

If you want to catch Crossley-Mercer in the United States, you may want to catch one of these performances. When he wraps up on May 25th, he heads back to Europe for a series of concerts and operas in France and Germany. He kicks of on June 9th at the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen before heading to the Théâtre des Champs Élysées on June 20th for Fauré's Pénélope. There are no other U.S. performances listed on his schedule.

If you want to catch Brandon Cedel, he'll be appearing at the Wolf Trap Opera beginning on June 21st in Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims. That production also includes barihunks Aaron Sorensen, Norman Garrett and Steven LaBrie. Additional information is available online. 

Nathan Wyatt as Bobby Kennedy in new opera

Nathan Wyatt as Bobby Kennedy and Caitlin Vincent as Jackie Kennedy (Photo: Britt Olsen-Ecker)

Nathan Wyatt is new to this site and we discovered him singing the role of Robert Kennedy in the world premiere of Joshua Bornfield's Camelot Requiem. The North Carolina native has been involved with a number of world premieres lately including, Jake Heggie’s “Epilogue: Under the Blessing of your Psyche Wings,” as part of the Opera America Songbook, and William Bolcom’s “Gettysburg, July 1, 1863,” a commission by SongFest.

Camelot Requiem was commissioned by Baltimore’s Figaro Project in honor of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The opera tells the story of Jackie Kennedy and the small group who surrounded her immediately after the President’s death in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Caitlin Vincent's libretto is drawn from the written history of the event, as well as the traditional requiem mass.

Nathan Wyatt sings William Bolcom’s “Gettysburg, July 1, 1863”

North Carolina native Nathan Wyatt is a recent graduate of the Peabody Conservatory. He was awarded a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellowship for the summer of 2013. In September, Wyatt was one of two invited soloists, along with soprano Elizabeth Futral, to perform new works in the official opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Opera America National Opera Center in New York.

Nathan Wyatt

He received first place honors in the Maryland/DC chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and was a finalist in the Sylvia Green Competition in 2010.  Recent opera roles include Alexander Kerensky in the world premiere of Joshua Bornfield’s Strong like Bull, Le Directeur and Le Gendarme in Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro, Lescaut in Manon, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, and The Forester in The Adventures of Sharp-Ears the Vixen.  

In the fall of 2011, Mr. Wyatt made is Carnegie Hall debut under the direction of Marin Alsop in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s production of Arthur Honneger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher.

Peter Brathwaite chosen as one of four Dockers "Men of Style"

Peter Brathwaite

If that model in the Dockers ad looks familiar, it might be because you've seen him on a London opera stage, on the cover an Amore CD or even in the Barihunks calendar. Peter Brathwaite was chosen as a brand ambassador for the pants company Dockers. He was named one of four "Men of Style" in their new campaign.  The Dockers' "Men of Style" campaign showcases some of the most influential men in the world of style and their stories.

You can check out Peter Brathwaite's interview on the Dockers website, where he talks about his career, his favorite hangouts and his sense of style. You can also watch his video here:

You can next see the Manchester native live at the Brighton Festival where he's singing the role of Billy Bone in the world premiere of Captain Blood's Revenge, a pirate opera, produced by Glyndebourne with music by Lynne Plowman and words by Martin Riley. Performances are on May 24 and 25 and tickets are available online.

In June, he heads to the Nationale Reisopera in The Netherlands for Randal Corsen's new opera Katibu di Shon. The Opera “Katibu di Shon,” based on the novel Slave and Master, an “histoire perfumée” by Carel de Haseth, tells the story of Wilmu a slave owner, and slave Luis, two boys growing up together and their feelings for slave Anita. This triangle ends up in a confrontation between the two boys, between slave and master. The premiere will take place at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg in front of the new King of The Netherlands.

Aaron Sørensen to appear at (le) Poisson Rouge

Aaron Sørensen

We recently introduced Aaron Sørensen to readers when he was appearing with the Fort Worth Opera Festival. Now New Yorkers are going to get a chance to experience this gifted  and sexy young bass. He'll be appearing at (le) Poisson Rouge in an evening of music including Purcell, Gounod, Britten, Verdi, Mahler, and John Adams.

Gotham Chamber Opera and composer-in-residence Missy Mazzoli's band Victoire will be featuring Sorenson along with soprano Angela Fout, mezzo-soprano Abby Fischer and tenor Matthew Tuell in a night of music spanning 350 years. The show is on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at 7:30pm (doors open at 6:30pm) at 158 Bleecker Street in New York City. Tickets are $15-$25 and are available online.

Aaron Sørensen will be returning to the Fort Worth Opera Festival next season as the French General in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night.

Thomas Hampson named to Gramophone Hall of Fame

Thomas Hampson

Über-barihunk Thomas Hampson has been named to the Gramophone Hall of Fame, along with fellow singers Montserrat Caballé, Renée Fleming, Anna Netrebko, Leontyne Price, Bryn Terfel and Fritz Wunderlich.

The Gramophone Hall of Fame celebrates those performers, producers, engineers and label executives whose contributions to classical music recording, whether through artistic excellence, innovation or imagination, have proved the most influential and inspiring.

For a complete list of both the 2013 inductees and a list of everyone previously inducted, please visit the Gramophone website.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky's busy Verdi schedule; Red Square broadcast with Anna Netrebko

Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Rigoletto (left)

Dmitri Hvorostovsky's anticipated reprisal of the title character of Verdi's classic operatic tragedy Rigoletto is happening on Friday, May 17 at the Teatro di San Carlo. Gilda will be sung by Desirée Rancatore and performances run through May 25. Fellow barihunk Christopher Margiera is also in the cast as Marullo.

From June 2-12, the "Siberian Hunky" joins the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for concert performances of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera under the baton of music director Antonio Pappano. The concerts also feature Liudmyla Monastryrska and the thrilling Ulrica of Dolora Zajick.

On June 19, Dmitri will star in a spectacular open-air concert at Moscow's Red Square. Led by Constantine Orbelian, Hvorostovsky will be joined by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko for the landmark performance. The concert will be televised live on RUTV, with broadcasts scheduled on the Arte network and ZDF. We'll have additional details in a future post.

Netrebko, of course, is the wife of barihunk Erwin Schrott. They will be performing together at the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert in Vienna on May 24th.

Barihunks on the air from Lyric Opera of Chicago

Thomas Hampson

If you love great baritone singing, make sure to tune in your radio or go online to WFMT, Chicago's public radio station. The next three Saturday's will feature a bevvy of our favorite singers including three in this week's broadcast of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. The opera will feature the ageless barihunk Thomas Hampson in the title role alongside the riveting Ferruccio Furlanetto as Fiesco and rising superstar Quinn Kelsey as Paolo. Amelia will be sung by Krassimira Stoyanova and Adorno by Frank Lopardo.

Hampson is currently starring in Verdi's La traviata at the Wiener Staatsoper. 

Craig Verm

The following week barihunk Craig Verm can be heard as Albert in Massenet's Werther, in a cast that includes tenor sensation Matthew Polenzani in the title role and Sophie Koch as Charlotte. Verm opens as Ned Keene in Britten's Peter Grimes at the Des Moines Metro Opera on June 22nd.

On June 1st, Italian sex symbol Ildebrando D'Arcangelo takes on the very un-barihunk title role in Donizetti's Don Pasquale opposite the Norina of Marlis Petersen. D'Arcangelo is currently performing the role of Selim in Rossini's comic masterpiece Il turco in Italia at Barcelona's beautiful Gran Theatre del Liceu.

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo

Future broadcasts include Richard Strauss' Elektra, Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, Puccini's La boheme, Wagner's Die Meistersinger, Verdi's Rigoletto and Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with an all-star cast featuring barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and soprano Renée Fleming.