Bevy of Barihunks in Broadcasts from Bavaria

Michael Nagy and Günther Groissböck

The Bavarian State Opera is continuing the popular live streaming of their performances which they debuted last year. This year's selection features some of our favorite barihunks in their free broadcasts which are available at STAATSOPER.TV.

Previous broadcasts have included Alban Berg's Wozzeck, Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, Verdi's La forza del destino and Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Tareq Nazmi

On May 31st at 7 PM CET./1 PM EST they will present Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten with Michael Nagy as Stolzius and Tareq Nazmi as Obrist.

30-year-old Bass-Barihunk Tareq Nazmi, who is new to this site, was born in Kuwait and grew up in Munich. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Edith Wiens and Christian Gerhaher. He is a first prize of both the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation prize and the National Song Contest.

Since the 2012-23 season, Tareq Nazmi has been a permanent member of the Bavarian State Opera where he has performed Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Speaker in Mozart's Magic Flute, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Publio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Goran Jurić

On June 28th at 6 PM CET./Noon EST they will present a new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (William Tell) with Günther Groissböck as Gesler. Groissböck has been extremely popular on our site, especially the pictures of him in the "Brokeback Onegin," as it's been dubbed by opera bloggers. The cast also includes Goran Jurić as Walter Furst.

31-year-old Croatian bass-barihunk Goran Jurić is also new to the site. He has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble since the 2011-12 season. He received his Master's degree in Opera Studies at the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb, where is completing his second Master's degree in Phonetics and Italian Language and Literature.

At the Bavarian State Opera he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Il Re in Verdi's Aida, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Banco in Verdi's Macbeth, Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlos and Timur in Puccini's Turandot. He also performs regularly with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

On July 27th at 6 PM CET./Noon EST the company will present Claudio Monteverdi L'Orfeo with the amazing Christian Gerhaher and the stunningly talented Anna Bonitatibus.

NY Times: Best Classical Recordings of 2012

Konstantin Wolff's Masetto makes the NY Times list

We're suckers for "Best of..." lists, so seeing the New York Times' list of best classical music recordings of 2012 made for some pleasant reading. We're also suckers for any opera that has three baritone roles, so seeing Don Giovanni and La Bohème on the list made us particularly happy. The list also included one of our favorite non-vocal recordings of the year, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's recording of the Brahms Serenades. This music is so fresh and vibrant on period instruments that you'll think that you're hearing Brahms for the first time. Also making the list is Christian Gerhaher's brilliant recording of lieder by Beethoven, Berg, Haydn and Schoenberg.

You can read the entire list on the New York Times website, but here are our highlights:

MOZART: ‘DON GIOVANNI’ Vocal soloists; Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Deutsche Grammophon 477 9878; three CDs). The impressive cast for this “Don Giovanni” includes Ildebrando D’Arcangelo in the title role, with Luca Pisaroni (Leporello), Joyce DiDonato (Donna Elvira), Diana Damrau (Donna Anna) and other fine artists, brought together in a wondrously fresh performance conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. ANTHONY TOMMASINI

PUCCINI: ‘LA BOHÈME’ Vocal soloists; Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, conducted by Eivind Gullberg Jensen (Electric Picture EPC01; DVD). The intellectually charged but dazzlingly theatrical director Stefan Herheim deconstructed the traditional sets of the Norwegian National Opera’s previous production of “La Bohème,” creating a mixture of old and new with a sober twist: Mimi dies of cancer at the start, and the opera is reconfigured as Rodolfo’s surreal, moving refusal to admit it. ZACHARY WOOLFE

BRAHMS: SERENADES Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas McGegan (Philharmonia Baroque Productions PBP-05; CD). These are the first period-instrument accounts of the two serenades that I’ve encountered, though that is the least of their charms. More to the point, they rank among the finest recorded performances of these underrated works, perhaps second only to Istvan Kertesz’s classic versions with the London Symphony Orchestra, on Decca. JAMES R. OESTREICH

‘FERNE GELIEBTE’ Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, pianist (Sony Classical 8869935432; CD). The German baritone Christian Gerhaher, who took master classes with the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, would make his mentor proud with this recording of lieder by Beethoven, Schoenberg, Haydn and Berg. Mr. Gerhaher’s mellifluous voice is aptly complemented by the supple touch and deeply expressive playing of Gerold Huber, his superb pianist. VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

We're getting ready to publish the Barihunks "Best of 2012" list, so email us your favorites to Barihunks@gmail.com. Also, there are only nine days left to order your Barihunks Charity calendar. We are only 12 calendars short of our goal, so order today. Please remember that every penny of profit goes to benefit young artists. 

 

 

Concert for Japan

Christian Gerhaher, Kent Nagano & Soile Isokoski

 This is not the usual post for Barihunks, but we want our readers to know about the "Solidarity Concert" for Japan. Kent Nagano will join baritone Christian Gerhaher and soprano Soile Isokoski in this special performance of Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" on April 3rd. 

The performance will be  held at the Frauenkirche and will be free to the public.

For ticket information, contact the box office at tickets@st-oper.bayern.de.