Dominik Köninger (foreground) and Günter Papendell (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)
Classical music writer Catherine Kustanczy, a.k.a. The Opera Queen, interviewed barihunk Dominik Köninger and asked him about being on Barihunks. He responded, "This is really flattering, I have to say. I was and am always flattered when I read things about me. Those guys are ripped!" You can read the entire interview HERE.
You can also watch him in a live stream of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande from the Komische Oper on OperaVision.eu on Sunday, October 15th at 6:00 PM CET/1 PM EST/10 AM PST. If you can't watch it live, the performance will be available until April 14th. Köninger will sing Pelleas and fellow barihunk Günter Papendell will sing Golaud.
Zachary Gordin and Gianluca Margheri
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchaseHERE.
In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book
this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the
calendar. You can purchase thatHERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
We've been following German barihunk Dominik Köninger at the Komische Opera ever since he joined their esnsemble after winning the 2011 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. His riveting performance in the Monteverdi/ Elena Kats-Chernin Orpheus in their Monterverdi Trilogy is currently available for viewing on the Opera Platform. Check him out singing and dancing in Act 2 and then giving a tour de force shirtless performance in Act 5.
Dominik Köninger in Orpheus
The production is by Barrie Kosky, who took the world by storm with his innovative production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper, which has gone on to be performed worldwide, including at the Los Angeles Opera and Minnesota Opera.
In Orpheus, Köninger is asked to sing, dance, act and even perform in water. It's evident why he's one of the most talked about young baritones in the business. He also made our Barihunks Best of 2016 list for a completely different performance, pulling off last year's best comedic turn as the Roman Officer in Oscar Straus' The Pearls of Cleopatra, which is also viewable on viewable on the OperaPlatform. Both Orpheus and Pearls are worth watching to appreciate the full range of Köninger's talent.
Dominik Köninger in Orpheus
Orpheus is part of a Monteverdi adapted by the Uzbek composer Elena Kats-Chernin, which also includes Odysseus and Poppea. Kat-Chermin has integrated jazz, klezmer, tango, and ragtime into the scores. Additional live performances of Orpheus are on June 23 and 26, and July 1, 3 and 9. Tickets are available online.
Günter Papendell & Dominik Köninger(Photos: Iko Freese)
The barihunk duo of Dominik Köninger and Günter Papendell is back together at the Komische Oper in Berlin as Julius Caesar and Achille respectively in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto. We first featured them together in the company's Monterverdi Trilogy. The Komische ensemble members have also alternated the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
There are two runs of Giulio Cesare in Egitto, the first which opened on May 31 and runs through July 4th. The two then return in their respective roles from September 11 through October 31. The rest of the cast includes Valentina Farcas/Mirka Wagner as Cleopatra, Theresa Kronhalter as Sesto, Anna Bernacka as Tolomeo, Alexey Antonov as Curio and Ezgi Kutlu as Cornelia.
Köninger is singing a role that has historically been sung by a countertenor. In fact, two of the worlds greatest countertenors will take on the role in other German cities this season, as Andreas Scholl sings it in Frankfurt and David Hansen in Dresden.
Valentina Farcas & Dominik Köninger (Photos: Iko Freese)
This season, Dominik Köninger can be seen as Agamemnon in Le Belle Hélène, the young Hoffmann in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Papageno in The Magic Flute and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro.
Günter Papendell can be seen as Peter in Hansel and Gretel, Pollux in Castor and Pollux and the tile characters in Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi and Eugene Onegin.
We've been huge fans of German barihunk Dominik Köninger ever since he wowed the
judges at the 2011 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song
Competition. We always knew that he could sing, but now with this new video of him as Orpheus in
Komische Oper's controversial Monterverdi Trilogy, we've learned he can dance, too! Check him out singing and dancing in Act 2 and then giving a tour de force shirtless performance in Act 5.
Dominik Köninger
The production is by Barrie Kosky, who took the world by storm with his innovative production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper, which was recently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and is now headed to the Minnesota Opera. There has seldom been a production where a singer was asked to sing, dance and perform this much and Köninger pulls it off brilliantly. It's evident from these videos why in the last few years he's become one of the most talked about and heralded young singers in the business.
Köninger starred in the marathon musical interpretation of Monteverdi's trilogy by the Uzbek composer Elena Kats-Chernin which was performed in a single day, running from 11a.m. until 11p.m. The trilogy included Orpheus, Odysseus and
Poppea and feautured 200 artists on stage. The production definitely wasn't for purists as Kat-Chermin integrated
jazz, klezmer, tango, and ragtime into the score.
Dominik Köninger sings a riveting rendition of "Machtvolle Gottheit" from Orpheus:
Köninger can currently be seen at the Komische Opera as Pantalone in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, which runs through February 19th. He then returns to his popular potrayal of Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, which he's alternating with Tom Erik Lie through May 4.
Dominik Köninger in pictures form the Komische Oper
We've become such huge fans of Dominik Köninger since he won the 2011 Wigmore Hall Song Competition. We we thrilled to see that he's Papageno in the new highly innovative production of Die Zauberflöte at the Komische Oper in Berlin.
The innovative Barrie Kosky production is in collaboration with the amazing British theater group “1927," whose humorous shows have thrilled audiences all over the world with their interaction between film animation and live-performing actors. The production is a mix of silent movies, Weimar era cabaret, David Lynch and Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Performances will run into February and tickets and additional performance information is available online.
Have you purchased your Barihunks Charity Calendar yet?
We've been singing Dominik Köninger's praises ever since he wowed the judges at the 2011 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition. He's now been engaged to sing the lead of Orpheus in Komische Oper's controversial Monterverdi Trilogy.
The new musical interpretation by the Uzbek composer Elena Kats-Chernin is being performed in a single day, running from 11a.m. until 11p.m, as well individual performances of the three operas: Orpheus, Odysseus and Poppea. The work feautures around 200 artists on stage and (how can we say this delicately) is not for purists. Kat-Chermin has integrated jazz, klezmer, tango, and ragtime into the score.
Dominik Köninger
Köninger can also be seen this season at the Komische Oper as Ottakar in Der Freischütz, Schaunard in Puccini's La Bohème and Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute. His Papageno is his next appearance, which will be on Sunday, November 25. Tickets are available online.
Günter Papendell nude backstage and as Odysseus
Also in the trilogy is Günter Papendell as Odysseus. The young barihunk is also alternating Ottakar in Calixto Bieito's Der Freischütz with Köninger. The next performance is on November 23 and tickets are still available online. The next performance of Odysseus is not until Saturday, July 6, 2013.
The oft-shirtless Günter Papendell
Other operas at the Komische Oper include Verdi's La traviata, Handel's Xerxes, John Cages' Europera and Taner Akyol's children's opera Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.
Want to see more HOT MEN? They're available all year in our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar:
Dominik Köninger as Jesus (
Foto: Johanna Sterner)
We love our readers for a million reasons, but mostly for the great photos that they send to us. Our best material comes from our readers, like this picture of Dominik Köninger perfoming Jesus in director Tobias Kratzer's current production of Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. John Passion(Johannespassionen) at the Värmland Opera in Karlstad, Sweden. The production also includes barihunk Johan Rydh as Pilatus and runs every Saturday until April 8th.
Dominik Köninger as Jesus
(Foto: Johanna Sterner)
Köninger's career has taken off since he won First Prize at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition last year. On April 15-16, he joins conductor Christopher Hogwood, the Limburg
Cathedral Boys Choir and the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra for
performances of Mozart’s version of Handel’s Ode to St. Cecilia.
This year, Köninger will join the ensemble of
Komische Oper Berlin in Berlin, where he will perform Guglielmo, Il
Conte, Orfeo and Orest in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride. In 2013, he makes his debut as Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at New National Theatre in Tokyo.
Dominik Köninger sings Mozart's "Hai gia vinta la causa":
Köninger also just released his first recording, a performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana in the version for two pianos and percussion on SONY Classical. We've also learned about another proposed recording project that we'll post when have additional information.
We've been following the meteoric career of German barihunk Dominik Köninger since he started blowing away judges at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition last year. Although he's been performing on stages since 2004, when he made his operatic debut at the Ludwigsburger Schloßfestspiele, his victory in London has made him a hot commodity with opera companies and major conductors.
Köninger sings Beethoven's 'Adelaide' and Korngold's "Du reine Frau aus Licht und Elfenbein" in the finals:
On April 15-16, he joins maestro Christopher Hogwood, the Limburg Cathedral Boys Choir and the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra for performances of Mozart’s version of Handel’s Ode to St. Cecilia.
He will also perform Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at the New National Theatre in Tokyo in a new production by Damiano Michieletto.
We also have some news that's so fresh it hasn't even appeared on the opera company's website. This year, Köninger will join the ensemble of Komische Oper Berlin in Berlin, where he will perform Guglielmo, Il Conte, Orfeo and Orest in Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride.
Two barihunks have survived to the Final Four in the Wigmore Hall/Kohl Foundation International Song Competition that we reported on a few days ago. Jonathan McGovern, who we first featured when he starred in Nico Muhly's "Two Boys" is one of the finalists. The other is German baritone Dominik Köninger who was new to the site. The first prize winner will receive £10,00, with the next two finishers receiving £5,000 and £2,500 respectively.
The final round will take place on Thursday, September 8. The finalists can perform songs in any language as long as the lied was written after 1900. They have up to 30 minutes to perform their selections. The non-baritones in the finals are mezzo Dorottya Lang and tenor Stuart Jackson.
Born in Heidelberg, the German baritone Dominik Köninger studied in Karlsruhe with Prof. Roland Hermann. Since his debut in 2004, he has performed at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Hamburg State Opera, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Theater an der Wien or Bavarian State Opera. Starting with the 2012/13 season, Dominik will be an ensemble member of the Komische Oper Berlin and he will make his debut at NNT in Tokyo in 2013.
Here is Köninger singing Mozart's "Hai gia vinta la causa... Vedro mentr'io sospirio" from "Le nozze di Figaro":
Winner of the 2nd Prize at this year's Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Jonathan McGovern read Music at King’s College London and continued his studies with Philip Doghan and Audrey Hyland. He was winner of the gold medal and 1st Prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition 2010. Recent highlights include recitals at Chester Music Festival, St James’ Piccadilly, the Forge Camden, Kings Place and the National Portrait Gallery. He was a member of the prestigious Royal Academy of Music Song Circle, and will join the Britten–Pears Young Artists in September for a new production of Albert Herring. He made his ENO debut this summer as Jake in the world-première of Nico Muhly’s opera Two Boys.
We couldn't find an audio or video clip of Jonathan McGovern to share with you. Admittedly, we find this a bid odd for a singer.
