Malte Roesner and Marco Vassalli as seen in the National Post and the Barihunks Calendar
Canada's National Post has written a feature on the barihunk phenomenon, which includes extensive comments from site co-founder Jack Michaels. Canadian barihunks Philippe Sly and Phillip Addis are mentioned, along with Italian bass-barihunk Luca Pisaroni and Germans Marco Vassalli and Malte Roesner.
"Look at what we watch on television. Police detectives look like supermodels! We live in a culture where aesthetics are important. I don’t want to ever say it’s more important – voice is always the most important – but it’s become an important factor." - Barihunks co-founder Jack Michaels
The article mentions our charity calendar, which has funded numerous projects for low voices, including the West Coast premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera "Green Sneakers" and Marco Vassalli's U.S. debut. 2017 will mark the tenth anniversary of the site, which was originally conceived as a fan site for Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Mariusz Kwiecien.
“It’s about the music first – that’s why I got into this. Any fitness things that are related, I do try to deliver them, but only as much as they serve the actual work. I’m definitely not thinking, ‘How will this pose look on Barihunks?'" -Barihunk Phillip Addis
Author Catherine Kustanczy does a great job of explaining that the "hunks in opera" phenomenon predates the creation of Barihunks almost a decade ago. She cites such historic opera figures as Cesare Siepi, Theodor Uppman, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Samuel Ramey, who all were operatic "pin up boys" decades ago.
We thought that it would be fun to compare some versions of "Some Enchanted Evening" from the 1949 hit musical "South Pacific." Two baritones have scored huge successes as Emile de Becque almost 60 years apart, Ezio Pinza and Paulo Szot. We've mixed in emerging barihunk Rodney Clarke and the great Cesare Siepi for comparison purposes. We've also added the hit recording my Perry Como, a version by the legendary Frank Sinatra and a jazzed up version from Ray Charles.
Ezio Pinza, who made this famous with the original 1949 Broadway cast recording:
Paulo Szot, who became a mega-star barihunk with South Pacific:
Cesare Siepi, who shows he could have scored a it with this on Broadway, too:
Ray Charles, jazzing it up for TV:
Frank Sinatra in a classic version from 1949:
Rodney Clarke, one of our emerging barihunks:
Perry Como, who had a hit with this in 1949:
Giorgio Tozzi, who recorded his in 1958:
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Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com
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ROME (AFP) — Cesare Siepi, one of the best known opera basses of the 20th century, died on Monday at the age of 87, Italian media reported on Tuesday.
Siepi, born in Milan in 1923, was "a favourite of the crowd at (Milan opera house) La Scala," according to Italian daily Il Giornale.
He died on Monday in the US city of Atlanta after having lived in the United States for decades.
Specialising in the 19th century Italian repertoire and in Mozart's operas, Siepi made his debut at the Rigoletto in Schio in 1941 and soon after fled Mussolini's Italy to Switzerland.
He performed 379 times at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, playing 18 roles including Figaro and Don Giovanni in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni," as well as Gurnemanz in Richard Wagner's "Parsifal," according to classical music label Naxos, which published many of his records.
I've received some email asking me what the Don Giovanni candidates in our poll look like. One can always search in the box on the upper right hand corner of the site for whomever you're looking for. It has already been pointed out to me that I left off Erwin Schrott, which was completely inadvertent. I'll make up for it by posting some great photos in the near future.
Make sure to vote. Here are out contestants from top to bottom:
1. Christopher Maltman as Don Giovanni
2. Mariusz Kwiecien as Don Giovanni
3. Randal Turner in Cosi
4. Simon Keenlyside as Don Giovanni
5. Cesare Siepi as Don Giovanni
6. Ildebrando d'Arcangelo in Le Nozze di Figaro
7. Daniel Okulitch as Don Giovanni
8. Martin Achrainer as Don Giovanni
9. Mark Stone as Don Giovanni
