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. 

A revealing introduction of Erik E. Larsen

Erik E. Larsen "hulked out of his pants"

We try to keep it (relatively) tasteful on Barihunks, but what do we do when someone tweets this photo with the caption "Hulked out of my pants" and hashtags it #Barihunks?

That's what Erik E. Larson (@unamplified) recently did on Twitter, so why not share it with our readers. You should see the stuff that gets mailed to us that never sees the light of day!

Larson isn't just some random tweeter on Twitter, he's a serious student of voice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is just finishing his second year of study and has sung multiple times with the University Opera, including the role of Masetto in University Opera’s recent production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Earlier this year, he sang Samuel in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance with the Madison Savoyards.

Larson is also a member of the Madison Opera chorus, where he as sung in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Verdi's La Traviata, and Rossini's La Cenerentola.

We hope to see (ahem) lots more of Erik Larson (ahem, ahem). However, if he keeps tweeting about his love of "fried cream cheese" he may end up on BariChunks.

Christopher Job's traveling preacher off to save Idaho

Christopher Job

American barihunk Christopher Job has some exciting performances coming up this year. On May 25th, he will make his Carnegie Hall debut in Mozart’s Requiem with conductor Joseph Modica. He then returns to the Metropolitan Opera  from September 28 – October 26 in Shostakovich’s The Nose under the baton of Valery Gergiev. He'll be joined in the cast by fellow barihunk Paulo Szot, who is reprising his performance of the bureaucrat, whose satirical misadventures in search of his missing nose are based on Gogol’s comic story.

Samuel Ramey sings "Hear Me, O Lord, I beseech Thee" from Susannah:

In the meantime, Christopher Job will take on the role of the traveling preacher Olin Blitch in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah with Opera Idaho directed by Elise Sandell. Susannah is one of the most performed American operas, second to Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. A number of prominent baritones have taken on the role of Olin Blitch, including Samuel Ramey, Norman Treigle, James Morris, Mack Harrell and Daniel Okulitch. Performances are on May 17th and 19th at the Egyptian Theatre in Boise. Tickets are available online.