Opera Omaha's "Marriage of Figaro" Triumphs With Two Barihunks

[Jason Hardy at New York City Opera]

When Jason Hardy performed shirtless in the recent production of New York City Opera's production of Don Giovanni, there was collective "WHOA!" in opera circles. As you can see from the photo, Hardy deservedly attained instant barihunk status with his steamy performance. Hardy was one of two barihunks in the recent production of "Marriage of Figaro" at Opera Omaha, where ticket sales were brisker than usual.

The Omaha World-Herald wrote of his performance:

Bass singer Jason Hardy was no less successful in the title role, singing with a voice like black velvet ––equally dark and soft. Yet his dark instrument was also remarkably flexible. For instance, the notes in his aria “Non più andrai,” Figaro’s playful first act song to Cherubino, were surprisingly light and playful.

The other barihunk was Kelly Markgraf, who has appeared on this site before and is raising eyebrows throughout the opera world for his beautiful singing and equally good looks. Markgraf was also in the New York City Opera's "Don Giovanni," so perhaps Hardy and Markgraf are starting a "Two Barihunks" tour. The World-Herald wrote of his performance:

Kelly Markgraf, as the Count, sang with a voice that was so beautiful and burnished that you almost forgot his character’s vengeful, prideful nature.

Read the entire review HERE.


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Timothy Sharp Debuts on Barihunks

We'd like to welcome German baritone Timothy Sharp to Barihunks. He'll be opening as Ulisse in Monteverdi's "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" on Sunday, February 28th at the Oper Wuppertal.

Sharp was born in Augsburg, Germany and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Known for his beautiful lieder singing, he has gone on to perform in Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Mannheim, Venice, Naples, Frankfurt, Leipzig and in the U.S. at the Chicago Opera Theater. His mother is the soprano and music professor Norma Sharp.

Here he is singing Schubert's wonderful piece "Du bist die Ruh":



A little trivia about the city of Wuppertal, which sits in the Rhine Valley near Cologne: It is where aspirin was invented and was the home to Friedrich Engels, who wrote the Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx.

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Associated Press Feature on Paulo Szot

[Photo: Kathy Willens / AP]


On May 14, 1948, Ezio Pinza sang his last "Don Giovanni" with the Metropolitan Opera on tour in Cleveland and retired from the company. The next year, the Italian basso crossed over to Broadway, creating the role of Emile de Becque in the musical "South Pacific" and becoming forever identified with the song "Some Enchanted Evening."

Nearly 62 years later, Paulo Szot is retracing Pinza's steps — backward. After two years of playing de Becque to great acclaim (and, like Pinza, a Tony award) in a revival of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Szot is making his Met debut on March 5.

Talk about a role reversal.

[Read the complete article HERE]

Barihunks Heating Up The Pacific Northwest

Two young barihunks will be singing at smaller opera companies that sit in the shadow of the esteemed Seattle Opera. Joshua Jeremiah is new to Barihunks and he is a welcome addition. He is yet another singer who came through the Seattle Young Artists Program. Others include Michael Krzankowski, Jonathan Lasch, Michael Todd Simpson, David Adam Moore, Morgan Smith and Tom Forde (see below).Visit the Spokane Opera website for ticket information.

Joshua Jeremiah will playing the role of Silvo in Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," a role that we rarely see on Barihunks. However, we hear that Jeremiah will be sans shirt, which should be a good enough excuse to visit Spokane (as witnessed from the photo). We would like to welcome this talented young singer to the site.



Another graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program is Tom Forde, who has appeared on this site before. He's making his debut as the title character in Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." Forde has a rich voice and winning stage personality, so he will undoubtedly triumph in this role. We understand that he spent some extra time at the gym to ensure that he looked great in his costume. Visit the Tacoma Opera website for ticket information.
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Simon Keenlyside Featured in Opera News

[As Winston in the 2005 world premiere of Lorin Maazel's 1984 at Covent Garden © Bill Cooper 2010]


Barihunk Simon Keenlyside is featured in the new issue of Opera News and the article includes lots of photos. If you don't get Opera News, they are offering a special that includes a CD with arias.


[Keenlyside as Posa in 2009's Don Carlo, with Jonas Kaufmann (Don Carlo) © Catherine Ashmore 2010]

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"Catalogue Aria" as seen by the iPhone

[Photo of Eugene Brancoveanu]


It is rare that we feature a video that doesn't show a barihunk, but this latest promo video from Berkeley Opera is so ingenious that we couldn't resist. The aria is sung by Igor Vieira, who sings Leporello in the production. The Don Giovanni is being sung by Eugene Brancoveanu, a major talent on the operatic horizon who has previously appeared on this site. The video was created by Jeremy Knight and follows the famous catalogue aria on iPhone apps. This is the type of stuff that opera companies need to do in order to make the art form relevant to younger audiences.



Don Giovanni is running until February 28 and tickets can be purchased at the Berkeley Opera website. If you plan on going, order now, as some performances are almost completely sold out.
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Sexiest "Don Giovanni" Coming to Michigan Opera

In March 2009, Barihunks asked readers to pick the world's sexiest Don Giovanni. We had an incredibly hot group of contestants that included Christopher Maltman, Mariusz Kwiecien, Randal Turner, Simon Keenlyside, Cesare Siepi, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, Daniel Okulitch, Martin Achrainer and Mark Stone. Not only are all of these men incredibly hot, but they are all pretty amazing singers who perform Mozart's classic as well as anyone on the stage today.

Our readers are a pretty sophisticated bunch and in the end American Randal Turner beat out two other barihunks who also play the role with physically erotic gusto, Simon Keenlyside and Mariusz Kwiecien. Turner has gone on to be a regular on this site and we've bemoaned the fact that despite his American roots, his career has been centered in Europe. To our shear delight, the Michigan Opera Theater has hired Randal Turner to replace fellow barihunk Paulo Szot, who withdrew from the production. It's difficult from their website to figure out what nights he's singing, as he's alternating performances with Robert Gierlach. However, we've confirmed that Turner is performing on April 14th & 17th.

Here is a YouTube clip of Randal Turner singing a beautifully nuanced performance of "Deh, vieni, alla finestra." If you're anywhere near Michigan, we suggest that you click HERE and buy your tickets today. This is a U.S. debut that shouldn't be missed!


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Matthew Worth Triumphs as Don Giovanni

We had no doubt that barihunk Matthew Worth would look good as Don Giovanni in the Virginia Opera production of the Mozart standard, but from all accounts his portrayal was a complete success.

Of course, at Barihunks we love a singer who looks as good as he sounds and Matthew Worth fits the bill like few others. The Daily Press wrote, "At 6-foot-3, the handsome baritone strikes a confident presence in this commanding role that has him onstage much of the time." Read the entire review at the Newport News Daily Press.

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Happy Birthday, Morgan Smith

Barihunks would like to wish Morgan Smith a Happy Birthday! Smith is a resident at the opera in Leipzig, where he is currently portraying Leander in Prokofiev's "Love for Three Oranges."

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New Photos of Vittorio Prato

The stunningly handsome Vittorio Prato is currently performing in Ennio Porrino's opera "I Shardana (Gli uomini dei Nuraghi)" at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari. There are two performances remaining on Febraury 19 and 21.

UPDATE: We received a message that Prato is Dijon performing Belcore in Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" rather than performing in "I Shardana" in Cagliari, despite what their website says.

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All things Dmitri

One of the original barihunks on this site was Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who seems to gets sexier with each passing year. His voice remains one of the most beautiful instruments in all of opera and his latest CD, a 25-track masterpiece dedicated to Tchaikovsky songs, is a testament to his artistry.




The "Siberian Hunky," as we like to call him, has also launched a stunning website with sound clips, video and lots of gorgeous photos. The site also contains his full schedule of appearances, as well as quick links to Facebook and YouTube, where one will find dozens of additional video clips.



Hvorostovsky has also been making his mark crossing over into pop. Like Kiri Te Kanawa and Eileen Farrell before him, he is actually quite successful in making the transition. Barihunks fans on the East Coast can check out his pop concert on March 6, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Hvorostovsky will team up with Russian pop composer Igor Krutoi in an evening of pop tunes written especially for the baritone. Check out the video for a preview.

Opera purists need not fear, because starting on March 20th the silver fox returns to the world of opera in a series of concerts with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. Hvorostovsky will appear with Radvanovsky at Washington’s Kennedy Center, Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, Montreal's Place des Arts, and at Carnegie Hall.

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Matthew Worth asked about Barihunks

[Matthew Worth photos from Virginia Opera]




Barihunk Matthew Worth, who is performing the title role in Don Giovanni with the Virginia Opera, was recently featured in the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. The reporter asked him about his thoughts on being featured on Barihunks.

The 31-year-old hunk told the reporter, "I take it for better or worse. It's a reality in our business, and that's sort of how I take it. When going to see 'La Boheme,' audiences don't want to see a Rodolfo who's 50 years old and 350 pounds. Same with Mimi."

We couldn't agree more.

Worth is appearing in the Mozart opera with fellow barihunks Daniel Mobbs and David Krohn.

Don't forget to vote in our poll, which is featured in the following post. We're looking for the "best sung" barihunk-tenor duet from Pearl Fishers. So far, Simon Keenlyside and Matthew Polenzani are running well ahead of the pack.

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Pearl Fishers Contest

Few operas have provided this site with more material than George Bizet's "Pearl Fishers." Some of our hottest barihunks have appeared in shirtless photos from this French gem, including Nathan Gunn, David Adam Moore and Lucas Meacham.

We know that these guys look good as Zurga, but we want to know who you like best vocally. We've given you six clips with famous barihunks as Zurga to choose from. Use the poll in the right column to vote.


Simon Keenlyside & Matthew Polenzani

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Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Paul Groves

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Thomas Hampson & Marcelo Alvarez

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Ludovic Tézier & Ramon Vargas

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Nathan Gunn & William Burden

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Mariusz Kwiecien & Matthew Polenzani

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Press Covers Liam Bonner's Met Debut

[Photo from HGO Studio]


Barihunk Liam Bonner featured in his hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Read the article HERE.

Here is Liam Bonner singing Yeletsky's aria from Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame."



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Luca Dall'Amico: A shirtless Mustafa

One doesn't think of Mustafa in Rossini's "L'Italiana in algeri" as a barihunk role. It's usually sung by a bariChunk well into his career and more known for his character acting than his abs and pecs. But when Italian barihunk Luca Dall'Amico is cast in the role one can't blame the director for asking him to sing the role shirtless. The only complication might be that Isabella might decide to stay with Mustafa rather than boarding the ship back home.

And who would blame her?

32-year old Luca Dall’Amico was born in Vicenza, Italy and made his operatic début in 2003 at the Verona Arena. His career has been primarily centered in Spain in Italy. He can next be seen on March 10 in Verona perfoming in Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette."

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Barihunks Showing Some Skin

At Barihunks we celebrate the beautiful men who grace our operatic stages. There is nothing sexier than Erwin Schrott or Mariusz Kwiecien ripping his shirt off in "Don Giovanni." Or who can blame Carmen for dumping Don Jose when Kyle Ketelsen struts out on the state as Escamillo. There are few things on the stage hotter than Matthew Worth in "Rape of Lucretia," Simon Keenlyside or Nathan Gunn in Billy Budd, or Daniel Okulitch baring everything in "The Fly." So we decided to showcase a bunch of the hottest barihunks around in one post.

One thing that we've noticed about our readers is that they like to see a little skin once in awhile. So here are some of the dreamiest barihunks showing off their goods onstage and offstage.

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TOM CORBEIL IN Haydn’s "L’isola disabitata AND LAURENT ALVARO IN "The Fly"

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TOM FORDE, SIMON KEENLYSIDE & MICHAEL RICE

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JONATHAN KIMPLE & PAUL LAROSA

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CALE OLSON ON THE L/R & JOHN CHEST (CENTER)

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ANDREW GARLAND & ANDREA CONCETTI

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Norwegian Barihunk Audun Iversen

Norwegian baritone Audun Iversen began singing at the age of 22. In July 2007 Audun Iversen was a finalist in the “Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition” in Vienna. He won the “Queen Sonja International Singing Competition” in Oslo in August 2007, in addition to being the first singer to win the newly founded “Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship”.

His next performance will be in Britten's War Requiem with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Later this year he will perform the title role in Eugene Onegin at Opéra de Lille in France and the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

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John David Boehr Works His Weapon

John David Boehr shows off some barihunk arms in this photo and works his weapon in this video of the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt from Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette."

A native of Waco, TX, Boehr has performed with Austin Lyric Opera, Minnesota Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Palm Beach Opera and at Tanglewood. In 2009, he sang Figaro at the Minnesota Opera in the "Barber of Seville" and performed in Reinhard Keiser's "The Fortunes of King Croesus." He will be performing Chabrier's "L'étoile" at Austin Lyric Opera through February 7th and will perform with New York City Opera in the future.

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