Barihunks

Happy Birthday, Philip Glass; Matthew Worth Excels in Glass' Orphee at Virginia Opera

2012-01-31T06:40:00.000-08:00

Philip Glass, Martina Arroyo, Joyce DiDonato and Gerald Finley at 2009 Opera News awards. [Photo by Dario Acost]

Was there any doubt that we'd be celebrating the 75th birthday today of the great American composer Philip Glass? We regularly feature his work on this site, including the recent production of "Les Enfants Terribles" with barihunk Timothy McDevitt and soprano Jessica Cates showing off their bodies after training at the gym for the ballet/opera; Barihunks Matthew Worth and Christopher Temporelli in Orphée at the Virginia Opera (more on that below); Lots of coverage of Hydrogen Jukebox at the Ft. Worth Opera including some great shirtless pictures of barihunks Dan Kempson and Justin Hopkins; Lots of video of his operas, including the ability to watch Kepler in its entirety with Austrian barihunk Martin Achrainer.

Profile (born Jan. 31, 1937, Baltimore, Md., U.S.) American composer of innovative instrumental, vocal, and operatic music. Glass studied flute as a boy and enrolled at age 15 at the University of Chicago, where he studied mathematics and philosophy and graduated in 1956.

Philip Glass is a prolific and widely-respected American composer of innovative, vocal and operatic music. He work consistently uses repetitive structures and is often minimalistic. Glass studied math and philosophy before pursuing music at the Julliard School. His opera Satyagraha (1980) tells the story of Mahatma Gandhi's life. The Metropolitan Opera commissioned The Voyage in 1992.

Barihunk Philip Cutlip recorded Orphee

His interest in atonal music drew him on to study composition at the Juilliard School of Music (M.S., 1962) in New York City and then to Paris to study under Nadia Boulanger. His acquaintance there with the Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar decisively affected Glass's compositional style, and he temporarily jettisoned such traditional formal qualities as harmony, tempo, and melody in his music. Instead he began creating ensemble pieces in a monotonous and repetitive style; these works consisted of a series of syncopated rhythms ingeniously contracted or extended within a stable diatonic structure. Such minimalist music, played by a small ensemble using electronically amplified keyboard and wind instruments, earned Glass a small but enthusiastic following in New York City by the late 1960s.

Glass's opera Einstein on the Beach (1976), composed in collaboration with Robert Wilson, earned him broader acclaim; this work showed a renewed interest in classical Western harmonic elements, though his interest in startling rhythmic and melodic changes remained the work's most dramatic feature. Glass's opera Satyagraha (1980) was a more authentically “operatic” portrayal of incidents from the early life of Mohandas K. Gandhi. In this work, the dronelike repetition of symmetrical sequences of chords attained a haunting and hypnotic power well attuned to the religio-spiritual themes of the libretto, adapted from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavadgt. The opera The Voyage (1992) had mixed reviews, but the fact that it had been commissioned by the New York Metropolitan Opera (to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas) confirmed Glass's growing acceptance by the classical-music establishment.

[Excerpted from © Encyclopædia Britannica]

Matthew Worth (L) as Orphée at Virginia Opera; Jeffrey Lentz (R) as Heurtebise (Preston Gannaway,The Virginian-Pilot)

One of the best Glass productions that is currently running is Orphée at the Virginia Opera with American barihunks Matthew Worth and Christopher Temporelli (and the very adorable tenor Jonathan Blalock, who also appeared in the aforementioned Hydrogen Jukebox). Here is what the Virginian-Pilot had to say:

The large cast had no weaknesses. First among equals was Matthew Worth as Orphée, using a powerful and rich baritone to great effect as the tormented poet who struggles to find meaning in his life and art. His performance conveyed both the strengths and weaknesses of the character, and did so in a sympathetic manner that carried the audience along on Orphée’s journey.

Remaining Norfolk performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. 623-1223 or 866-673-7282; www.vaopera.org

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Erwin Schrott Tries Out Some New Hairstyles on Twitter

2012-01-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

Erwin Schrott with dreads, blue hair and looking a bit matronly

Erwin Schrott apparently passed his time during rehearsals of Don Giovanni in London by going on Twitter and testing out some new hairstyles with his fans. Maybe we're biased, but we think he's every bit as good looking as a Dame Maggie Smith type, a cartoon or Lenny Kravitz's brother.

Schrott Hair onstage and off

Of course, Schrott has been known to try out more hairstyles than Hillary Clinton when she was First Lady. We think he looks pretty damn hot with any hair. Here he is singing "Oblivion" shortly after he cropped his hair and dyed in blonde.

For those who want to check him out live, he's opening as Don Giovanni in London February 3rd opposite the equally hot Leporello of Alex Esposito. Most of 2012 will be in Europe with a heavy dose of Mozart and a series of concerts with his wife Anna Netrebko.

Why we call him "Hot Schrott"

You can follow Erwin Schrott on Twitter at @erwin_schrott.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Get French with Barihunks Michael Weyandt, Ross Benoliel and Randal Turner

2012-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

Randal Turner, Francis Poulenc & Michael Weyandt (Clockwise from top left)

We want to remind readers about the Poulenc Cabaret at 8:00 pm on Thursday, February 2 at the Gershwin Hotel, 7 East 27th Street in New York City. The concert by operamission will include Banalités, Chansons gaillardes, la Courte paille, Les Mamelles de Tirésias (from the opera), plus more settings of Guillaume Apollinaire, Louis Aragon, two cabaret-friendly songs written for Yvonne Printemps, clarinet sonata from 1962, solo piano Improvisation n° 15 and Hommage à Edith Piaf.

Simon Keenlyside sings Poulenc's Hôtel:

In addition to barihunks Randal Turner, Ross Benoliel and Michael Weyandt, artists include clarinetist Cory Tiffin, pianists Max Midroit and Jennifer Peterson, singers Michelle Jennings, John Carlo Pierce, Marcy Richardson, Kimberly Sogioka and Nicholas Tamagna. Tickets are only $20.

The cast of NYCO's "Prima Donna"

You can also see Randal Turner at New York City Opera where he is appearing in Rufus Wainwright's "Prima Donna." Thanks to a generous gift from The Reed Foundation and The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation all remaining tickets for Prima Donna, as well as La traviata are only $25. What are you waiting for? Visit their website for tickets now. You can also buy Randal Turner's CD of "Living American Composers" by clicking the link below:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Another Barihunk-laden Season at Minnesota Opera

2012-01-29T06:25:00.000-08:00

Tenor James Valenti: Minnesota Opera, marketing hot men and not just barihunks

We love the Minnesota Opera for numerous reasons, including their commitment to new works, their innovative programming, their dedication to young artists, their high quality of artistry, their great marketing campaigns (that often feature sexy baritones AND tenors) and, of course, their constant stream of barihunks on their roster.

Next season will mark the 50th anniversary of the Minnesota Opera and the 2012-13 season is once again packed with barihunks. The company will present four operas that are new to their repertory, including the world premiere of the operatic version of "Doubt."

John Relyea (L) & Jason Howard (R)

Opening the season from September 22-30 will be one of Verdi's most underrated works, the biblical epic "Nabucco." The story of oppressed and exiled Jews and the king responsible for most of their troubles will feature Jason Howard in the title role and John Relyea as Zaccharia. We recently featured Relyea in another great early Verdi opera, Attila.

Kyle Ketelsen returns, but without the horns

Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" runs from November 10-18 with Minnesota Opera favorite Kyle Ketelsen as Enrico. Regular readers will recall that Kyle Ketelson stole the show in their 2009 production as a devilishly sexy Mephistopheles in "Faust."

No "Doubt" that Matt Worth is hot

On January 26, 2013, the Minnesota Opera will continue its dedication to new operas by presenting an operatic version of "Doubt" by composer Douglas J. Cuomo. The story, which has been seen on Broadway and made into a movie with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, revolves around scandalous allegations and tensions at a Catholic elementary school.

Matthew Worth was recently featured on this site for his current run in Philip Glass' Orphée at Virginia Opera. He recently sang a successful run as Guglielmo in Mozart's "Così fan tutte" with Minnesota Opera. He'll be making his Fort Worth Opera debut this summer as Charlie in Jake Heggie's "Three Decembers." Performances run from May 13-June 2 and tickets and additional information can be found on the Ft. Worth Opera website.

Other operas next season include Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet" and Puccini's "Turandot." You can call 612-333-6669 or visit their website for tickets and additional cast information. Tickets go on sale on July 23.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Barihunk Chart Topper; Great Gatsby in SF; Andrew Garland for Valentine's Day: Meikle Takes Marcello to Italy

2012-01-28T07:53:00.000-08:00


David McFerrin (Top L), David Adam Moore (Bottom L) & Jesse Blumberg (R)

A little over two weeks ago we mentioned the CD release party and concert for the Five Borough Music Festival's songbook of works by twenty composers. Each song was inspired by places, themes, and poetry from every corner of New York City. We're thrilled to announce that the CD has shot up the Classical Billboard charts to #12 ahead of the Metropolitan Opera and Sir Paul McCartney. Barihunks David Adam Moore, Jesse Blumberg and David McFerrin are all featured on the CD.

Composers include Lisa Bielawa, Tom Cipullo, Mohammed Fairouz, Ricky Ian Gordon, Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Jorge Martin, Russell Platt, Matt Schickele and more. Click HERE to buy your copy today.

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone involved!

Jason Detwiler & Susannah Biller (photo by Steve DiBartolomeo)

Last February, we featured Ensemble Parallèle’s production of Philip Glass' "Orphée" with barihunks Eugene Brancoveanu and Austin Kness. The innovative young company is back with another barihunk, Jason Detwiler, in their production of John Harbison’s "The Great Gatsby." The soprano is Susannah Biller Kness who, you guessed it, is married to barihunk Austin Kness.

The Great Gatsby will run from February 10-12 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco. Jason Detwiler is performing the role of Nick Carraway. Visit the Ensemble Parallèle website for additional cast and performance information.

Andrew Garland: Our Favorite Valentine

Back in July we mentioned the New York Festival Of Song's upcoming season and we've been following each concert throughout the season. We're particularly excited about the February 14th concert for Valentine's Day entitled "A MODERN PERSON’S GUIDE TO HOOKING UP AND BREAKING UP." The concert will examine the full range of modern love with affection and humor through songs of Irving Berlin, Stephen Sondheim, The Bobs, Noël Coward, Jason Robert Brown, Ed Kleban, and others. Subjects range from voyeurism, S&M, and ménages à trois, to good old-fashioned heart-to-heart love. The concert also repeats on February 16 at 8:00PM at Merkin Concert Hall.

Most importantly, the concert includes our favorite Valentine's Day barihunk, Andrew Garland. Click HERE to spent your Valentine's Day with the hottest redhead in opera.

Laurence Meikle

Laurence Meikle debuts as Marcello in Puccini’s "La Boheme" tonight at the Teatro Guiditta Pasta in Saronno, Italy. There will be an additional performance at the Teatro dell’Opera di Milano in Varese on February 4th.

Regular readers might remember Meikle from our "Hottest Aussie Barihunks" or our feature on his performance of Marcello at a Soho restaurant in London.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Happy Birthday, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

2012-01-26T21:49:00.000-08:00

What could we possibly say about Mozart that either hasn't been said or you don't know already? Born on January 27, 1756, he was a child prodigy, who wrote his first symphony when he was eight years old and his first opera at age twelve. He went on to write some of the most important masterpieces of the Classical era, including symphonies, operas, string quartets and piano music. Of course, he has been an endless source of material for Barihunks, especially his operas Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, which provide us with an ongoing stream of sexy low voices.

We think the best way to celebrate his birthday is with some music from our favorite singers:

Erwin Schrott sings "Madamina" from Don Giovanni:

Markus Werba sings "Hai già vinta la cuasa" from "Marriage of Figaro":

Ildebrando D'Arcangelo & Ruxandra Donose sing "Il core vi dono" from Cosi fan tutte:

Gérard Souzay sings "Deh vieni alla finestra"from Don Giovanni:

Simon Keenlyside sings "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from the Magic Flute:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Major Barihunk Cast Changes Announced in London, Munich and New York

2012-01-26T07:12:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a cast change announcement to get the online opera world abuzz. Three recent announcements involved barihunks at major houses.

Lucas Meachem (L) & Simon Keenlyside (R)

London opera bloggers seem to be taking sides in the recent announcement that American barihunk Lucas Meachem will replace British barihunk Simon Keenlyside for all performances of Le nozze di Figaro due to the latter's illness. The Brits love the ageless Simon Keenlyside and the raw sexuality and swagger he brings to his Mozart portrayals. We've seen Meachem many times and he's a very different performer, but a solid replacement.

Meachem has sung the role of Count Almaviva at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera and the San Francisco Opera. His repertoire also includes the role of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini’s prequel to Le nozze di Figaro. Lucas made his Royal Opera debut as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, most recently performing in the UK as the titular character in Glyndebourne’s Don Giovanni last summer.

Luca Pisaroni: Sexy whether he's "groomed," or not

Baritone Thomas Quasthoff announced his retirement on January 11th due to unspecified health reasons. Theaters have been scrambling to replace the German singer around the globe. At New York's Lincoln Center it was announces that Italian barihunk Luca Pisaroni will step in for Quasthoff in his joint recital with tenor Michael Schade at Alice Tully Hall on March 25.

Luca Pisaroni sings Mozart, Schubert, Tosti + Interview:

Pisaroni, who is currently appearing in the Metropolitan Opera's production of The Enchanted Island, has previously performed alongside Schade on the opera stage. Pisaroni will present selections by Schubert and Brahms. Schade and Pisaroni will also perform duets by Mendelssohn, Schumann and others.

Diogenes Randes (L) & Thorsten Grümbel (R)

At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Diogenes Randes announced that due to health reasons, he will be unable to sing the role of Fasolt in the performances of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold on February 4, 8 and 12, 2012. Taking his place will be Thorsten Grümbel.

Fasolt and Fafner fight in the famous Met production under James Levine:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Elektra and La Cenerentola Both Debuted on February 25; Nelson Eddy's Connection to Elektra

2012-01-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

Gino Quilico

Rossini's comic masterpiece "La Cenerentola" and "Elektra," Richard Strauss' bloody story of revenge couldn't be more different in mood or music. However, both debuted on this day in history almost 100 years apart. La Cenerentola debuted at the Teatro Valle in Rome in 1817 and Elektra in Dresden in 1909. We thought it would be fun highlight these two great works, despite neither being known as vehicles for barihunks.

The role of Don Magnifico is usually performed by older compramario singers, but here is barihunk Jason Hardy singing "Miei rampolli femminini"

La Cenerentola actually rivaled Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" in popularity for decades before mysteriously following out of favor. It found new life during the 1960s, as a series of great mezzos began taking on the title role. In 1899, Jules Massenet had success with his opera "Cendrillon," which is also based on the Cinderella story.

Rossini's libretto actually varies substantially from the actual story, which may have contributed to its decline in popularity. In Rossini's version, the wicked stepmother is replaced by a stepfather, Don Magnifico and the Fairy Godmother is replaced by Alidoro, a philosopher, and the Prince's tutor. Cinderella is identified not by her glass slipper but by her bracelet.

Gino Quilico sings "Come un'ape ne' giorni d'aprile" from Rossini's La Cenerentola:

In the opera, the Prince of Salerno, Don Ramiro, changes places with his valet, Dandini, and then meets the girl of his dreams - Cenerentola (Cinderella). Meanwhile, Cenerentola's stepsisters, Clorinda and Tisbe, fawn over the fake prince (Dandini). When Cenerentola is left alone, weeping, the Philosopher, Alidoro, takes her (dressed in beautiful clothing) to the palace, where she is an immediate hit with everyone - including Dandini. Confusion reigns when the identity of the real Prince is revealed.

The great ensemble "Questo è un nodo avviluppato"

Richard Strauss' "Elektra" is a one-act opera set to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal. Elektra is musically complex and requires great stamina from the singers and orchestra. The role of Elektra is one of the most demanding in the dramatic soprano repertoire. Nevertheless, it solidly entrenched in the standard repertory and is certainly one of the most popular operas based on classical Greek mythology.

Nelson Eddy: The first Orest in the U.S.

The first United States performance of the opera in the original German was given by the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on October 29, 1931 with Nelson Eddy as Orest. Eddy, of course, would become one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars. However, he had a succesful career in opera before being forever remembered as Jeanette McDonald's singing partner in a series of musicals.

Nelson Eddy sings "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Barber of Seville":

In 1924, Eddy won the top prize in a competition that included a chance to appear with the Philadelphia Opera Society. By the late 1920s, Eddy was appearing with the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company and had a repertoire of 28 operas, including Amonasro in Aida, Marcello in La bohème, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, both Tonio and Silvio in Pagliacci, and Wolfram in Tannhäuser. Eddy also performed in Gilbert & Sullivan operettas with The Savoy Company.

Leonie Rysanek as Elektra and Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau as Orest.

The plot of Elektra is based upon the great Greek tragedy of the same name by the tragedian Sophocles. The unrelenting gloom and horror that permeate the original play produce, in the hands of Hofmannsthal and Strauss, a drama whose sole theme is revenge. Klytaemnestra (Clytemnestra), helped by her paramour Aegisth (Aegisthus), has secured the murder of her husband, Agamemnon, and now is afraid that her crime will be avenged by her children, Elektra (Electra), Chrysothemis, and their banished brother Orest (Orestes).


Eberhard Wächter was a great Oreste

Elektra, who is the personification of the passionate lust for vengeance, tries to persuade her timid sister to kill Klytaemnestra and Aegisth. Before the plan is carried out, Orest, who had been reported as dead, arrives, determined upon revenge for his father's death. He kills Klytaemnestra and Aegisth; Elektra, in an ecstatic dance of triumph, falls dead in front of her horror-stricken attendants.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

A "Don Giovanni" So Sexy It Was Banned By Google Ads

2012-01-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

Duncan Rock (L & R) and Opera Poster Banned by Google Ads

If you think opera hasn't caught up with movies, films and the theater in terms of raw sex appeal, then you haven't heard about "Don Giovanni: The Opera." The production, which will open at London's famous nightclub Heaven on April 15 is a modern retelling of Mozart's classic tale of sexual pursuit set in the heyday of the Eighties club scene and inspired by New York's legendary Studio 54. "Don Giovanni" is still a lecherous playboy and licentious nightclub owner, who pursues men as well as women. In this production the sopranos become tenors and baritones become mezzos (except for the Don).

This production was originally seen on the Main Stage at Trafalgar Square for London Pride in 2009 and was huge success. After the run at Heaven, the opera will be shown at the 2012 World Pride celebration.

Barihunk Duncan Rock (photo by Daniel Swerdlow)

The production is already causing waves in London three months before their opening. First, Google Ads rejected the producers ad [see top photo], because it was deemed too racy. Then they snagged one of the hottest young talents in England (in terms of looks AND voice), the sexy strawberry blonde Duncan Rock. Tickets will be available at Ticketmaster.

Duncan Rock sings Billy’s aria from Britten, Billy Budd:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Met Audition Winner Update: Anthony Reed in Recital; Ricardo Rivera Advances

2012-01-24T05:45:00.000-08:00

Aaron Rogers & Anthony Reed

With the Green Packers out of the playoffs and not heading back to the Super Bowl, the good folks of Wisconsin are looking for things to do other than shovel snow. We'd suggest trading one A.R. for another, meaning QB Aaron Rogers for bass-barihunk Anthony Reed.

On Wednesday, January 25th at 7:30 PM, Reed will be performing in a concert sponsored by the Florentine Opera. Reed will be joined by soprano Lindsay Sessing and tenor Kevin Newell. All three singers were winners in the 2011 Metropolitan Opera/Wisconsin District Auditions. The concert will be at St. John's on the Lake, 1840 N. Prospect Avenue in Milwaukee. Call (414) 291-5700 for additional information.

Unlike a football game, we can pretty much guarantee that this will be a winner. The young bass has been impressing judges and honed his skills at the Seagle Music Colony.

Anthony Reed sings Mozart's "O Isis und Osiris" from the Magic Flute:

Anthony Reed and four other singers will now advance to the Midwest Regional Auditions to be held Feb. 4, 2012, at the Ordway Center Main Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Ricardo Rivera

A reader who attended the Metropolitan Opera National Council/Eastern Region Auditions alerted us to barihunk Ricardo Rivera who won 1st Place that day and will now advance to the National Semi-Finals on the Metropolitan Opera Stage in March.

Rivera has been cleaning up in competitions, having previously won 1st Place and the Audience Prize in the 2011 NY Lyric Opera Competition, 4th Place in the 2011 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, Encouragement Awards from the 2011 Gerda Lissner, 2011 Licia Albanese-Puccini, 2011 MONC, 2010 Opera Index, and 2010 Career Bridges Competitions, and was a recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant in 2009.

On January 29th, he'll perform Orsini in Wagner's "Rienzi" with the Opera Orchestra of NY at Avery Fisher Hall. Click HERE for tickets and additional cast information. On February 15th, he'll be the baritone Soloist in Sophia Gubaidulina's "Perception" with the Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird in Chicago." Click HERE for additional information.

Barihunks would like to wish both singers the best of luck!

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

NYCO "Prima Donna" Preview at Guggenheim SOLD OUT; Watch it LIVE online; $25 Seats For All Shows

2012-01-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

Composer/Singer Rufus Wainwright & Barihunk Randal Turner

Opera fans can put to rest any concerns that New York City Opera couldn't bounce back after a contentious work stoppage. Tonight's preview performance at the Guggenheim is completely SOLD OUT. City Opera General Director George Steel will moderate a discussion with Rufus Wainwright and members of the creative team. Singers will also perform excerpts from the show, including barihunk Randal Turner.

The sudden buzz about City Opera reopening their doors is great news for anyone who believes that New York City should have two major opera companies. If you don't have tickets or don't live in New York, you have three options to enjoy the preview. Standby tickets will be made available as space allows and can be obtained by calling the box office at 212-423-3587. You can view the live broadcast of the performance and discussion by clicking HERE or you can follow the discussion on Twitter at @WorksandProcess and use the hashtag #WPlive. All three start at 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PST.

City Opera also got some good financial news when the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation bought all of the remaining seats for all performances at BAM. City Opera is now offering those seats at a special price of $25 to celebrate the upcoming season. Click HERE to buy your $25 tickets for Prima Donna, La traviata, Cosi fan tutte or Orpheus.

Prima Donna will be performed February 19–25 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The post-performance reception for this program will take place in the theater lobbies.

Watch Rufus Wainwright perform "Hallelujah." FYI, he does not sing in Prima Donna:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Timothy McDeviitt & Jessica Cates in Sexy Philip Glass Dance-Opera "Les Enfants Terribles"

2012-01-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

Timothy McDevitt & Jessica Cates buff up for "Les Enfants Terribles"

Philip Glass has been giving us a good dose of barihunk material in recent years, including Hydrogen Jukebox, Orphee, Galileo Galilei and even Keppler. You can now add the dance-opera "Les Enfants Terribles" to the list.

Barihunk Timohty McDevitt who we remember as a cute beanpole in Poulenc's "Les Mamelles de Tiresias" at Julliard has been working out the gym with the adorable soprano Jessica Cates. And it shows!

The two singers are performing the Glass piece with the North Carolina Opera. McDevitt and Cates play a brother and sister who engage each other in a series of "games" when Paul is confined to bed after being hit by a snowball. The singers have dancers performing the non-singing parts.

There is one performance left, which is Sunday, January 22 at 3 PM.

Here are some highlights from "Les Enfants Terribles" with the voices of barihunk Philip Cutlip and soprano Christine Arand:

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Upcoming NY concerts

2012-01-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

There are four amazing concerts coming up in New York City that all feature barihunks.

Michael Kelly

On January 28th, Michael Kelly is part of the Cosmopolis concert at Merkin Concert Hall. The chamber concert includes works by four composers from across the globe written for strings, winds, piano and baritone. Kelly will perform Mohammed Fairouz's song cycle "Furia" written for baritone, string quartet and wind quartet. The program also includes works by Ned Rorem, Kaija Saariaho and Toru Takemitsu.

Click HERE for tickets and additional information.


Randal Turner (top) & Michael Weyandt (bottom	)

On February 2, operamission will present and evening of music by Francis Poulenc at the Gershwin Hotel. The concert includes about a dozen performers including barihunks Michael Weyandt, Randal Turner and Ross Benoliel. Randal Turner will be opening in Rufus Wainwright's opera "Prima Donna" at New York City on February 19th. Click HERE for tickets.

Chris Herbert

For all of you lovers out there, New York Polyphony will be performing "A Renaissance Valentine" on February 12 at Columbia University's Miller Theater. The program, which also ventures beyond the Renaissance, includes music by Lassus, Dowland and Purcell. Barihunk Christopher Herbert is part of the ensemble and this group is not be missed. If you haven't seen them yet, grab two tickets and take your favorite valentine.

Tenor Jonas Kaufmann and barihunks Rene Pape and Boaz Daniel

Lastly, we want readers to know about a live broadcast this week of Verdi's "Don Carlo." The performance originally included Mariusz Kwiecien as Rodrigo, but he withdrew due to ongoing issues with his back that he injured during a Met rehearsal of Don Giovanni. The "Hot Pole" will be replaced by Boaz Daniel. Even without Kwiecien, this production still had quite a bit of eye candy, including tenor heartthrob Jonas Kaufman and barihunk Rene Pape.

The performance begins at 5 PM German time (11 AM EST/8 AM PST). Click HERE for the broadcast.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Teddy Bare to Make Chicago Debut: Craig Verm Heads Barihunk Casting in Windy City

2012-01-19T09:56:00.000-08:00

Teddy Bare aka Teddy Tahu Rhodes

The Lyric Opera of Chicago has released its 2012-13 schedule and two of the sexiest men in all of opera have been cast. Teddy Tahu Rhodes will make his Lyric debut as Stanley in a semi-staged version Andre Previn's "Streetcar Named Desire." There will be four performances, which will be made available to subscribers first before being sold individually. Renee Fleming will sing the role of Blanche Dubois. There will also be a single students-only performance with an understudy cast.

Fans of Teddy Bare will have other opportunities to see him in 2012. In the United States, he will perform Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" at the Washington National Opera and will also return to the Metropolitan Opera. On the other side of the Equator, he will tackle his first Scarpia with the West Australian Opera and return in his signature role of Don Giovanni with both Opera Australia and Opera de Bordeaux.

Craig Verm as Aeneas

Craig Verm, who unquestionably has one of the nicest chests in opera, is one of the numerous barihunks cast next season. Verm, who has bared his torso as much as Teddy Bare, will be performing the unsexy role of Albert in Massenet's " Werther." However, with Verm playing Albert, we can certainly understand why Charlotte's mother wanted her to marry him and not the suicidal tenor.

For those who want to see Verm in some of his sexier fare, you'll have to travel to the Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile. He'll be performing in both Bizet's "Carmen" and the title role in Britten's "Billy Budd."

Ildebrando d'Arcangelo (L) & Bo Skovhus (R)

Although they've cast a good number of barihunks, none of them will be in roles that show off their non-vocal assets. For those of you who like "more mature" barihunks, Lyric is rolling out some of the hotter over-40 singers around in some Verdi and Wagner.

Craig Verm as Zurge and Sean Panikkar as Nadir in the famous Pearl Fishers duet:

Other barihunks appearing with Lyric next year include Bo Skovhus as Beckmesser in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg," Thomas Hampson as the title character in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo in the title role of Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" and Lucas Meachem as Marcello in Puccini's "La boheme." Visit the Lyric website for tickets and additional performance information.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Nathan Gunn: Son of God

2012-01-18T07:06:00.000-08:00

Nathan Gunn (right) to play Yeshua (Jesus Christ)

Fans of Nathan Gunn already think he's godlike, so it only seems logical that he was destined to play the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The San Francisco Opera just announced a delightfully ambitious season that includes Mark Adamo's "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene." The opera draws on the Gnostic Gospels, the Canonical Gospels, and decades of biblical scholarship to reimagine the story of the New Testament through the eyes of its lone substantial female character.

Nathan Gunn practicing his Jesus portrayal as Billy Budd

This opera will undoubtedly stir up some controversy, as it looks at the woman who Jesus loved in a whole new light. Mary Magdalene will be played by the Nicole Kidman-esque Sasha Cooke, so we can surely expect a non-traditional Mary-Jesus narrative. We can also expect to hear from the Catholic Church, so this opera will undoubtedly create some press controversy (and opera in the mainstream press is a good thing!). Kudos to the San Francisco Opera for taking a risk and challenging opera audiences and for bringing us an exciting new work.

Speaking of exciting new works, the San Francisco Opera is also presenting Nolan Gasser's "The Secret Garden" and Jake Heggie's "Moby-Dick." David Gockley and the San Francisco Opera family deserves special praise for bringing three new American works to the public in one season during difficult economic times when most companies are reduced to producing an endless stream of lackluster old war horses.

Marco Vratogna sings "Quei due vedesti?" from Simon Boccanegra:

Of course, no opera could survive without the standard repertory and the San Francisco Opera's 2012-13 season includes some great theater. Operas include Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi," Verdi's "Rigoletto," Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann," Wagner's "Lohengrin," Puccini's "Tosca," and Mozart's "Così fan tutte."

Christian Van Horn (left) and Philippe Sly (right)

A number of barihunks have also been cast, including the imposing Christian Van Horn as the four villains in "Tales of Hoffman," Marco Vratogna as Rigoletto, Morgan Smith as Starbuck in "Moby-Dick" and the exciting leading role/mainstage debut of Phillipe Sly as Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte." We've been predicting major stardom for the Met Auditions winner Philippe Sly and we're thrilled that he's been cast in a starring role on a major stage.

We're pretty sure that the San Francisco Opera is the opera hot spot for music lovers this year. Visit the San Francisco Opera website for tickets and additional information.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Congratulations to Francesca Zambello & Faith Gay

2012-01-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

Francesca Zambello

We consider director and Glimmerglass General Director Francesca Zambello the honorary mother of Barihunks. She is often credited with coining the term, if not bringing it into popular usage. She was the first director to truly recognize the artistic and box office appeal of barihunks. Her productions with an oft shirtless Nathan Gunn launched the term into the operatic lexicon. Click HERE to read the post at Parterre.

We recently learned from one of our favorite websites, Parterre.com, that Zambello married her partner Faith Gay on December 22. We'd like to wish the couple the best of luck and eternal happiness.

Also, if you missed Zambello's amazing Ring Cycle in San Francisco, you will get a second chance. It's being produced by the Washington Opera in 2016. Trust us, it's not to be missed. Make your travel plans today!

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Coverboy: Dmitri Hvorostovsky

2012-01-15T11:44:00.000-08:00

Dmitri Hvorostovsky: Feb 2012 Opera News & June 2011 BBC Music

We're really loving the trend of putting barihunks on the cover of leading music magazines. We've recently seen Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien, Nathan Gunn, Simon Keenlyside, Greer Grimsley and Christopher Maltman all grace the covers of major periodicals. Opera News has certainly been leading the way and not just with baritones, as hunky tenors Jonas Kaufmann and Roberto Alagna, as well as San Francisco Opera conductor Nicola Luisotti.

We particularly enjoyed the recent article on Dmitri Hvorostovsky by Ousamma Zahr. Unlike many puff pieces in music magazines, Zahr covered the "Siberian Hunky's" successes, as well as his challenges, including a recent vocal crisis. Both Zahr and the singer also deftly handled the issue of Hvorostovsky's good looks. In an age of press agents, media hypes and fan sites, it always seems disingenuous when singers deny any awareness about their sex appeal. It's refreshing when a singer like Hvorostovsky completely owns it. Here's are some excerpts from the article:

With his great looks and magnetic presence, Hvorostovsky seems tailor-made for the Live in HD craze...Long before Nathan Gunn, Erwin Schrott and Mariusz Kwiecien were baring their chests for their art and their audiences, Hvorostovsky was named one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People," back in 1991.

Hvorostovsky flexing his muscles on Facebook

Hvorostovsky...is pragmatic on the subject of sex appeal. "In a way, it's part of my package - the way I look, that's the way I sound, actually. You can draw the parallel," he says. "I was working against it in the beginning, I was opposing the media approach of me as a sex symbol - red-hot, Siberian express and blahdy-blahdy-blah. I said, "Look and listen at what I'm performing! What am I singing about? And it really was a little distracting to begin with, because I was young and ambitious. Then soon I realized that you just have to get along."

It's worth noting that the one time Hvorostovsky went shirtless on the Met stage in 2007, it wasn't in Don Giovanni or some other predictable barihunk vehicle but in that jewel of a crown of a Russian opera, Eugene Onegin. [Read the remainder of the article at Opera News].

Verdi figures prominently in Hvorostovsky's 2012 schedule. He begins the year singing Don Carlo in Ernani at the Met, the title role of Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna State Opera and then Germont père in La traviata at the Met.

Hvorostovsky sings "Gran' Dio!... Oh, de'verd'anni miei" from Verdi's Ernani:

Hvorostovsky's performance of Ernani will be broadcast on the radio as well as part of a Live in HD broadcast on Saturday, February 25 at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST.

Barihunks Hot Spot in Naples - Florida, not Italy

2012-01-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Wes Mason (L) in "Before Night Falls" & Naples, Florida at sunset

Normally when one thinks of opera in Naples, one thinks of the Teatro di San Carlo. That beautiful theater has seen its fair share of gorgeous barihunks over the years, including the legendary Ettore Bastianini.

However, the Naples with the best current crop of barihunk is in Southern Florida on the western edge of the Everglades. The city that usually attracts tourists who come for fishing, gator watching and ecotourism, is suddenly the new hotspot for barihunk lovers.

Jason Hardy (top) and Matthew Trevino (bottom)

Opera Naples will have two performances of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" on January 20 and 22 with a trio of barihunks. Matthew Trevino will sing the title role, Wes Mason will be Masetto and Jason Hardy will be Leporello. The photo of Hardy above is from the highly acclaimed Don Giovanni at New York City Opera in 2009. When we first ran the shirtless photos of Hardy, a soprano emailed us a note that said, "Wow. Who knew?" Regular readers of the site will recognize the shirtless photo of Wes Mason from his acclaimed performance of "Before Night Falls" with the Ft. Worth Opera, a role that he'll reprise with the Orchestra Miami later this year. Matthew Trevino just finished a successful tour of Ireland as Sarastro in the "Magic Flute" and in March will sing the King in Aida with the Arizona Opera.

We think this performance is worth a trip to Southern Florida, so grab your fishing pole and your swamp waders and order your tickets HERE. Who knows, you might run into one of the many famous residents of the town, including Donald Trump, Larry Bird, Mike Ditka or Bob Seger.

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Happy Birthday, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

2012-01-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Baritone Marc Canturri has recorded the music of Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (born Ermanno Wolf) (January 12, 1876 -- January 21, 1948) was an Italian composer and teacher. He is best known for his comic operas such as Il segreto di Susanna (1909). A number of his works were based on plays by Carlo Goldoni, including Le donne curiose (1903), I quatro rusteghi (1906) and Il campiello (1936).

Michelle Canniccioni & Ales Jenis in "Il Segreto di Susanna":

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari was born in Venice in 1876, the son of an Italian mother and a German father. Ferrari was his mother's maiden-name, which he added to his own surname in 1895. Although he studied piano from an early age, music was not the primary passion of his young life. As a teenager Wolf-Ferrari wanted to be a painter like his father; he studied intensively in Venice and Rome and traveled abroad to study in Munich. It was there that he decided to concentrate instead on music, taking lessons from Josef Rheinberger. He enrolled at the Munich conservatory and began taking counterpoint and composition classes. These initially casual music classes eventually completely eclipsed his art studies, and music took over Wolf-Ferrari's life. He wrote his first works in the 1890s.

Wolf-Ferrari - Intermezzo from Jewels of The Madonna:

At age 19, Wolf-Ferrari left the conservatory and traveled home to Venice. There he worked as a choral conductor, married, had a son called Max Winterfeld, and met both Arrigo Boito and Verdi. Just a few years later Wolf-Ferrari debuted his first opera, Cenerentola, based on the story of Cinderella. The opera was a failure in Italy, and the humiliated young composer moved back to Munich.

German audiences would prove more appreciative of his work; a revised version of Cenerentola was a hit in Bremen in 1902, while the beautiful cantata La vita nuova brought the young composer international fame.

Wolf-Ferrari now began transforming the wild and witty farces of the 18th-century Venetian playwright Carlo Goldoni into comic operas. The resulting works were musically eclectic, melodic, and utterly hilarious; every single one became an international success. In fact, until the outbreak of World War I, Wolf-Ferrari's operas were among the most performed in the world.

Tito Gobbi sings "Aprile o bella" from "I gioielli della Madonna":

World War I, however, was a nightmare for Wolf-Ferrari. The young composer, who had been dividing his time between Munich and Venice, suddenly found his two countries at war with each other. He eventually moved to safety in Zurich, but the stress and sadness of the war brought him to a complete creative standstill. It was not until after the war's end that Wolf-Ferrari moved back to Munich and began working again. A new melancholy vein appeared in his post-war work; his operas grew darker and more emotionally complex. Among these darker operas was Sly, an opera about a comic buffoon which transforms midstream into a tale of emotional torture and suicide.

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Barihunks Matthew Worth, Christopher Temporelli in Virginia Opera's "Orphée"

2012-01-10T21:48:00.000-08:00

Matthew Worth as Orphée

We've been big proponents of Philip Glass' operas, so we were thrilled to see that the Virginia Opera will be staging his opera Orphée this month. We've posted about this opera in the past featuring barihunks Eugene Brancoveanu in San Francisco, Philip Cutlip in Portland and Martin Achrainer in Linz, Austria.

Martin Achrainer as Orphée in Linz

Not to be outdone in the barihunk department, the Virginia Opera has cast Matthew Worth in the title role. We've featured Worth in a number of his roles on this site, including a somewhat related role in "Orpheus in the Underworld" at Central City Opera. Virginia Opera fans will also remember him for his 2010 appearance as Don Giovanni, which created a bit of a sensation.

Of course, we think his sexiest role to date is as Tarquinius in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia," but that discussion is for another post.

Christopher Temporelli as seen in the 2012 Barihunks Calendar

We're excited about the Virginia Opera's production because even the small role of the Judge features one of our calendar models, Christopher Temporelli. We should also add that tenor Jonathan Blalock who plays Cégeste is a bit of eye candy himself. We've seen the opera and can certainly recommend it as wonderful theater, but if you need a nudge, then seeing Worth, Temporelli and Blalock on stage together should be sufficient motivation.

Performances run from January 28 through February 12 and will be performed in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax, Virginia. For additional cast and performance information visit the Virginia Opera website.

On an unrelated note, it's come to our attention that you can listen to barihunk Luca Pisaroni in "The Enchanted Island" from the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday, January 17th at 8 EST/5 PST by clicking on this LINK.

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New Yorkers, Don't Miss This: Five Borough Songbook Concert and CD Release on Thursday

2012-01-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

Don't miss the Five Borough Songbook concert and CD release party

We've been covering the Five Boroughs Music Festival as it has moved around New York, but the January 12th concert in Manhattan promises to be extra special. In addition to the concert they wil be releasing their first recording that day, a stunning 2-disc set of the Songbook. We've had the privilege of previewing the recording and it is a must for any lover of art songs or opera.

We can't think of a better evening out than hearing a concert and then heading home with a CD of the all the great music that you just heard. The Songbook is a collection of newly commissioned vocal works by many of the leading composers working today. It celebrates New York City through its history, poetry, and geography. Some of the titles will certainly evoke distinct images or memories to New Yorkers past and present. They include "F From Dumbo," "G Is For Grimy: An Ode To The G Train," and "Coney Island Avenue."

Barihunk David McFerrin will sing Martin Hennessy's "The City's Love"

Did you ever wish that you could have spoken to Bach, Schubert, Verdi or Puccini? Unless you're Shirley MacLaine, you missed your chance. But you'll have a chance to talk to many of the composers on the program on Thursday night, as quite a few of them have agreed to appear for a "Composer Chat" beginning an hour before the 7:30 PM concert.

The concert will be at Engleman Recital Hall at the Baruch Performing Arts Center 55 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. Click HERE for tickets or HERE to purchase a CD.

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Reader Submission: Beltrán Iraburu

2012-01-09T19:50:00.000-08:00

Beltrán Iraburu

We continue to learn about some of the hottest barihunks in the world from our readers. The latest entry is Beltrán Iraburu, a 37-year-old Spanish baritone.

Beltrán Iraburu began studying piano and singing at the age of 11 and went on to get his Master's degree in Musicology from the University of Valladolid in Spain. He went on to study in Milan where he sang with Montserrat Caballé and performed a number of roles under the batons of Carlo Maria Giulini, Adam Fisher and Riccardo Chailly.

He's performed throughout Spain with a number of opera companies, as well as singing the complete set of Monteverdi's madrigals with La Capilla Real de Madrid. He is currently living and working in Paris.

We hope to see plenty more of Beltrán Iraburu.

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Don Giovanni: Good News, Bad News

2012-01-08T19:37:00.000-08:00

Mariusz Kwiecien & Ryan Kuster starring in exciting new Don Giovanni in L.A.

It's no secret that Mozart's "Don Giovanni" is one of our favorite operas at Barihunks. With the potential to have four barihunks in a cast and a plot full of sex and sexual innuendo, productions of Don Giovanni often provide a feast for the eyes and ears.

We were thrilled when we learned that conducting wunderkind Gustavo Dudamel was performing the opera at Disney Hall in May 2012. The production team might be one of the greatest ever assembled for an opera, headed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, who will design the sets (and who designed Diseny Hall). The costumes for the production will be made by designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy, who created the costumes for the movie "Black Swan." The performance will be directed by Christopher Alden, who had previously had great success with the opera. In the title role will be barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien and the Masetto will be Ryan Kuster. Hunkentenor fans will be thrilled to learn that the Don Ottavio will be Pavol Breslik.

Click HERE for tickets and performance dates.

We also have some bad news concerning Don Giovanni. The San Antonio Opera is the latest classical music organization to suffer financial hardship. The current cash crunch has forced the company to cancel the February performances of the Mozart classic and close their offices. A brief announcement from the company stated:

The San Antonio Opera Board of Directors announced today that it has cancelled the February production of "Don Giovanni".

San Antonio Opera will use the hiatus to attempt to address the organization's financial obligations with creditors as well as plan for the next phase in the future of the regional opera company.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

NY Times says go to Oakland in 2012: "HOT" opera at the Crucible; Zachary Gordin with East Bay Symphony

2012-01-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

Been to Oakland lately? We have three reasons to go: Great food and drinks, amazing music and barihunks.

Friday's travel section of the New York Times named Oakland, California as one of the 45 places to visit in 2012. Northern Californians have long known that Oakland is San Francisco's fog-free counterpart across the Bay, where young people have been moving in droves to open restaurants and bars, art galleries, buy homes and dubbing it the "Brooklyn of the West."

The New York Times wrote, "The historic Fox Theater reopened in 2009 and quickly cemented its status as one of the Bay Area's top music venues, drawing acts like Wilco and the Decemberists. Meanwhile, the city's ever more sophisticated restaurants are now being joined by upscale cocktail bars, turning once-gritty Oakland into an increasingly appealing place to be after dark."

Oakland resident Zachary Gordin as he appears in the 2012 Barihunks Calendar

Classical music fans have long known that some of the most innovative programming occurs under conductor Michael Morgan with his Oakland/East Bay Symphony Orchestra. His upcoming Carmina Burana will feature barihunk Zachary Gordin and it will be paired with Glazunov's rarely performed Saxophone Concerto from 1934. There is one performance on Friday, January 27th and tickets are available HERE. The performance is at the historic Paramount Theater, which is walking distance away from the recently restored Fox Theater (pictured above).

Eugene Brancoveanu

If you're looking for the really "hot" show in town, then head over to West Oakland's "The Crucible," where they have pioneered the concept of "fire operas." And we're literally talking about opera with real fire. A performance of a fire opera at The Crucible will make Brunnhilde's "Immolation Scene" look like a burning match. The Crucible is actually an industrial training center where people learn a variety of fire skills. Their current offering, "Machine," will feature molten metal pours, fire performers, glass blowers and blacksmiths.

MACHINE was written, conceived and directed by innovative director Mark Streshinsky. The music is by Clark Suprynowicz, who is known for his jazz and rock infused compositions of operatic and symphonic works.

The plot is based on a short story by science fiction author Derek J. Goodman, MACHINE is set in a fiery industrial universe in which workers have sold themselves into a lifetime of servitude. When one worker regains his power of self-determination, the story ignites into an explosive brew of escape plots, alliances and unlikely love interests

Performances are on January 11-14 and 18-21. Tickets are available HERE.

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Luca Pisaroni: Classical Singer Coverboy

2012-01-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

Luca Pisaroni

We like the recent trend of Barihunks adorning the covers of major music magazines. Following Mariusz Kwiecien's appearance on the cover of Opera News and Christopher Maltman's appearance on Opera Now, we now have Luca Pisaroni as the latest coverboy. The Italian barihunk, who is appearing in the Met's "The Enchanted Island" through January 30th is on the cover of the January 2012 issue of Classical Singer magazine.

Here is the interview:

Many singers view their career as a sprint to the finish line. Discordant with instrumentalists who can pick up the violin at age 3 and make their Lincoln Center debuts before they’re 10, and even fellow crooners in other genres who can go platinum before they’re able to legally drive a car, classical vocalists face a variety of developmental hurdles before the real work can begin.

Traditional training today leaves singers taking an average of one voice lesson a week and often being catapulted into roles—either by agents or opera companies—at preternaturally early ages, ages often included in (if not headlining) marketing copy. What follows is an inevitable, and often very public, burnout.

Bucking this trend, however, is bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni. Born in 1975, Pisaroni is just beginning his rise to prominence in the United States. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut at 29 as Publio in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, but gave a star turn in New York as Leporello in the company’s new production of Don Giovanni (and returns this month as Caliban in the world premiere of The Enchanted Island). Compared to many of his peers who have headlined multiple Met productions and sweep across Europe, it may seem to some as a delayed trajectory—but for Pisaroni it’s not the majority of a sprint, but rather the first few miles of the marathon.

“It takes a life to master your voice, and it takes really only a few bad repertoire choices to ruin your voice. And once it’s gone, it’s gone,” explains the Venezuelan-born Italian singer over ginger ale at a hotel lounge that faces the Met. Growing up in Busseto, a comune in Parma and the birthplace of Giuseppe Verdi, Pisaroni developed an early passion for opera, admitting that he cannot remember his life without the art form. He listened obsessively to Boris Christoff singing the Verdi canon, from Don Carlos’ “Ella giammai m’amo” to Simon Boccanegra’s “Il lacerato spirito” to selections from the cabaletta-rich Attila. A few years later, at age 11, he saw his first opera—Aida. Around the same time, he destroyed a cassette tape of Pavarotti, singing over his recording of Tosca trademark “E lucevan le stelle” in tandem with the star tenor and checking to make sure his notes were high and long enough. [Continue reading HERE]

After his run at the Met, Pisaroni sticks to baroque music, as he rejoins cast member David Daniels in at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Argante in Handel's Rinaldo. Performances run from February 29-March 24. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.

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Markus Werba sings Brahms

2012-01-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Markus Werba antiqued

Here are five Brahms songs performed by barihunk Markus Werba and pianist Gary Matthewman. This is from an October 2010 performance at Wigmore Hall in London that was broadcast on BBC 3.

The set includes:
Vor dem Fenster, Op.14'1
Ein Sonett, Op.14'4
Der Gang zum Liebchen, Op.48'1
Murrays Ermordung, Op.14'3
Alte Liebe, Op.72'1
O kühler Wald, Op.72'3
Unüberwindlich, Op.72'5

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Jacques Jansen's "Pelleas" Named Among "50 Greatest Recordings of All Time"

2012-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

The great Jacques Jensen on CD

The January 2012 issue of BBC Music magazine features their list of the 50 greatest recordings of all time. At #30 is the classic recording of Claude Debussy's "Pelléas and Mélisande" with barihunk Jacques Jansen and soprano Irène Joachim. BBC Music magazine wrote:

This 1941 recording captures the elusive nuances and mystery of Debussy's symbolist masterpiece like no other. The trio of singers in lead roles - Irène Joachim as Mélisande, Jacques Jansen as Pelléas and Henri Etcheverry as Golaud - had all performed the opera many times together under the direction of Roger Désormière.

Jacques Jansen and Irène Joachim sing "Mes longs cheveux" from "Pelléas and Mélisande":

The #1 recording of all time is Georg Solti's recording of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" with Kirsten Flagstad, Regine Crespin, Hans Hotter, Birgit Nillson and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The top non-operatic recording was Carlos Kleiber's recording of Beethoven's 5th and 7th symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jacques Jansen was born in Paris in 1913 and died there in 2002. He became associated with the role of Pelléas like no other singer in history, as his light, high-baritone was perfectly suited for the role. He spent thirty years performing the role around the world and critics marveled at his crystal clear enunciation of the text.

Jacques Jansen sings "Ballades Médiévales":

He also made quite a mark in operetta, singing Eisenstein in “Die Fledermaus,” Duparquet in Reynaldo Hahn's “Ciboulette,” and Count Danilo in Léhar's “The Merry Widow,” which he performed nearly 1,500 times. His original dream was to be an actor, and during World War II, he was featured in a number of movies, including Sacha Guitry's “La Malibran.” He dubbed the singing voice of Alain Cuny in Marcel Carné's “Les Visiteurs du soir” and Jean Marais in “Le Lit à colonnes.”

After World War II, he performed outside of France, including roles in Vienna, Dublin, Amsterdam, London’s Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Milan’s La Scala. After his retirement, Jansen taught voice until his retirement in 1982.

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Don Pasquale Debuted Today in 1843

2012-01-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Mariusz Kwiecien in Don Pasquale - Seattle Opera 2003

On this date in 1843 Gaetano Donizetti's comic masterpiece debuted in Paris at the Théâtre Italien. We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than with the amazingly funny John Del Carlo and barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien singing the duet ''Cheti,cheti immantinente,'' which was encored every night during their Metropolitan Opera run.

Upcoming performances of the opera include a new production at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées starring Alessandro Corbelli and Lorenzo Ragazzo as Don Pasquale and Gabriele Viviani as Dr. Malatesta. For those of you who love hunkentenors, check out the March 2012 run of Don Pasquale with tenor Charles Castronovo and the baritone coupling of John Del Carlo and Jeff Mattsey.

Tenor Charles Castronovo looking Barihunkish

Don Pasquale was the 64th of Donizetti's 66 operas. It was composed shortly after he was appointed music director and composer for the imperial court of Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria. After its opening in Paris, performance quickly followed in Milan and London. The opera had its U.S. premiere in New Orleans at the Téatre d'Orleans on January 7, 1845.

If you're looking for a barihunk Dr. Malatesta, you'll have to head to the Rhein River valley, where Reinhold Schreyer-Morlock is taking on the role in Wiesbaden. We've not featured him on this site before, but he's certainly worth watching.

"Well, hello!" Reinhold Schreyer-Morlock

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

BARIHUNKS BEST OF 2011

2011-12-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

HOTTEST BARIHUNK PHOTO OF 2011 - CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTONE

Christopher Johnstone: Model singer

We couldn't believe it when we saw Christopher Johnstone's new website this year. The Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music graduate defines himself as a "Singer, Actor, Model" and it's tough to argue with it. The lyric baritone has sung with the Glimmerglass Opera, Lyric Opera San Diego, Opera Pacific, Cincinnati Pops, Boston Pops and performing Poulenc’s Le bal masqué for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra with Maestro James Levine of the Metropolitan Opera.

HOTTEST BARIHUNK PHOTO OF 2011 (RUNNER UP) - NICHOLAS NELSON

Nicholas Nelson: Singer or Abercombie & Fitch model?

When we first saw these pictures, we thought they were from an Abercombie & Fitch catalogue. If there is any question left in anyone's mind that singers are taking better care of their bodies these days, these pictures should dispel those thoughts. Nelson is currently with the Portland Opera Studio, one of the beneficiaries of funds from our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar.

BEST STUDIO RECORDING - HENK NEVEN

Henk Neven: Best baritone studio CD of the year

Henk Neven was nominated for a presitigious Gramophone Award in the category of "Solo Vocal." Neven was nomintated for his recording of Carl Loewe's "Ballades" and Robert Schumann's Liederkreis with Hans Eijsackers on piano. It's an amazing recording that should belong in everyone's playlist.

BEST TREND - LIVING AMERICAN COMPOSERS

Daniel Okulitch, Randal Turner & David Adam Moore

The music of living American Composers was all the rage this year. Barihunks Randal Turner and Daniel Okulitch both released brilliant CDs based on the theme. The Five Burroughs Music Festival run by barihunk Jesse Blumberg featured music by living American composers, including performances from fellow barihunk David Adam Moore. The New York Festival of Song, under one of our favorites, Steven Blier, also continued to deliver some of the best new American music on the scene.

BEST NEWCOMERS - PHILIPPE SLY and DOMINIK KöNINGER

PHILIPPE SLY and DOMINIK KöNINGER

We had a great post this year which asked the question: Can barihunks sing? If there was any question about it, two newcomers to the site Philippe Sly and Dominik Köninger quickly dispelled the myth. Sly blew away audiences during his brief tenure at the Merola Opera Program and went on to win the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He was identified early on as a favorite to win the competition and his version of Schubert's haunting Der Erlkönig drew comparisons to Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and other great baritones.

In a year where baritones won almost every vocal competition, German barihunk Dominik Köninger took the top prize at the 2011 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. His seamless phrasing and beauty of tone instantly became the talk of European impresarios and critics.

BEST NUDE SCENE - CHRISTOPHER MALTMAN IN "JUAN"


Christopher Maltman in Juan

Ever since we posted that Christopher Maltman appeared nude in Kasper Holten's abbreviated and updated film version of Mozart's "Don Giovanni," our inbox was filled with queries asking us where they could see the film. Unfortunately, the film had VERY limited release in the U.S. and wasn't made available on DVD to North Americans. Fortunately, a fan of our site directed us to this LINK where the film can be viewed online for free. We suspect that they're getting a sudden uptick in traffic.

BEST AND WORST OPERAS OF THE YEAR
BEST - HYDROGEN JUKEBOX IN FT. WORTH
WORST - GRISELDA IN SANTA FE

Dan Kempson & Justin Hopkins

The Ft. Worth Opera Festival continues to establish itself as a mandatory summer stop for any serious opera fan. This year's production of Phillip Glass' "Hydrogen Jukebox" was the surprise hit of the year. Directed by the Lawrence Edelson and featuring barihunks Dan Kempson and Justin Hopkins (who often appeared only in boxers), the production made an excellent case for this opera entering the standard repertory.

Gronk working on the Griselda sets

If you were looking for a short night at the opera, then you should have been at the Santa Fe Opera's production of Vivaldi's "Griselda." Director Peter Sellars and artist Gronk created an incoherent updating of a baroque masterpiece that had people scrambling for the exits. After Act 1 Santa Fe was filled with opera goers at local bars asking, "What the hell was that?"

BEST AND WORST DIRECTORS
BEST: JOHN DE LOS SANTOS
WORST: MICHAEL GRANDAGE

John de los Santos and Michael Grandage

We return to Ft. Worth for our best young director, John de los Santos, who brought such vibrancy to Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" that it seemed like a brand new hit show. We've been featuring a video of his work in our sidebar, as we think that his work should be more widely known to opera fans. He will be working on his first Wagner opera this year, when he joins the creative team at the Dallas Opera for their "Tristan und Isolde."

We've always had great respect for Michael Grandage as an actor and for much of his theatrical work. However, he needs to stay away from the opera house. He is the antithesis of everything that this site stands for, which is making opera accessible and interesting to modern audiences, as well as making it sexy when appropriate. He took all of the sexual tension out of Britten's "Billy Budd" at Glyndebourne and then mounted what the Guardian called a "disastrously dull" Don Giovanni at the Met. Two operas that thrive on sexual tension were basically emasculated by Grandage.

BEST BARIHUNK FEAST - MINNESOTA OPERA'S "SILENT NIGHT"

Mike Nyby

Kevin Puts' opera "Silent Night" contains more sexy men than a World Cup soccer championship. There were four barihunks in the premiere at the Minnesota Opera who had appeared on this site before, including Mike Nyby, Gabriel Preisser, Ben Wager and Liam Bonner, as well as Andrew Wilkowske. The opera is based on the screenplay for Joyeux Noël by Christian Carion and recounts a miraculous moment of peace during one of the bloodiest wars in human history.

BEST BARIHUNK WEDDING - ZACH ALTMAN & DAN KEMPSON

Zach Altman & Dan Kempson

This isn't you're grandmother's world of opera anymore. Baritones aren't the villains anymore, they're getting married to each other. Two of the most popular barihunks on this site tied the knot this year, Zach Altman and Dan Kempson. We wish them well!

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD AWARD - NATHAN GUNN

Nathan Gunn as Tarquinius in Vienna

We're going to leave you with Nathan Gunn, whose popularity with Barihunks fans is off the charts. The 41-year-old singer still looks hotter than guys twenty years his junior. He returned to the role of Tarquinius in Vienna this year and still looked as sexy as when he sung the role in Philadelphia years ago. He's also about to return to the role of Billy Budd, which is often performed by guys 10-20 years younger. Gunn also promotes his fitness routine, which we think is good for opera and good for the singers.

HAVE A GREAT 2012!!!

Luca Pisaroni Gets Ugly at the Met

2011-12-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

Luca Pisaroni: From Hot to Not

The Metropolitan Opera is premiering the baroque pastiche "The Enchanted Island" tonight and it will run for a month. The music is taken from a number of 18th century masters, including Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others. The original libretto which is drawn from Shakespeare was written by the British writer/director Jeremy Sams. Additional performance information and tickets are available HERE.

As much as we're intrigued by the opera and impressed by the amazing cast that they've assembled led my Joyce di Donato and David Daniels, we were fascinated by the transformation of barihunk Luca Pisaroni into the less-than-attractive character Caliban.

Christopher Maltman's "Juan" available online

2011-12-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

The sexy barihunk Christopher Maltman in Juan (top)

First of all, let us apologize for not posting for a few days, but we decided to enjoy the holidays and to take a break from posting. During those days, we received a number of emails about our Christopher Maltman post and most wanted to know when his film "Juan" would be available in the United States. We've been trying to get that answer for months, but with no success.

Fortunately, one of our most loyal readers alerted us to this LINK where you can watch the movie online for free. It will direct you to a number of sites where you can chose options to stream the movie online or to download it. Some sites are free and some will charge you, so chose carefully.

Juan, which is an abbreviated and updated version of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" is directed by Kasper Holten, who is the new Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Enjoy the movie and we'll return to our regular posting schedule tomorrow.

Also, thank you to everyone who purchased a Barihunks 2012 charity calendar. The proceeds will be going to the Portland Opera Studio and Seagle Music Colony in New York. Your support of our site is greatly appreciated. We pledge to continue to maintain a positive site in 2012 that promotes opera companies and singers. Any money that we make from calendars or other merchandise gets donated to support singers and singers. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Christopher Maltman: COVERBOY

2011-12-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

Christopher Maltman (photo by Pia Clodi)

We have a thousand reasons to love Christopher Maltman. We could start with his stunning lieder recitals and recordings, which currently include some of the best Schubert recordings on the market. Or we could love him for his dramatically intense portrayals on stage where he consistently taps into his emotional and psychological reservoirs to give us a complete portrayal of the character. Who could ever forget his Don Giovanni's at the Salzburg Festival or his portrayal of the same role in the movie Juan? We could love him for bringing elegance and grace to the world of opera both on stage or off stage. But Barihunks is equally about great musicianship and charismatic sexiness. Maltman has the latter in abundance.

Of course, there is nothing sexier than a sexy man who can carry it off without being pompous, arrogant or acting like a reject from Jersey Shore. Maltman wears his barihunk status as well as anyone in the business, along with guys like Erwin Schrott, Daniel Okulitch and Mariusz Kwiecien. One can always tell how comfortable a singer is in his skin by the way he answers a question about being a barihunk. We've seen singers make the ridiculous claim that they are completely unaware of their sex appeal or that they've never read articles (or looked at Barihunks) that discuss their sexiness. Of course, many of these same singers regularly send us photos and try desperately to get on the site!

That's why we loved this part of the profile on Maltman that appears in the Janauary 2012 edition of Opera Now magazine, where the British barihunk appears on the cover:

Opera needs its sexy poster boys and Maltman is claiming his billboard - not with Erwin Schrott-style Latin machismo or velvety Jonas Kaufmann looks, but a guy-impaling intensity that shatters surface veneer.

Does being considered a sex symbol bother him? 'No one's going to complain about being found desirable,' he laughs. 'And for Don Giovanni, it's crucial. He has to be dangerous, without that he's nothing. That's what I learnt when I was directed in the role by Sir Thomas Allen. He has to unbalance people, make them vulnerable and access their psyches at the same time. He's a chameleon, he changes from minute to minute but without personal contradiction; that's dangerous and sexy.'

Maltman will return to the role of Don Giovanni this summer with five performances at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. Performances will run from June 24-July 6 and tickets and additional cast information can be found HERE. The all-star cast is laden with barihunks, including Erwin Schrott as Leporello and Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore. Anna Netrebko is the Donna Anna and this will undoubtedly be one of the hottest tickets in all of opera this year.

Maltman begins 2012 on the concert stage with a recital centering around Ravel and his contemporaries at Wigmore Hall on January 15. He then heads to San Francisco on January 19 for a recital at the Herbst Theater, which includes music by Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Hahn and Faure. In February, he returns to the opera stage, singing Marcello at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. The cast at the Liceu includes the most visited barihunk on our site, Gabriel Bermudez, who will be singing Schaunard. Perhaps the most unusual performance for Maltman this year is his assayal of Kurwenal in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in a concert version with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on August 24.

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Mezzo Kate Jackman's "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains"

2011-12-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

At Barihunks, we find baritones to be sexy and seductive, like Douglas Williams. Could a face like this be a villain?

The beautiful, funny and gifted mezzo-soprano Kate Jackman penned a list of the "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains" for the wonderful blog Operagasm. Of course any list about villains will invariably include some baritones, as many composers consider it the perfect voice for devils, killers, rapists and evil husbands. In fact, six of her ten villains are baritones or basses. (For the record, we think the baritone voice is sexy, sultry, seductive and virile).

Falk Struckmann as Kaspar in Vienna

Her baritone and bass villains include Kaspar from Der Freischutz, of whom she writes:

I get it. You don’t want to go to hell. Understandable.

But tricking some poor, love-sick sap into shooting his beloved Agathe, just so you can get three more miserable years on Earth seems excessive. And how did that plan work out for you? She’s alive, everyone else is happy, and you are burning in a fiery pit for all eternity. Good game.

Barihunk Kyle Ketelsen as Nick Shadow in London

Nick Shadow from The Rake's Progress:

The Shadow Master. The Puppeteer. You pull the strings of poor, feckless Tom. You give him money, loose women, a bearded wife (that’s right, BEARDED), and a magic bread maker, and in doing so make him penniless, loveless, hopeless, and eventually lifeless (as in DEAD). You evoke ruin, disaster, and shame from the second you appear until the instant you sink back into the depths of Hades. You, sir, are a scoundrel.

Barihunk Marco Vratogna as Iago with Carlo Ventre as Otello in Frankfurt

Iago from Otello:

Much like the same-named, cartoon parrot in Disney’s Aladdin, you perch on Otello’s shoulder and spew deceit.

I get that you hate Otello and want him to suffer, but was it really worth going through this whole elaborate plan? Couldn’t you just off the guy and be done with it? And, honestly, what did Desdemona ever do to you? Why does she have to be collateral damage? You had to know that you were not going to walk away from this without facing the consequences.

But you didn’t care, did you? You are just a hateful little worm, aren’t you?

Stephen Costello as Faust) with barihunk Greer Grimsley asMéphistophélès in San Diego

Mephistopheles from Faust:

ATTENTION TENORS: OMG DO NOT ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL!

Really, just don’t even talk to him. It’s not worth it and you will regret it in the long haul.

Take the story of Faust as a cautionary tale: He’s old; he has a lot of regrets. Suddenly, Mephistopheles appears and promises to make him young and virile in exchange for his soul. Stupid Faust agrees, and four acts later he is being dragged down into perdition.

Mephistopheles is just about as bad and scary as they come. Watch the Church Scene in the middle of the night and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Lado Ataneli as Barnaba and Violeta Urmana as Gioconda in the stunning Pizzi production

Barnaba from La Gioconda:

Gentlemen, take note. When a lady tells you she is not interested in your advances, you should:
a) Move on. Fish in the sea blah blah blah

OR

b) Attempt to woo her with the standard flattery, flowers, dinner, etc. She may eventually develop romantic feelings for you.

When a lady tells you she is not interested, you should NOT:

a) Denounce her blind, elderly mother as a witch in front of the entire town.

b) Drown said elderly mother in the Venetian canals.

Your lady will not love you for it and may just stab herself in the gut to get away from you.

And her #1 evil villain is, of course, Scarpia (who we have actually found to be quite sexy in some productions, which adds a whole different element to the seduction scene):

María José Siri as Tosca and Claudio Sgura as Scarpia at the Savonlinna Festival

Scarpia from Tosca Congratulations, Scarpia. You are the nastiest of the nasty characters in Opera.

Nobody likes you. Everyone was happy to see you die.

Why?

Well, let’s recap: You arrested a painter and had him tortured where his lover, a singer, could hear his screams. You then attempted to seduce the singer, like she’d be in any kind of mood for nookie when her lover is being tortured in the next room… and she could hear

his screams. You made her promise to give herself to you in exchange for his life, and then had him executed anyway.

Seriously, dude. If anyone deserved to get stabbed in the chest by a vengeful soprano, it’s you.

Emerging barihunk Xavier Edgardo; NPR examines the baritone voice; Verdi's Attila in Seattle

2011-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

Puerto Rican barihunk Xavier Edgardo

We just had to share emerging barihunk Xavier Edgardo, who is simply adorable. The 22-year-old singer has been studying at the University of Puerto Rico, where he also sang in the choir. He honed his solo skills for two seasons at the International Vocal Arts Institute run by the esteemed Joan Dorneman, assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera.

Edgardo has participated in and won a number of vocal competitions, include many in Europe. In 2009, he was asked to participate in the prestigious Pablo Casals Festival. He has participated in masterclasses with a number of great singers, including fellow Puerto Rican Justino Diaz, Denis Sedov, Sherril Milnes, Mignon Dunn and Elaine Ortiz Arandes. He is currently a member of the Opera of Puerto Rico chorus. We plan of following the solo career of this young talent in future seasons.

Gerard Souzay: A Barihunks favorite

If you haven't heard Tom Huizenga's analysis and breakdown of the baritone voice, we recommend that you click HERE and listen to it. The article includes sound clips, including one of Gerard Souzay's beautiful rendition of Faure's "Clair de lune."

John Relyea reprising Attila in Seattle

We want to remind readers that Canadian barihunk John Relyea is returning to the Seattle Opera in the role of Attila on January 14th. This should be a huge hit and is a "must see" opera for any Verdi fan. Visit the Seattle Opera website for additional cast information and performance dates. Attila also contains two great baritone parts, including a baritone duet! We covered Relyea when he recently sang the role in a concert format this fall in Washington, D.C. Click HERE to see our previous post.

John Relyea sings Publio's "Tardi S'Avvede" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito:

Relyea’s previous Seattle Opera credits include the title roles in Don Quichotte and Bluebeard’s Castle, and Giorgio in I puritani. He won the 2005 Seattle Opera Artist of the Year award for his Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann.

You can watch Attila in its entirety on YouTube by clicking HERE. The cast includes barihunk Samuel Ramey, Giorgio Zancanaro and soprano Cheryl Studer.

DON'T BE A SCROOGE. BUY YOUR 2012 BARIHUNKS CHARITY CALENDAR TODAY. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO BENEFIT THE PORTLAND OPERA STUDIO AND THE SEAGLE MUSIC COLONY. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOU CALENDAR TODAY.

Introducing Uzbekistani Barihunk Dmitri Vargin

2011-12-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

Dmitri Vargin

Dmitri Vargin studied choral direction in his native city Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and singing at the State Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, with William Workman. In Hamburg he had the chance to participate in master classes with artists such as Kurt Moll and Franz Grundheber. He also appeared in numerous productions performing Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Marcello in La Bohème, Pappacoda in Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's dream.

During his last year at the Academy, he appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf performing Silvio in I Pagliacci and has been invited to join the company. At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, he has sung Marcello in La Bohème, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and in the new productions - Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Valentin in Faust, Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, and the title part in Eugene Onegin.

He also appeared at the Erfurt Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, at the Hamburgische Staatsoper as Tusenbach in Tri Sestri by Peter Eötvös, and performed Mahler's 8th Symphony with Maestro Lorin Maazel.

Following his debut at Bolshoi Theatre Moscow as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, he has been re-invited to perform Marcello in La Bohème and Lopakhin in Fenelon's The Cherry Orchard.   He also made his South American debut performing the title part in Eugene Onegin (Montevideo).

Upcoming engagements include both Brétigny in Manon and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte (Düsseldorf), and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne Festival), among others.   Dmitri Vargin has been granted by the DAAD and awarded with German Federal Cultural Prize (2004), the Masefield Scholarship by the Alfred Töpfer Foundation (2005), and he has been actively involved, with the Yehudi Menuhin "Live Music Now" program, in projects bringing music to people unable to attend regular concerts.

There are only two weeks left to order your 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. All proceeds will go to benefit the Portland Opera Studio and the Seagle Music Colony, two of the best young artist training programs in America. You can help out dozens of young artists by purchasing your calendar today. Click HERE and have your calendar before the new year.

Peter Bording Shower Scene; Introducing Stephen Hegedus

2011-12-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

Peter Bording

We haven't featured the sexy Dutch barihunk Peter Bording in awhile. We received an email alerting us that he has a sexy shower scene in Essen's holiday classic "Die Fledermaus." You can watch the clip HERE. The opera opens Sunday, December 18th and runs through New Years Eve. Bording then moves on to the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck where he'll be performing Franz Lehár's "Die Lustige Witwe."

We also received a reader submission about Stephen Hegedus, who is new to this site. They saw him perform in Handel's Messiah with the Seattle Symphony on Friday night, a performance that he will reprise on Sunday night. The Seattle Times wrote of his performance, "The bass-baritone soloist, Stephen Hegedus, sang with commanding lyricism." On December 21 and 22, Hegedus will perform the Messiah with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Both performances are sold out.

A graduate of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, Stephen Hegedus’s appearances in the 2010-2011 season included the title role of Le nozze di Figaro (Opera Hamilton), Albert in Massenet’s Werther (Opéra de Montréal) Zuniga in Carmen (Brott Festival) and the Marquis inLa Traviata (Vancouver Opera). On the concert stage he performed Handel’s Messiah with the Victoria Symphony and the Grand Philharmonic Choir, Bach’s Magnificat with the Orchestre Métropolitain du grand Montréal and Howard Blake’s The Bear with the Toronto Symphony.

Stephen Hegedus

He has performed with Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile, Pacific Opera Victoria, Les Violons du Roy, San Antonio Symphony, Houston Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, the André-Turp Musical Society The Aldeburgh Connection, the Lamèque International Baroque Festival, La Sinfonia de Lanaudière, the Aldeburgh Festival and the International Bach Festival in Toronto.

In April 2009, he made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Bach’s Mass in B-minor with the Oratorio Society of New York and returned in 2010 singing Handel’s Messiah. Recently Stephen appeared as a finalist at Placido Domingo’s Operalia, The World Opera Competition, and was awarded 2nd Prize at the 32nd annual Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition hosted by the Oratorio Society of New York. Other awards include The Janet Stubbs Fellowship and The William and Phyllis Waters Graduating Award, both from the University of Toronto. He is a grant holder of the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers and of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Stephen Hegedus as Figaro

Stephen holds a Master’s of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto and has pursued further studies at the Banff Centre, the Britten-Pears Programme (Aldeburgh, England), The Canadian Vocal Arts Institute (Montreal), The International Vocal Arts Institute (Tel Aviv) and the Centre for Opera in Sulmona, Italy. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Seattle Symphony, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Victoria Symphony and Pacific Opera Victoria.

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Announcing our Second Beneficiary for our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar: Seagle Music Colony

2011-12-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Seagle Barihunks: Christopher Temporelli, Seth Mease Carico and Wes Mason.

We’re pleased to announce our second recipient of a donation from the 2012 Barihunks calendar, the Seagle Music Colony at Schroon Lake in beautiful upstate New York. There are many reasons to support this great training program, but the fact that it was founded in 1915 by baritone Oscar Seagle, an early 20^th century singer, certainly helped us in our decision. It’s also run by Darren Woods, who runs one of the best opera festivals in the world, the Ft. Worth Opera Festival. If your summer festival schedule includes Ravinia, Tanglewood and/or Spoleto and you haven’t checked out Ft. Worth, then you haven’t experienced the best of American opera.

A number of barihunks have trained at Seagle, including Ned Hanlon, John Cabrali, Joe Hagar, Anthony Reed, Nicholas Wardcan and FOUR of our calendar models, Wes Mason, Seth Carico, Christopher Temporelli and Dan Kempson. Since it’s founding in 1915, numerous singers have gone on to have amazing careers in opera and on Broadway. Their mission statement is “To identify, train and develop gifted singers and to present quality opera and musical theatre performances to the public.” They’ve obviously been successful, as Seagle alumni have performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Santa Fe Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera and, of course, the Ft. Worth Opera.

Oscar Seagle made several concert tours in the United States and Europe, and recorded albums for Columbia, including the popular World War I hit "Dear Old Pal of Mine." He served from 1903-1914 as teaching associate in Europe with his teacher, the great Polish tenor Jean de Reszke. De Reszke was a star of the Metropolitan Opera as well as Queen Victoria's favorite singer.

Darren Woods has served as General Director at the Seagle Music Colony since 1996. In 2000, it was named "Best Summer Vocal Training Program in the United States" by Classical Singer Magazine. Seagle receives over 500 applicants each year and it has expanded from two productions and eight performances per summer to six full productions and over thirty-five performances. Our favorite young director, John de los Santos (whose video you can see at the right) is also a regular at Seagle.

We’re delighted to have them join the Portland Opera studio as one of our beneficiaries this year. We encourage you to purchase a calendar and help support his amazing organization. If you’re feeling extra generous this holiday season, please visit them online to make a donation HERE or mail a check to Seagle Music Colony, 999 Charley Hill Road, PO Box 366 – Schroon Lake, NY 12870.


Randal Turner (top), Seagle participant Dan Kempson (bottom left) & David Adam Moore (bottom right)

BUY YOUR 2012 BARIHUNKS CHARITY CALENDAR TODAY BY CLICKING HERE!

Erwin Schrott Stars in "3 Superstars in Berlin" & Don Giovanni in London

2011-12-15T17:16:00.000-08:00

Three of the most beautiful performers in opera have teamed up for "3 Superstars in Berlin," an evening of music from opera and musicals. Barihunk Erwin Schrott is joining forces with his wife Anna Netrebko and hunkentenor Jonas Kaufman for a concert that will be shown in movie theaters worldwide on January 26 and February 3. The performance is being taped at the Berlin Waldbuhne, the city's gorgeous 23,000 seat outdoor theater set in the heart of a forest.

The trio will be peforming selections from Bernstein's "West Side Story," Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess," Puccini's "Manon Lescaut," Gounod's "Faust," Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and tangos. You can click HERE for tickets and showtimes.

Erwin Schrott in Don Giovanni

Schrott returns to the opera stage on February 3rd at the Royal Opera House in London as Don Giovanni. His Leporello will be fellow barihunk Alex Esposito. Performances run through February 29th and tickets are available HERE.

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Christopher Maltman in "From the House of the Dead"

2011-12-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

Christopher Maltman in Juan (top); Vienna's "From the House of the Dead" (bottom)

We've gone way too long without a post about Christopher Maltman, who tantalized us last year with his nude scene in Kasper Holten's movie "Juan." Unfortunately, the movie was never distributed widely in the United States and only played at a few art movie theaters. The DVD is only available in Region 2 format, but we promise to keep you informed when it is available worldwide.

Maltman is currently appearing in one of our favorite operas, Janacek's "From the House of the Dead." For those who haven't seen the opera it's non-stop feast of men from curtain to curtain. Maltman is singing the role of Šiškov at the Vienna State Opera. Šiškov brings the opera to a harrowing end when he sings a tale of murdering his love. There are four performances remaining between December 14-30. Click HERE for additional information or to purchase tickets.

Maltman talks about the role on his management website:

You’re rehearsing Janácek’s From the House of the Dead at the Vienna Staatsoper – an interesting piece to get your head around…Absolutely – but an amazing piece too. Its difficulty lies in the fact that there’s no real dramatic narrative; there isn’t a linear story to follow. But there are these four central monologues which are effectively studies in human psychology, each one becoming progressively more complicated.

Shower scene from Janacek's opera

Where do you fit in?My character Šiškov sings the final monologue. He’s a pretty ordinary, unassuming guy who through a series of awful events ends up doing something terrible, and my motto for the whole piece has been ‘there but for the grace of God go I’. It’s really about what people can do in very difficult circumstances and how those circumstances ultimately affect them. There’s this bunch of men trapped together in this prison; I feel the prison is a metaphor for those places in which people come express their emotions. It’s just a metaphor life.

Particularly when life means you’re thrown together with a large group of people away from home for a long and intense period of work – precisely the predicament of the modern opera singer…Very much so, and the similarities continue in that you’re with a bunch of people you don’t know very well. People very often take that opportunity to lay down their life story – to tell others about who they are and what they are, which is exactly what lies behind all the characters in From the House of the Dead. They’re people justifying why they are in the situation that they are in – why they did the things that they did.

And like them you’re on your own, too – away from your family…Well technology makes that far easier; I’ve just been able to talk to my two sons using Skype. But it’s always difficult and you have to balance the practicalities of having a career against the difficulties of having a family. It’s impossible to get it completely right, but there is nothing else that I could do to be at the level I hopefully sing and act at. Nor is there anything else I would want to do. But to go back to the prison idea, I am slightly trapped by my own profession!

Prison is exactly where your various vivid incarnations of Don Giovanni should probably be sent – you’re shortly to revive him in Berlin. How will that feel after your role in Kasper Holten’s explosive movie version?There are some constants that you take with you from production to production. Before I sang my very first big Don Giovanni I had lunch with Tom [Sir Thomas] Allen. He’s such a treasure trove. I asked him, look, is there any other advice you’d give me before playing the role? He told me, above all, to make Don Giovanni dangerous: he has to be dangerous, however that danger is achieved. There are sovereign requirements for Don Giovanni and that sense of danger about him is paramount I think.

And you’ll be re-united with Daniel Barenboim…He’s a very demanding man, a man with a lot of opinion and a man with a very clear vision of how things should be musically. But I’ve always found that kind of conductor much easier to work with than somebody who really lets you guess what it is that they want. For Daniel it’s all about the music – a desire to get the music right in his own head – and I can always live with that. He’s probably one of the greatest musical talents of the last 100 years – just a phenomenally, phenomenally gifted man. If you don’t listen to that kind of person, I think there’s something wrong.

Have you bought your 2012 Barihunks calendar? Buy one now before it's too late. Click HERE.

Celebrating Heinrich Heine - (December 13, 1797 – February 17, 1856)

2011-12-13T08:15:00.000-08:00

Philippe Sly & Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine's later verse and prose is distinguished by its satirical wit and irony. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities. Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris. [Excerpted from Wikipedia]

The first seven lieder from Robert Schumann's "Dichterliebe," set to poetry by Heinrich Heine Performed by Sanaz Sotoudeh and Philippe Sly in Pollack Hall at McGill University in 2009.

Schubert's haunting "Der Doppelgänger" from Schwanengesang sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau:

Der Doppelgänger by Heinrich Heine

Still ist die Nacht, es ruhen die Gassen,
In diesem Hause wohnte mein Schatz;
Sie hat schon längst die Stadt verlassen,
Doch steht noch das Haus auf dem selben Platz.

Da steht auch ein Mensch und starrt in die Höhe,
Und ringt die Hände, vor Schmerzensgewalt;
Mir graust es, wenn ich sein Antlitz sehe -
Der Mond zeigt mir meine eigne Gestalt.

Du Doppelgänger! du bleicher Geselle!
Was äffst du nach mein Liebesleid,
Das mich gequält auf dieser Stelle,
So manche Nacht, in alter Zeit?

English Translation

The night is quiet, the streets are calm,
In this house my beloved once lived:
She has long since left the town,
But the house still stands, here in the same place.

A man stands there also and looks to the sky,
And wrings his hands overwhelmed by pain:
Upon seeing his face, I am terrified--
The moon shows me my own form!

O you Doppelgänger! you pale comrade!
Why do you ape the pain of my love
Which tormented me upon this spot
So many a night, so long ago?

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Only two weeks left to purchase our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Get in the holiday spirit and buy your copy today. All proceeds go to young artist programs. We named our first recipient yesterday, which is the Portland Opera Studio. Scroll down and read about this amazing program.

Announcing our First Beneficiary for our Barihunks Charity Calendar: The Portland Opera Studio

2011-12-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Portland Opera homepage

We’re pleased to announce that the Portland Opera Studio is our first recipient of a donation from our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. We’ll announce the second recipient later this week. The final donation will depend on how many calendars we sell, which you can purchase HERE.

When we looked at the requests that we received, we were most moved by the requests from some of the smaller artist training programs. They work on shoestring budgets and still manage to develop some of the best young artists around today. Often they have to work more on commitment than cash, yet still deliver great results. The Portland Opera Studio has helped develop four singers who have appeared on this site: Jonathan Lasch, Jonathan Kimple, Jose Rubio and Nicholas Nelson. Portland Studio Artists also participated in a vocal masterclass with Daniel Mobbs, who performed the role of Figaro in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” with the Portland Opera in November.

Portland Opera Studio participant Nicholas Nelson

Graduates of the Studio Artist program have performed worldwide, including roles with the New York City Opera and with young artist programs at Houston Grand Opera and Glimmerglass Opera. Nicholas Nelson will be appearing as the Commissioner in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" opening on February 3rd and a number of small roles in Philip Glass' "Galileo Galilei" opening on March 30th.

In 2005, the Portland Opera established the Portland Opera Studio program, designed to train the next generation of opera singers by providing a "bridge" from the conservatory world to the professional stage.

Selected at auditions around the country, young singers fresh from some of the nation's finest vocal conservatories and music academies join the company for a rigorous nine-month training program during which they are featured in their own production. Their training also includes voice, language and movement lessons and supporting roles in Company mainstage productions. Studio Artists also give an intimate recital of Art Song at the Portland Art Museum, exploring the close relationship between composer, singer and accompianist.

Jose Rubio, Jonathan Kimple & Jonathan Lasch

The Studio Artists yearly production has become a highly-anticipated event in Portland, delighting audiences with rarely heard works and beautiful young voices. Previous productions include Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (2005), Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses (2006), Britten's Albert Herring (2008), Cavalli's La Calisto (2009), Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and Monteverdi's Il Ballo delle ingrate and Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (2010) and a Ravel double-bill of L'heure Espagnole and L'enfant et les Sortilèges (2011).

No matter where you live, we encourage you to buy a calendar to support this program, as you are likely to encounter one of their graduates at an opera house near you soon. You can also give an additional holiday donation directly to the Portland Opera Studio by contacting Hannah Gildea their Individual Giving Manager, at (503) 417-0601 or email her at hgildea@portlandopera.org.

Click HERE to buy your calendar.

Duncan Rock Debuts as Giovanni; Shirtless in Heggie Piece

2011-12-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

Duncan Rock in Jake Heggie's “For a Look or a Touch”

Barihunk Duncan Rock had a busy couple of days in November. On November 18th, he was asked to step in at the last minute in the Welsh National Opera's production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni." The next night he opened at the King's Head Theatre in London in the critical role of Manfred in Jake Heggie's “For a Look or a Touch.”

Heggie's powerful chamber opera is the tale of two gay lovers, both prisoners in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. The text is based on the journal of the late Manfred Lewin, interviews with his lover Gad Beck and other survivors who were featured in the film "Paragraph 175." Heggie has created a mesmerizing and haunting depiction of the loss and persecution of the gay victims of the Holocaust. We were fortunate enough to get these amazing pictures of Duncan Rock as Manfred.

We've featured this before, but it's worth sharing again. Here is the amazingly talented Morgan Smith singing "Golden Years" from "For a Look or a Touch":

Time is running out to purchase our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. Please help us support young artists by purchasing your calendar today. Click HERE to order you copy and enjoy the world's hottest and most talented singers all year long.

Keith Miller: Jock, Singer and now Youth Mentor and Professional Trainer

2011-12-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Keith Miller: From Buffaloes to Barihunks

We've featured American barihunk Keith Miller before and his story of "football player to opera singer" has been well-documented. He continues to draw attention and praise everywhere he goes. He was in the cast of Donizetti's Anna Bolena that featured Anna Netrebko and received international press coverage. He will return to that production in 2012.

Miller will also perform in Billy Budd at the Met next year, with fellow barihunk Nathan Gunn in the title role. Performances in other venues include a recital at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado and singing the role of Riolobo in the production of the late Daniel Catán's opera "Florencia en el Amazonas" at Opera Colorado.

When we first featured shirtless photos of Miller, it created quite the sensation and the photos remain some of the most popular with our readers. Because of his own athletic training and how much it has contributed to his success as a singer, Keith has also founded Puissance Training (Meaning “Power” in French), a progressive new way of looking at opera today that helps singers train for physically demanding roles and scenes. And in yet another sign of how football and opera can mix, he’s doing the training with the help of a business partner, one of his former football trainers.

Of course, at Barihunks we love the idea of singers looking fit, as well as believable, on stage. We hope that his new venture takes off as fast as his singing career. His press release said it best"

"He's a perfect fit in the new world of opera where singers are expected to look like movie stars and where fitness is a non-negotiable requirement."

Video Wednesday: Vittorio Prato & Markus Werba

2011-12-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Delizioso! Vittorio Prato's new headshot

Here is Part 1 of the Italian TV show "Tutti all'Opera," which shows the making of Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" from a backstage perspective at the Teatro Petruzzelli. The clip includes some rehearsal footage and a brief interview with Italian barihunk Vittorio Prato.

Tutti all'Opera - Il Barbiere di Siviglia

You can read about Vittorio Prato's upcoming schedule at our previous post about the singer. There are also a few additional photos at that link.

The chorus doing to Markus Werba what the rest of us are imagining.

We love live footage from operas despite the shaky cameras. It truly captures singers in their natural element without sound engineers, microphones and editing. Here is Markus Werba and Irini Kyriakidou performing "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia:

Markus Werba is wrapping up a run as Papageno in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris opposite the brilliant soprano Sandrine Piau as Pamina. Werba next heads to the Teatro la Fenice where he will perform Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte."

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

2012 Barihunk charity calendars are still available

Barihunks Store

Kwiecien, Kelly, Varnier, Trevino and a dose of Don Giovanni

2011-12-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

Mariusz Kwiecien on Polish TV

For you legions of Mariusz Kwiecien fans, there are two videos of the Hot Pole on Polish television. One of the clips includes extensive performance footage and backstage shots. Even if you don't understand a lick of Polish, these are worth watching. (WARNING: We had a hard time getting the videos to work. Click on the STOP button and then hit PLAY). You can watch both videos at Dzień Dobry TVN. Kwiecien is currently in Poland singing Halka and Don Giovanni.

La Scala

A few of our readers have written in to inform us that the Don Giovanni from La Scala that we posted about yesterday will be broadcast today on Italian radio at RAI 3. The broadcast begins at 6 PM Milan time (Noon EST/9 AM PST).

Doppelgängers? Franz Liszt and Michael Kelly

The gifted young barihunk Michael Kelly will be joining sopranos Victoria Browers and Mary Mackenzie tonight at the WMP Concert Hall in New York City for a night of music by Franz Liszt. We couldn't help but notice a bit of a similarity between the striking composer and the equally eye-catching Michael Kelly. Liszt songs include "Was Liebe sei?," "Freudvoll und Leidvoll," "Die Lorelei", and"Die Fischerstochter, " as well as music by Debussy, Wolf and Rachmaninoff. Visit the SongFusion website for additional information.

Jérôme Varnier

French barihunk Jérôme Varnier will be performing a recital on Thursday night at the Temple Saint Marcel in Paris, France. The program includes lieder by Mozart, Schubert, Ravel, Ibert as well as Argentinian music from de Ginastera, Buchardo and Aguirre. Visit the Musicatem website for additional information.

We have to give a shout out to one of our favorite low voices, Matthew Treviño, who received rave reviews for his performance as Sarastro. The role seldom gets singled out in a review, but Treviño majestic bass caught the attention of Terence Blain in the Irish Theater Magazine:

"But it was Texan bass Matthew Treviño who truly galvanised attention: his Sarastro was magnetically sung and acted, an eerily hermetic presence with an insinuatingly malevolent agenda (he manhandles Pamina creepily during one aria). Sarastro’s part goes very low musically, but Treviño’s bottom Fs were unpinched and beautifully supported, his sonorous, burnished tone and clear enunciation a source of constant pleasure."

You can see Treviño in our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. Copies are still available HERE. But now before they're either all gone or January 1, 2012 has rolled in. You won't want to miss one day of this sexy calendar.

Reuters: "La Scala seduces crisis-hit Italy with Don Giovanni"; Cast Loaded with Barihunks!

2011-12-05T06:58:00.000-08:00

We caught his article about how the Italians are hoping that their new Don Giovanni will divert attention away from their debt crisis. When we saw the cast, which is loaded with barihunks, we wondered how Italians could think about anything else other than this Don Giovanni. Gotta love those Italians.

Kostas Smoriginas and Alexander Tsymbalyuk

(Reuters) - Milan's opulent La Scala theatre is hoping the seductive powers of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" can momentarily drown out the chorus of economic doomsayers in Europe when it opens its opera season next week.

Continue article HERE.

As we mentioned, the cast is full of barihunks and world-famous baritones. Alternating as Don Giovanni will be Peter Mattei and Ildebrando d'Arcangelo. The role of Leporello will be alternated between Ildebrando d'Arcangelo and Bryn Terfel. Masetto will feature our "Johnny Depp" look alike Kostas Smoriginas, who will share the role with Štefan Kocán. Even the role of the Commedatore features the sexy Ukranian barihunk Alexander Tsymbalyuk, who shares the role with Kwangchul Youn. Tickets and additional cast information are available HERE.

The "Flexin' Texan" Michael Mayes & The "Hot Pole" Mariusz Kwiecien

2011-12-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Michael Mayes' Barihunks Calendar Shot

We've raved about Michael Mayes' podcast, the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow podcast, for years and it remains one of the most entertaining shows on the web. His podcasts are often fueled by either heavy doses of caffeine or liberal servings of alcohol. Michael makes sure that no topic is off limits. Some of the recent topics include "Country Music is 3 chords and the truth," "The shared lexicon of opera and addiction," "Sleeping against the pole~ not the Polish guy, but the actual pole," "Singing opera in the mobile home" and "Heterosexual countertenors sure let you know."

Mayes is currently in Nashville reveling in his country roots. One thing that we can say with certainty is that Michael Mayes is an unabashed country boy and Elvis Presley fanatic. It's so refreshing to meet an opera singer who remains authentic to who he is and doesn't start talking in the "international opera accent."

Mayes is performing Silvio in Pagliacci with the Nashville Opera, which continues to be one of the most interesting and creative smaller opera companies. Mayes' Silvio has been greeted with critical acclaim and there is one more performance on Sunday, December 4th. Get your tickets HERE.

We've been eagerly awaiting to hear when Mariusz "the hot Pole" Kwiecien's new CD of "Slavic Heroes" would be released. We've now learned that it will available in the U.S. on January 10, 2012. The album includes arias by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, Dvoák, Moniusko, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Szymanovsky. Included is Apollo's Hymn from Szymanovsky's "King Roger," which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer from July 21 to August 14.

Mariusz Kwiecien

Kwiecien is wrapping up 2011 in his native Poland with performances of Moniuszko's Halka and Mozart's "Don Giovanni." He opens 2012 at the Bavarian State Opera performing the Marquis de Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo, which we've been told is SOLD OUT. The cast is one of the best that we've seen assembled at any opera house. It includes René Pape as King Philipp II, Jonas Kaufmann as Don Carlos and Anja Harteros as Elisabeth.

If you want to enjoy photographs of talented young artists like Michael Mayes all year long, you can purchase our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking HERE. You'll also be assisting the next generation of young singers, as all of the proceeds will go to young artist programs. We're announcing our first two beneficiaries next week.

Please feel free to contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com with your tips, comments, praise and occasional corrections.

Andrew Garland, Alex Esposito & Ryan Kuster Updates; Schrott Out in Dresden

2011-12-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

Ryan Kuster (L), Andrew Garland (C) and Alex Esposito

Today is a miscellaneous Friday for us, which we're going to use to update you on four of our favorite barihunks. They also happen to be three of the most talented singers to be making their mark in the opera world today.

Our favorite redhead, Andrew Garland, recently finished recording "American Portraits" for GPR records, which is due out in 2012. He can next be heard in Handel's "Messiah" with the Boston Baroque on December 9 and 10. Here he is singing "A Reverie" from the song cycle 'Battle Pieces' by Paul Phillips, which is based on poems by Herman Melville. The world premiere was on October 16, 2011 with the Pioneer Valley Symphony in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

We have deservedly dubbed Alex Esposito the greatest Leporello in the world today and it continues to be a major role on his schedule. His work as a Mozart specialist in general has been recognized by the most prestigious opera companies in the world, who keep engaging him for the master's leading roles. He's keeping a busy schedule singing his signature role as Don Giovanni's sidekick with a recent run at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and now taking it to the Vienna Staatsoper, which opens on December 11. He then switches Mozart roles, singing Papageno at La Scala in February and Guglielmo in Toulouse in May 2012. For a change of pace, here he is singing the aria "Accusata di furto" from Gioachino Rossini's "La gazza ladra," which is best known for its overture. The performance is from a gala at the Deutsche Oper Berlinon November 5, 2011.

Fans of Ryan Kuster in San Francisco were treated to this amazing singer at the San Francisco Opera's "The Future is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert." The first-year Adler Fellow continues to generate a genuine buzz among opera cognoscenti and he didn't disappoint last night with a rousing and vocally eloquent performance of "Aprite un po' quegli' occhi" from Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." He was then given the unenviable task of singing opposite Leah Crocetto, who many believe will be the next reigning Verdi soprano. The duo sang "Il padre tuo...Tu piniscimi" and literally brought down the house.

And speaking of duos...

If you think the Germans are upset at having to carry the load of the European debt crisis, you should have seen the reaction when the Semperoper Dresden announced that Anna Netrebko and barihunk hubby Erwin Schrott would not be performing in two New Year's Eve Concerts. Opera's most famoust couple were replaced by sopranos Angela Denoke and Ana Maria Labin. The two concerts were sold out, but the ticket office is being besieged with refund requests. The change was made with little fanfare, as Netrebko and Schrott's names mysteriously disappeared from the website overnight.

We're going to announce our first two recipients for a charitable donation from our our 2012 Barihunks calendar in the next few days. We appreciate everyone's enthusiastic support for the calendar, but encourage those who haven't purchased one to do so now, so we can support additional programs. Also, it's not to late to write us at Barihunks@gmail.com and tell us why your young artist program is deserving of a donation from the calendar.

Randal Turner Makes History in China

2011-12-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

Lorin Maazel and Randal Turner

Barihunk Randal Turner made history this week, as he was the first person to professionally perform the title character in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in China. Turner first sang the role as a student at Indiana University and returned to the role after being asked by the legendary conductor Lorin Maazel to be part of of the Chinese premiere in Beijing. Maazel and Turner will join forces again in Bari, Italy at the beautiful Teatro Petruzzelli in 2012. We'll have details soon.

Randal Turner coming to the Teatro Petruzzelli

For opera fans on the other side of the pond, you're in luck, as Turner will be performing in Rufus Wainwright's opera "Prima Donna" at New York City Opera. Performances will run from February 19-25 and tickets additional cast information are available on the company's website. We're particularly encouraging Barihunks readers to support New York City Opera this season, as they endeavor to reestablish themselves after a few rocky years. It's critical that the "People's Opera" survives in New York City. Buy some tickets and make a donation today.

We've also learned that Turner will be recording his second album next year while he's in New York. You can purchase his current CD of "Living American Composers" by clicking on the link to the right. We think it was one of the best opera CDs of the year. Turner also created a sensation in our new Barihunks charity calendar and his sensuous photo has been reprinted in newspapers and blogs. Don't miss it!

We don't have footage from China, but below is Act 1 of Hasse's rediscovered oratorio "La caduta di Gerico." You can hear Turner at 19:44 sing the aria "Finché solco il mare infido" with the Ensemble Musica Rara.

You can contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Celebrating Carl Loewe's Birthday with the Amazing German Bass Hans Hotter

2011-11-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

Carl Loewe and the great Hans Hotter

Carl Loewe (Löwe im Deutsch) was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. In his lifetime he was dubbed the "Schubert of North Germany." A number of his 400 or so songs are still performed and he wrote beautifully for his own voice range.

The beauty of Lowe's music earned him a grant from Jerome Bonaparte, then king of Westphalia, which allowed him to continue his studies in music and theology at Halle University. While living in Stettin (Szczecin) he did most of his work as a composer, setting a version of Goethe's Erlkönig in 1824 which some say rivals Schubert's far more famous version. He went on to set many other poets' work, including Friedrich Rückert, and translations of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron. He also wrote a number of operas, oratorios and instrumental works.

His treatment of long narrative poems, in a clever mixture of the dramatic and lyrical styles has been copied by many composers since his day.

Hans Hotter (1909 – 2003) was a German bass-baritone, admired internationally after World War II for the power, beauty, and intelligence of his singing, especially in Wagner operas. He was extremely tall and his appearance was striking because of his high, narrow face, wide mouth, and big, aquiline nose. His voice and diction were equally distinguished.

Four-Time Emmy Award-Winner Glen Roven's Barihunk Concert and CD's

2011-11-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

Branch Fields

The Winter Rhythms Festival, which runs from December 1-11 in New York City is a series of concerts that includes Cabaret, Jazz, Hip Hop, Broadway and Classical Music. On December 5th, the festival will include "I Hate Music: The Songs and Music of Glen Roven" with barihunks Chris Herbert and Branch Fields. The baritones will be joined by opera diva Lauren Flanigan, the Broadway Youth Ensemble, TV actor and Broadway star Jeff McCarthy, OBIE Award-winner Donna Lynne Champlin, jazz vocalist Luba Mason, award-winning singer Nikolas King and opera tenor Matthew Garrett.

Christopher Herbert

Christopher Herbert will be performing one of Roven's most beautiful songs, "Upon Westminster Bridge" with words by William Wordsworth. Branch Fields will be performing Mozart's "Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni. For tickets call (212) 868-4444 or visit Smarttix.com. Urban Stages is located at 259 West 30th Street in Manhattan.

Fans of Christopher Herbert can also catch him with New York Polyphony, which will be performing in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Minnesota during December. Check out their website for touring information. We can assure you that this is an ensemble that you won't want to miss.

Glen Roven has also recently wrapped up an innovative new CD of viola songs with barihunk and winner of numerous vocal competitions, Jonathan Beyer, (with a special guest appearance by his partner Brandon Cedel) on the GPR label. The CD is available for pre-order at the GPR website. GPR also has barihunk Daniel Okulitch's CD of great American composers available for sale. There is a special discount if you order both CDs.

Also, Christopher Herbert, Jonathan Beyer and Brandon Cedel are all featured in our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar, with all proceeds going to benefit young artist programs. Buy yours today by clicking HERE!

NY Times: Dan Kempson-Zachary Altman wedding announcement

2011-11-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we posted about the wedding of barihunks Dan Kempson and Zachary Altman. Today's Sunday, New York Times featured an official wedding announcement and we've published the entire text below.

3 Barihunks: Dan Kempson (L), Justin Hopkins (C) & Zachary Altman (R)

Dan Kempson and Zachary Altman

By ROSALIE R. RADOMSKY

Published: November 26, 2011

Alexander Mackay-Smith Kempson and Zachary Clayton Altman, both baritones, were married Saturday evening at the Tribeca Rooftop, an event space in New York. Dona D. Vaughn, a Universal Life minister who taught them in the opera program at the Manhattan School of Music, officiated.

The couple met in 2007 at the music school, from which Mr. Altman graduated and from which both received master’s degrees in voice.

Until May, Mr. Kempson (left), who is 26 and known professionally as Dan Kempson, was a resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera, where last year he sang the role of Figaro in “The Barber of Seville.” He performed the role of the Baritone in “Hydrogen Jukebox,” by Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg, with the Fort Worth Opera last May. He graduated from Johns Hopkins.

He is a son of Catharine Mackay-Smith Kempson and Kenneth E. Kempson of Wilton, Conn. Until June, his mother was the president of the League of Women Voters of Wilton. His father is a senior tax counsel for General Electric in Stamford, Conn. He is a trustee of the Wilton Library.

Mr. Altman, 27, is a private voice teacher in New York. Last year, he performed the role of Hermann Augustus in “Candide” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He appeared in a Sarasota Opera production of “La Bohème” earlier this year.

He is the son of Nancy Crueger Altman and Brett H. Altman of Wyndmoor, Pa. His mother is on the board of Concert Operetta Theater in Philadelphia. His father is a partner in the Altman Group of Companies in Fort Washington, Pa., which operates a general contracting business, manages housing and is involved in real estate development. He is on the board of Federation Housing Inc. in Philadelphia, a nonprofit developer of housing for the elderly.

The couple began dating in 2008, a year after they met. The next year they appeared in a Manhattan School of Music production of “Die Fledermaus,” directed by Ms. Vaughn. Mr. Altman sang the part of Dr. Falke and Mr. Kempson Gabriel von Eisenstein (normally a tenor part). Both characters were vying for the affection of Rosalinde.

In real life, Mr. Altman recalled, “we were pretty entrenched in our relationship at that point.”
He said that Ms. Vaughn lightheartedly reminded them, “You need to make gaga eyes at Rosalinde, and not each other.”

A Goyishe Christmas with Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier & Two Barihunks

2011-11-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

Joshua Jeremiah & John Brancy

We mentioned the New York Festival of Song's A Goyishe Christmas to You! Yuletide Classics by Jewish Songwriters back in July, but figured it was time for a reminder. There will be two performances at Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center on Tuesday, November 29 and Thursday, December 1. The program includes not one, but two barihunks who have been featured on this site, John Brancy and Joshua Jeremiah. They will joined by international opera star Stephanie Blythe, Lauren Worsham, Mary Testa, Josh Breitzer and the inimitable Steven Blier.

The evening will be filled by Yuletide songs from Jewish songwriters including Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn, Johnny Marks, Irving Berlin, Jay Livingston and many others. Rumor has it that the holiday classic "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" will be sung in Yiddish, Klezmer-style. And you wonder why we love New York?

There will also be a complimentary wine reception after the show and we'd love for our readers to send us your iPhone pictures with the singers. Send them to Barihunks@gmail.com. Call 212.501.3330 for tickets or visit the NY Festival of Song website.

Blythe and Blier together already guarantee an evening of fun of non-stop entertainment, so the two barihunks are icing on the Yule log. Here's a little teaser for the show.

If you want to enjoy barihunks everyday for an entire year, order our charity calendar today. Click HERE and help support the young artists who make our musical experiences so enjoyable.

Boston Early Music Festival Serves Up Tall Order of Barihunks

2011-11-24T07:53:00.000-08:00

Barihunks Michael Kelly & Douglas Williams (L); Douglas Williams behind tenor Aaron Sheehan (R) -
photos by Kathy Wittman

If you like your barihunks like your redwood trees, which is tall and awe-inspiring, then head to the Boston Early Music Festival. The group is performing Charpentier's glorious Orphée with three statuesque barihunks, Michael Kelly at 6'2", Douglas Williams at 6'4" and Olivier Laquerre at 6'7". [By the way, we featured two post on who might be the world's tallest barihunk, which you can read HERE and HERE].

The opera tells the famous story of Orphée who decends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.

There will be two performances of the opera at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday evening, November 26th and Sunday afternoon, November 27th. The Boston Early Music Festival not only features singers who are easy on the eyes, but they produce some of the most wonderful baroque opera to listen to in the world. You can click HERE to watch one of our favorite singers, Jesse Blumberg, perform Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe.

Douglas Williams is also part of our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. He's our July feature of "All-American Boys" along with Jonathan Boehr and Christopher Temporelli. You won't want to miss it! Shopping season is officially kicking off tomorrow so order your calendar today by clicking HERE. Please remember that all proceeds are going to benefit young artist programs.

Michael Kelly was supposed to be part of the calendar, but a reprinting error inadvertently left him out. We promise to feature plenty of this gifted young singer in 2012!. You can watch Kelly's recital from the Trinity Wall Street Church, which we featured earlier this year, by clicking HERE.

If you know of a barihunk singing in Handel's Messiah this year, please email us the information at Barihunks@gmail.com.

Papageno!!! Papageno!!! Sarastro!!! & A Barihunk Gathering in Minnesota

2011-11-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Some days we open our inbox and a theme just seems to appear. Today it was barihunks who are performing Papageno or Sarastro in Mozart's "Magic Flute."

The Opera Theatre Company in Ireland is touring the opera to a number of venues. The Sarastro is one of our favorite barihunks, Matthew Trevino, who also happens to in our Barihunks charity calendar in September. The opening night performance on Friday, November 25 is already sold out, but there are still tickets remaining for the remaing 19 performances, which run through December 10.

The Papageno is Owen Gilhooly and the production is performed in an English translation. Visit the Opera Theatre Company website for additional information or to purcharse tickets.

David Adam Moore (Papageno) and Jamie-Rose Guarrine (Papagena) (Photo by Mark Matson)

Another barihunk featured prominently in our calendar (and showing some skin) is the always entertaining David Adam Moore. Moore is a performer who always brings something extra to a performance, whether singing Mozart, Rossini or contemporary opera. He just wrapped up a run as Papageno with the Austin Lyric Opera. If you're in Texas and are kicking yourself with your cowboy boots for missing him, you're in luck. Moore is returning in April to perform Timur in Puccini's "Turandot" opposite yet another calendar model, Craig Verm,who shows off his amazing chest in our May feature along with Douglas Carpenter, Justin Hopkins and Dan Kempson (you won't want to miss it!).

By the way, you won't want to miss the AMAZING Turandot of Lise Lindstrom, who practically owns this role right now and performed the role to great acclaim at the Met. It's impressive that a smaller company like Austin Lyric Opera has managed to engage her. Buy your tickets now at their website, as this production will undoubtedly be sold out.

Gyula Orendt

We hadn't heard of Gyula Orendt until a reader brought him to our attention. The Transylvania-born singer studied at Franz Liszt University in Budapest. Orendt won numerous awards at the Viñas vocal competition in Barcelona in January 2010, including those for Oratorio/Lied, Mozart singing and Dalton-Baldwin prize. The baritone is a member of the ensemble of the Berlin State Opera House this seasons where he will perform Papageno, among other roles. Next year, he will also perform the Gamekeeper in Dvorak's "Rusalka" at the Royal Opera in London.

Lastly, we had to share the following picture from the Minnesota Opera. As we previously posted, the world premiere of Kevin Puts' "Silent Night" was full of amazing baritones and, better yet, barihunks. One of the things that we like about operas based on war stories, is that they inevitably have a lot of beefcake to enjoy and "Silent Night" is no exception.

Top Photo: Troy Cook, Gabriel Preisser, Ben Wager, Michael Nyby and Craig Irvin

Of course, "Silent Night" has also been a critical success and has instantly become a welcome addition to the repertory. We highly recommend that you read the reviews from the Minneapolis Examiner and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Regular readers of this site will also know that Troy Cook is one of only a handful of singers to appear on this site in the Full Monty. Cooks revealing debut on this site last summer was from a performance of Poulenc's "Les mamelles de Tirésias" and it continues to be a popular post with readers.

Please remember that all proceeds from our Barihunks calendar is going to benefit young artist programs that produce singers like Matthew Trevino, Troy Cook, Gabriel Preisser, Mike Nyby, David Adam Moore and others. Holiday shopping season officially begins this week, so click HERE and order your calendar today. Join us in making this a special holiday for young artists and you can enjoy looking at them ALL YEAR.

Your input, suggestions and occasional corrections are always welcome at Barihunks@gmail.com