Opera news from around the world

Tom Corbeil in opera and as Lurch

Today is one of those days when we have a bunch of miscellaneous items to posts. First up is the Michigan Opera Theater, which we have a special affection for since they managed to survive an economic calamity in Detroit to open their forty-second season. During a time when many opera companies were shutting their doors, MOT managed to raise money and trim some costs to keep opera alive in the Motor City.

They also manage to put out casts which are always of interest to us at Barihunks. They are kicking off this season with Rossini's Barber of Seville. In the small, but important role of Basilio, is Tom Corbeil who returns to opera after a successful run as Lurch in the Addams Family Musical (he's been replaced by Zachary James). Roddion Pogossov and Eugene Chan will share the role of the Barber. There are two other singers that we should highlight, who you want to miss: Elizabeth DeShong as Rosina and Eleazor Rodriguez as Almaviva.

Tickets are available by calling 313-237-SING or online at the MOT website. The opening night performance will be broadcast on WRCJ 90.9 FM on October 13 beginning at 7 PM CST.

"Teddy Bare" and his co-star are in the tabloids again

We're really not an opera gossip site, there are too many great ones out there for us to compete with and we like staying focused on promoting barihunks. However, we can't stop following the Teddy Tahu Rhodes/Lisa McCune romance that's playing out in the Australian tabloids during their tour of South Pacific. It almost seems like the couple is seeking out the publicity, as they keep engaging in very public displays of affection.

You can read the latest story in the Herald-Sun.

Philip Kalmanovitch shirtless as the Don and with Hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock

We keep trying to wrap up the 2013 Barihunks Calendar, but seem to get distracted by pictures of the 2012 models. Here is Philip Kalmanovitch from a 2011 IVAI production of Mozart's Don Giovanni with hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock, another one of our favorite people in opera.

Perhaps this is a good time to clear up any misunderstanding about Hunkentenors. We get a lot of mail asking us why we don't post more on Hunkentenors. The simple answer is it's not our site. We focus on baritones, although we do give the occasional shout out to a few irresistible tenors like Blalock, Noah Stewart, Jonas Kaufmann and Juan Diego Flores.

Sébastien Lemoine

We post about a lot of singers and many are top of mind because the singers, their agents, their publicists or opera marketing departments make sure that we know about their every move. Other singers we chose to follow because you've shown an interest in their careers or they are particular favorites of ours. Every so often, we see someone appear in our analytics under "searches" that reminds us about our reader's interest in a singer. Recently, Sébastien Lemoine appeared near the top of our searches after a long absence from the site.

The former aviator and all-around jock, wrapped up performances in April of Bernstein's Wonderful Town and now is scheduled to perform  scenes from Don Giovanni in Macon, France on November 18th. The performance is part of the Les Symphonies d’Automne Festival and tickets are available online.

For those of you who were searching for Lemoine, thanks for keeping him on our radar!