John Chest's Munich Recital and Upcoming Billy Budd Debut in Berlin

John Chest

We haven't posted about American baritone John Chest in awhile. He's another of the long list of barihunks who have been cleaning up at vocal competitions, having won the Arleen Auger Prize in the 2012 Hertogenbosch International Vocal Competition. Previously, he also won the prestigious Stella Maris International Vocal Competition.

We first saw Chest when he was with the Merola Opera Program, where he brought down the house with his shirtless Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte . He is a recent graduate of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he sang over eighty performances including Fiorello Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Schaunard La Bohème, Lovec Rusalka, Petrucci Lucrezia Borgia, Carmen with Jonas Kaufmann, La Bohème with Anja Harteros, and Lucrezia Borgia with Edita Gruberova.

If you're in the Munich area, you may want to catch his recital on Friday, November 16 at the Historischer Reitstadel. He'll be performing works by Samuel Barber, Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf with accompanist Marcelo Amaral. Call 09181/255-125 for tickets.

Many of his future engagements are in Europe, including Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Bari, a recital at the Wigmore Hall and revivals of La finta giardiniera in Morocco and in Luxembourg.

Actor Terence Stamp as the blond Billy Budd from the movie

In the 2013/14 season he will take up a Fest contract with Deutsche Oper Berlin, the highlight of which will be his debut in the title role of Britten's  Billy Budd in a new production by David Alden. Many people watching Chest's career have said that this role was practically written for him, as it perfectly suits his voice and appearance. Details have not been posted yet, but you can subscribe to the Deutsche Oper's free newsletter HERE for updates.

You can listen to Chest sing Pierrot's Tanzlied from Korngold's Die tote Stadt by clicking HERE.

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