Barihunk Feast at Castleton Festival in Virginia

Matthew Worth (above)

Paul LaRosa (above)

Allen Boxer (above)

Adrian Kramer (above)

Michael Rice (above)

If you want an unbelievable barihunk feast for the eyes, head to Virginia for Lorin Maazel's Castleton Festival. Whenever, there is a lot of Benjamin Britten on the program, you can pretty well be guaranteed that there will be some eye candy and Castleton has gone all out.

Recent performancees of "The Rape of Lucretia" have kept this site busy, as opera companies are realizing that casting barihunks in this opera makes the rape scene all the more powerful. We predict that Matthew Worth will become known as the greatest Tarquinius to ever grace the stage. He'll be reprising the role that he performed here a few years ago when he caught the attention of opera houses across the globe. Worth has already become a favorite on this site, frequently getting more hits than better known barihunks.

The hunky Paul LaRosa also returns to this opera after honing his skills at the Merola Opera Program and at Julliard. He'll be playing Junius. We've seen La Rosa onstage and off and we can attest to his raw sexuality. Check out his shirtless picture if you don't believe us!

Collatinus will be played by Allen Boxer, a bass-baritone from Cincinnati. He is also returning in the same role. Apparently the mantra at Castleton is, "Why mess with a good thing?"

Adrian Kramer is a graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and is also making his return to the festival as Sid in "Albert Herring." He has already performed the barihunk role of Papageno and we're hoping that there are plenty more to come. Check out his MySpace page where you can hear some amazing sound clips. This guy has quite a future.

Even John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera" is getting in the barihunk act. Mr. Peachum will be played by Michael Rice, a recent graduate of the master degree program at the Manhattan School of Music who has previously worked with Maestro Maazel

For more information visit: http://www.chateauville.org/event/program/castleton_festival_the_rape_of_lucretia_6

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Happy 4th: Celebrating American Barihunks

We can't think of a better way to celebrate the 4th of July than to celebrate our country's abundance of Barihunks. Here are some of our favorite baritones from the good old United States of America. These guys will make the fireworks go off!


David Adam Moore (above)

Tom Forde (above)

Tom Corbeil (above)

Kyle Ketelsen (above)

Randal Turner (above)

Rod Gilfry (above)

Nathan Gunn (above)

Michael Todd Simpson (above)

Chris Herbert (above)

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Nathan Gunn in Pearl Fishers

Here is your chance to enjoy three minutes of a shirtless Nathan Gunn and a nice shot of him from the rear. This video shows why he has remained one of our three most popular barihunks since the site was started.

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Matthew Treviño: Devilishly Hot

One of our favorite things about running this site is showing the world that there is opera outside of New York. There is a wealth of talent working in "second tier" opera companies and often the performances are much more gratifying. Singers like Matthew Treviño bring an intensity and presence to the stage that may get lost in Renee Fleming's long shadow on the stage of The Met.

This devilishly good looking bass has charmed audiences in cities like Ft. Worth, Sacramento, Kansas City, Dallas, Detroit and Santa Barbara. As you can see from the photo on the bottom, Matthew Treviño can even make Colline in La Boheme look sexy. Of course, we prefer him as a soldier in Salome exposing some skin. We won't even make a joke about him playing Dick Deadeye in Kansas City!

Like many barihunks, he got his major break with the Fort Worth Opera, which has become ground zero for barihunkiness. Treviño went on to hone his skills at the prestigious Merola Opera Program where he first caught our eye.

The Texas native graduated from Baylor University and was a finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Foundation Competition, Dallas Opera Guild Competition, Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Voice Competition, Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition, and was the recipient of the Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence at Baylor University.

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Quirijn de Lang Caught With His Shirt On

We've featured Quirijn de Lang on this site three time before, but this is the first time with his shirt on! He's still sexy as the fully clothed Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola at Garsington Opera. The opera also features barihunk Joshua Bloom as Alidoro, so this production is a true feast for the eyes. For some reason pictures of Bloom are really difficult to find (is anyone at Askonas Holt listening?).

There are still two peformances left: http://www.garsingtonopera.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=32. If you want to see our previous post of de Lang, click here: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/search?q=quirijn.

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Mario Caria Makes U.S. Mainstage Debut in Cincinnati

You have to give the Cincinnati Opera some credit. First, their recent Le Nozze di Figaro featured Barihunks favorite Teddy Tahu Rhodes, then they follow it up with American mainstage debut of Mario Caria. Caria, by the way, also made his U.S. debut at the Cincinnati May Festival. Maybe it's Cincinnati's famous chili, but whatever is bringing the barihunks to this quaint river town, keep 'em coming!

For more information visit: http://www.cincinnatiopera.org/content.jsp?articleId=719

The 32-year-old Sardinian has studied with famed soprano Mirella Freni and has won a series of prestigious vocal awards, including the audience prize at the 2007 Operalia competition. It's easy to see why he'd be an audience favorite, with his smoky Mediterranean good looks and perfect Verdian baritone.

His next U.S. appearance will be with the Washington National Opera portraying Figaro in Rossini's classic comedy: http://www.dc-opera.org/performances/barber.asp

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Michael Leibundgut Shows Some Skin

[Center photo: Regine Koerner, Munich]

We featured Michael Leibundgut back in May, but we didn't have any pictures at the time showing off his gorgeous body. Thanks to one tenacious reader in Der Schweiz, you can see more of what makes this teutonic beauty a barihunk. It looks like Michael is spending as much time at the gym as with his scores (and we're not complaining!).

The center photo features him in Aureliano Catteno's "La Philosophie Dans de Labyrinthe" from Munich. Apparently, Leibundgut was a hit. Here's the review from MusicWeb Live: "Michael Leibundgut, was particularly impressive as the Minotaur. Besides singing unaccompanied, he encompassed a vocal range from deep bass to falsetto, yet established a powerful presence in each register."

You can read more about him at: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2009/05/emerging-barihunk-michael-leibundgut.html

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