Watch Björn Bürger live in Glyndebourne's Die zauberflöte

Björn Bürger as Papageno and Sofia Fomina as Pamina

You can watch German barihunk Björn Bürger online in the Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s new production of Mozart's Die zauberflöte on the The Telegraph's website. You can watch it live on Sunday, August 4 at 5.35 PM BST/12:35 PM EST/9:35 AM PST and then on demand for seven days until Monday, August 12 at 9.30 AM BST/4:30 AM EST/1:30 AM PST.

Björn Bürger in trailer for Die zauberflöte:

Björn Bürger was previously featured in Glyndebourne's streaming video of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

There are eleven performances at Glyndebourne remaining running through August 24, with an additional performance at the BBC Proms on August 27.

Tobias Greenhalgh to make role debut in Pagliacci

Tobias Greenhalgh and Boston's Memorial Ice Rink

Barihunk Tobias Greenhalgh will make his role debut as Silvio in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with the Boston Lyric Opera this Fall. It will be the first time that the company has performed the classic verismo opera.

The opera will be performed at the DCR Steriti Memorial Ice Rink, where the company has previously performed  Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. Greenhalgh will be joined by tenor Rafael Rojas as Canio and Lauren Michelle as Nedda. Performances will run from September 27 – October 6, 2019 and tickets are available online.

Tobias Greenhlagh in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin:

This season, Greenhalgh is joining the ensemble at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen where his roles will include Count Almavivia in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in June 2020, Valentin in Gounod's Faust running from April-June 2010 and Ottokar in Weber's Der Freischütz, also running form April-June 2020. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Georg Festl turns heads with sexy Golaud in Freiburg

Georg Festl in Pelléas et Mélisande (Photo: Rainer Muranyi)

German barihunk Georg Festl certainly caught the attention of the audience with his sexy, oft-shirtless performance of Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Theater Freiburg. We thought readers might enjoy seeing a few of the pictures, since the run ended on July 20. This was his role debut.

For those not familiar with the piece, the opera is tragic love triangle involving two noble half-brothers, Golaud and Pelléas, and the enigmatic Mélisande, who comes into their lives unexpectedly after a tremendous and undisclosed personal calamity. She marries Golaud, but he is soon convinced of her illicit union with his brother, and his jealous rage ends in Pélleas’ murder.  Mélisande dies after giving birth to a child.

Georg Festl in Pelléas et Mélisande (Photo: Rainer Muranyi)

Festl make his house debut at the Opernhaus Zürich next Spring as Masetto in Don Giovanni in a cast led by fellow barihunk Luca Pisaroni in the title role, Andreas Wolf as Leporello, Wenwei Zhang as the Commendatore, Jane Archibald as Donna Anna, Sine Bundgaard as Donna Elvira, Mauro Peter as Don Ottavio and Natalia Tanasi as Zerlina. 

Georg Festl was born in Nuremberg, Germany and studied English and American studies at the University of Music Würzburg. After graduating, he was cast as Artie Green in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg.  He is a recipient of the Richard-Wagner Society scholarship and the Da-Ponte Society scholarship

Simon Keenlyside to appear at Wigmore Hall

Simon Keenlyside as Golaud
Photo: Wiener Staatsoper GmbH / Michael Pöhn

Fan favorite barihunk Simon Keenlyside will appear at Wigmore Hall on July 26th joined by five British jazz musicians.

Keenlyside will sing selections from American jazz and light opera/musicals, including pieces by Kurt Weill, Emmerich Kálmán, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Billy Strayhorn. Tickets are available online.  

Earlier this year Keenlyside was knighted by HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace for his "services to music." He won a Grammy Award for his recording of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and in 2011 was named Musical America's Vocalist of the Year.

Simon Keenlyside as Golaud
Photo: Wiener Staatsoper GmbH / Michael Pöhn

In 2016, he underwent thyroid surgery, which kept him offstage for 10 more months.

Upcoming opera performances include Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo at the Vienna State Opera, Giorgio Germont in Verdi's La traviata at the Bavarian State Opera and Goulaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Hamburg State Opera.

Jonathan Beyer to appear on "Worst Cooks in America"

Jonathan Beyer

Barihunk Jonathan Beyer will appear as a "recruit" on the Food Network's popular show "Worst Cooks in America." You can begin watching the latest challenge on August 4th.

The show takes 12 to 16 contestants (aka recruits) with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set. The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including: baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant quality three-course meal for three food critics.

Beyer is currently at the University of British Columbia Summer Vocal Workshop, where he is teaching and performing.

A bit of trivia: Beyer appeared in our very first Barihunks Charity Calendar.