Barihunk trio touring Lully's rarely performed Isis

Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Philippe Estèphe and Aimery Lefèvre

Lully’s rarely performed Isis will be performed in Paris, Versailles and Vienna with a barihunk trio under the baton of French baroque specialist Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques. The cast includes Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Jupiter, Aimery Lefèvre as Hierax and Philippe Estèphe as Neptune. They'll be joined by Eve-Maud Hubeaux as Isis, Bénédicte Tauran as Juno, Ambroisine Bré as Iris, Cyril Auvity as Apollo and Fabien Hyon as Mercury.

The opera is best remembered today for the "Peoples from Frozen Climes" music, whose  tremolos inspired the ‘Frost Scene’ in Purcell’s more widely performed King Arthur. Isis has been neglected because the five-act opera gets off to a slow start in the first two acts with lengthy dialogue before it kicks into gear for the final three acts.

Christophe Rousset talks about Isis:

The opera deals with the jealously and conflict between Jupiter, Juno and Isis. The two women love the same man, wth Juno opting for e a violent course of revenge and Io lamenting her loss. 

The opera was written for Louis XIV in order to celebrate the Sun King’s reign. However, the libretto's tale of Jupiter pursuing the nymph Io, only reminded audiences of the king's affairs with his mistresses, Madame de Montespan and Mademoiselle de Ludres. The French immediately associated Juno with Madame de Montespan and Io with Madame de Ludres.

The opera will be performed at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées on December 6, at the Opéra Royal in Versailles on December 10 and the Théâter an der Wien on February 22.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer to appear at Carnegie Hall

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

We recently posted about Edwin Crossley-Mercer's amazing performances in Rameau's rarely performed Hippolyte et Aricie in Zurich. We teased in that post that he was coming to Carnegie Hall, for an all too rare U.S. performance.

The June 24th program has been announced and it will feature Schumann's Dichterliebe, the world premier of  Michael Linton's Franchetti Songs, and Linton's Songs of the Sand Hills.

Cody Franchetti is an Italian socialite with lineage to the Milliken and Rothschild families. He is a controversial figure who was featured in Jamie Johnson's documentaries "Born Rich" and "The One Percent."  He earned his masters degree in modern European studies from Columbia University and has published a number of academic articles on history, philosophy, and literature.

This is the second time Linton has set Franchetti's poetry to music and both composer and poet will be in attendance. Tickets are available online.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer in first performance of Hippolyte et Aricie in Zurich

Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Hippolyte et Aricie (Photo: T+T Fotografie)

Barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer performed Thésée in the first performance of Jean-Philippe Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie at the Zurich Opera House last night, which was conducted by 18th-century French music expert Emmanuelle Haïm. They were joined by Stéphanie d’Oustrac  as Phèdre, Cyrille Dubois as Hippolyte and Mélissa Petit as Aricie.

There are additional performances of this French Baroque rarity on May 22, 24 and 30, and June 2, 7 and 14. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Jean-Philippe Rameau was 50 years old when he staged his first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie, in 1733. There was little in his life to suggest he was about to embark on a major new career as an opera composer. He was famous for his works on music theory as well as books of harpsichord pieces. The closest he had come to writing dramatic music was composing a few secular cantatas and some popular pieces for the Paris fairs

As the most important musical theorist of his day, Rameau created a work that far surpassed the conventions of French musical theatre of the time. The French libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en musique with an allegorical prologue followed by five acts.

After a performance at the Paris Opéra in 1767, the work disappeared from the stage until the 20th century. The first modern performance took place in Geneva in March 1903 and returned to Paris in 1908. More recent performances include Aix-en-Provence in 1983, Lyon in 1984, the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1985, Lausanne in 1987, Versailles, in 1994, Palais Garnier in Paris in 1996 and Glyndebourne in 2013.

American audiences will be thrilled to know that Edwin Crossley-Mercer will appear at Carnegie Hall on June 24th (keep an eye out for an upcoming post with all the details)!

Every GRAMMY nominee for "Best Opera Recording" featiures a barihunk

Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Günther Groissböck, Edward Parks & Aubrey Allicock

Every GRAMMY nominee for  "Best Opera Recording" featiures a barihunk this year.

The nominees, which were announced today, are as follow:

• John Adams, Doctor Atomic, featuring barihunk Aubrey Allicock, Gerald Finley, Julia Bullock and Brindley Sherratt. 
• Mason Bates, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, featuring barihunk Edward Parks, Sasha Cooke, Jessice E. Jones, Wei Wu and Garrett Sorenson. 
• Jean-Baptiste Lully, Alceste, featuring barihunks Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Douglas Williams, Emiliano Gonzalez, Toro and Judith Van Wanroij. 
• Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier, featuring Günther Groissböck, Elīna Garanča and Erin Morley. 
• Giuseppe Verdi, Rigoletto, featuring the late barihunk Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nadine Sierra. 

Bate's The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs was also nominated for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" along with Jake Heggie's Great Scott, which features the ageless barihunk Nathan Gunn.  Other nominees in the category are Du Yun's Air Glow, Kernis' Violin Concerto and Mazzoli's Vespers for Violin.

Jérôme Varnier and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in updated William Tell

Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

Rossini's opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell) has regrettably become best known for its overture, parts of which became the Lone Ranger theme, but it is also a highly entertaining opera with great music for all the key characters.

The Theater an der Wien just wrapped up an updated version of the opera with barihunks Jérôme Varnier as Melchtal and Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Walter Fürst.

Torsten Fischer’s production about the Swiss marksman who shot his people to freedom keeps the story relevant to today by making us think about the universal abuses of power. Melcthal stands on a massive steel floor that descends on the masses, while Walter Fürst dons the robe of the dictator portending an endless cycle of oppression. 

Jérôme Varnier (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

The run of Guillaume Tell wrapped up on October 27th, but the Theater an der Wien continues with Handel's Teseo and Weber's Euryanthe with Andrew Foster-Williams.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer can next be heard in Mozart's Requiem at the Opéra de Toulon on November 9th and then singing Schubert's Winterreise at the Nantes Festival on November 28th.

Jérôme Varnier will appear in Thomas' Hamlet at the Opéra Comique in Paris opening on December 17th.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer as arrogant king in Haydn's Orlando Paladino

Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Heiko Pinkowski (Photo: Wilfried Hösl)

Barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer is singing the role of the boastful and arrogant King Rodomonte in Haydn’s most popular opera, Orlando Paladino. The opera is being performed at the Munich Opera Festival under the baton of Ivor Bolton and also features the rising tenor star David Portillo as Pasquale.

The opera plays into all of the 18th-century stereotypes and conventions of the time, including the title character literally going crazy over love and the tenor having to sing some ridiculously high falsetto notes.

Haydn composed Orlando Paladino in 1782, basing it on Ludovico Ariosto's 16th-century epic, Orlando Furioso, which inspired a few operas by Handel, Vivaldi and other composers of the time. The opera did not receive its first U.S. performance for two centuries, when it was performed in Philadelphia in 1982.

On a side note, Rodomonte's name is the source of the expression rodomontade, meaning "boastful, bragging talk"

Remaining perfomances are on July 25, 27, 29 and tickets and cast information is available online.

Barihunk trio in Santiago's "Don Giovanni"

Edwin Crossley-Mercer & Soloman Howard

The Teatro Municipal Santiago in Chile has assembled an impressive trio of barihunks for their upcoming performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The company is presenting dual casts in seven performances from April 16-27.

The first cast includes the barihunk trio of Levent Bakirci in the title role, Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. To top things off, hunkentenor Joel Prieto is singing Don Ottavio. The second cast includes barihunk Daniel Miroslaw in the title role, joined by Sergio Gallardo as Leporello and Soloman Howard as the Commendatore. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Daniel Miroslaw and Levent Bakirci alternate as Don Giovanni

Bakirci, who is new to this site, graduated from the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara before pursuing his career as a singer. He has performed Don Giovanni at the Staatstheater Nürnberg, where he is an ensemble member, as well as the Theater Bremen, where he was a member of the ensemble from 2008-11.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer made his U.K. debut in the role of Leporello at the 2014 Glyndebourne Festival. After wrapping up Don Giovanni, Crossley-Mercer heads to Tokyo to perform Schubert's Winterreise on May 3rd and a set of Hollywood standards on May 5th. He then joins the legendary Bryn Terfel for performances of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust in Dresden, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Hamburg.

Soloman Howard will head to Santa Fe this summer to perform the Bonze in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. 

Daniel Miroslaw can next be seen at the Oper Frankfurt, where he is an ensemble member, as Quinault in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.

GRAMMY nominee Edwin Crossley-Mercer sings holiday music

Edwin Crossley-Mercer from the 2018 Barihunks calendar (photo: JF l'Oiseleur des Longchamps)

2018 Barihunk Calendar model Edwin Crossley-Mercer will be performing at Suntory Hall in Tokyo on December 22nd along with soprano Marina Monzó and Dmitry Korchak. Joined by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and The Little Singers of Tokyo chorus, they will perform holiday favorites, along with some greatest hits from opera. Tickets are available online. 

On January 28th, he will find out if the album "Mademoiselle: Première Audience - Unknown Music Of Nadia Boulanger," which he perform on, will win the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium. He also recently released a recording of Lully's Alceste with Christophe Rousset and the Les Talens Lyriques. Early in 2018, he will be releasing two CD's, one with songs to texts by Oscar Wilde and another to texts by Cody Franchetti. The 80-minute Wilde song set will be premiered this summer in Paris.

If you want to catch him live in an opera, he'll be performing Leporello at the Municipal de Santiago in April with Levent Bakirci in the title role and bass-barihunk Solomon Howard as the Commendatore. In the summer, he heads to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich for Haydn's Orlando Paladino. 

Jason Duika from the 2018 Barihunks Calendar

 ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT TO ORDER our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchase HERE. 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 that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think.

Barihunk duo alternating Guglielmo at Palais Garnier

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

Barihunks Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Philippe Sly will be alternating the role of Guglielmo at the beautiful Palais Garnier in Paris from September 12 to October 21. As an added bonus, Sly's performance dates also feature barihunk Paulo Szot as Don Alfonso!

Philippe Sly

The innovative production is being directed by the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, who is using a double cast of singers and dancers to marry song and dance. The stage design is fairly minimal with plexiglass screens suspended on either side, providing plenty of space for the singers and dancers to navigate individually or as a group.

Paulo Szot and his dancer double

De Keersmaeker explained her concept of the opera to Wannes Gyselinck, the senior editor of rekto:verso, "The function of dance is to underline the tension between text and music, and even at times to emphasize it...This duplication creates a third visible voice alongside the music and the text. It was above all because of the music that, despite my doubts about opera as a medium, I accepted the Paris Opera's invitation: it is so full of movement, both bodily and emotional. Taking music as a starting point, I hope to attain a higher degree of abstraction, and through it discover the essence of the work. In most productions, the beauty and depth of the music is drowned under draperies, costumes, doors that open and close."

Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Barihunk duo to reprise Lully's Alceste at Versailles

Douglas Williams (left) and Edwin Crossley-Mercer (right)

Two of operas hottest men are appeared together in Lully's Alceste last night and we somehow missed it! Barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer sang Alcide and bass-barihunk Douglas Williams sang Lycomède and Caron at the Festival International d'Opéra Baroque under the baton of Christophe Rousset.

Fortunately, the opera gods are looking over us, as the duo will reprise their performance at the Grandes Eaux Musicales at the Châteua de Versailles on December 10th with Les Talens Lyriques.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

The opera was originally presented in celebration of King Louis XIV’s victory against Franche-Comté, and the prologue features nymphs longing for his return from battle.

The opera concerns Alceste, princess of Iolcos and queen of Thessaly, who is abducted by Licomède, king of Scyros, with the aid of his sister Thetis, a sea nymph; Aeolus, the god of the winds; and other supernatural forces. In the battle to rescue her, Alcide is triumphant, but Alceste’s husband, Admète, suffers a mortal wound. Apollo agrees to let Admète live if someone will take his place in death. Alceste volunteers herself but is rescued by Alcide, who loves her.

The opera ends with a celebration of Alceste’s return from the underworld and of Alcide’s noble gallantry in returning her to her husband and relinquishing any claims to her.

Watch Barihunks Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Mattia Olivieri at Berlin AIDS Gala

Mattia Olivieri & Edwin Crossley-Mercer at Berlin AIDS Gala

On November 5th, barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin's 22nd Grand Opera Gala in support of the AIDS Foundation. The event also features fellow barihunks Andrea Mastroni and Mattia Olivieri, as well as soprano Patrizia Ciofi, tenor Gregory Kunde and a host of other operatic luminaries.

Of course, we had to post our favorite barihunks for your viewing pleasure. If you speak German, you will enjoy the humorous introductions by legendary bandleader and singer Max Raabe.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer sings Mozart's "Madamina il catalogo è questo delle bello"

Michael Spyres & Edwin Crossley-Mercer sing Bizet's "Au fond du temple saint":

Mattia Olivieri sings Rossini's "Largo al factotum della città!":

Crossley-Mercer is so popular with our readers that we asked him to appear in our upcoming 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar, which he graciously agreed to do. We hired a photographer in France to take a photo and made him our December feature, since his stunning prematurely gray hair evoked a perfect wintry night. You can purchase a copy ONLINE.

Glenn Seven Allen & Edwin Crossley-Mercer

BARIHUNKS featured in Canada's National Post

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.

You can read the entire article online.

Glenn Seven Allen and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in the 2017 Barihunks calendar

THE 2017 BARIHUNKS IN BED CALENDAR IS NOW ON SALE BY CLICKING BELOW

Edwin Crossley-Mercer featured in Opera News and new Barihunks Calendar

The Opera News feature on Edwin Crossley-Mercer

We've been following barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer since early in his career, mesmerized by his good looks, dark creamy voice and charming stage presence. The singer, who is Northern Irish on his father's side and French Alsatian–Jewish on his mother's side, has rapidly emerged as a major talent in the world of opera.

He is currently featured in the October 2016 issue of Opera News, where he talks about his career, which has focused mostly on lieder and Mozart operas, as well as his desire to sing Handel. Remarkably, he claims that no one has asked him. Opera News also recognized the attention that he's received from fans of Barihunks, where he has an enthusiastic following [see quote below]'

"THOUGH NOT YET A HOUSEHOLD NAME in the opera world, Edwin Crossley-Mercer is certainly well known where it matters. All kinds of connoisseurs—from devotees of some quite recherché song repertoire to barihunk fans—admire this French lyric baritone; more crucially, so do those in charge of casting at several of the best opera house addresses." - OPERA NEWS

He is so popular with our readers that we asked him to appear in our upcoming 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar, which he graciously agreed to do. We hired a photographer in France to take a photo and made him our December feature, since his stunning prematurely gray hair evoked a perfect wintry night. You can purchase a copy online.

Glenn Seven Allen & Edwin Crossley-Mercer in 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar

He next appears as Polydorus with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ on October 20 in Edinburgh and October 21 in Glasgow. He'll be joined by bass-barihunk Jérôme Varnier as Herod (who also appears in this year's calendar in April).The performance is conducted by Emmanuel Krivine and tickets are available online.

On November 5th, he'll appear at the Deutsche Oper Berlin's 22nd Grand Opera Gala in support of the AIDS Foundation. The event also features fellow barihunk Andrea Mastroni, Patrizia Ciofi, Gregory Kunde and a host of other operatic luminaries. Tickets are available online.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer to premiere song cycle in Ohio

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

French barihunk Edwin Crossley‐Mercer and American pianist Jason Paul Peterson will premiere a new work by composer Michael Linton as part of their recital at Baldwin Wallace University's Gamble Auditorium on Tuesday, May 24.

"Mute Love" ("Silentium Amoris") is the first of the seventeen‐movement Wilde Songs to be publicly presented. Earlier, the duo premiered Linton's Carmina Catulli at Carnegie Hall in New York, which are based on settings of poems by the Roman poet Catullus. . You can read our previous posts about Carmina Catulli HERE.

A resident of Paris and Berlin, Crossley‐Mercer's repertory ranges from the Baroque through contemporary music. He has performed opera, oratorio, and recitals in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Glyndebourne, Munich, Amsterdam, Nashville, Los Angeles, Strasbourg, New York, Moscow, Dubai and, most recently, in Dallas as Lescaut in Manon by Jules Massenet.

The prize-­‐winning composer Michael Linton has served on the music faculty of Middle Tennessee State University for over two decades where he teaches music theory and history.

The recital is part of Baldwin Wallace's internationally acclaimed bi‐annual "Art Song Festival," a week-­‐long program of recitals and master classes begun in 1985. The festival is also presenting recitals and master classes by mezzo-­‐soprano Susan Graham, tenor Eduardo Valdes and pianist Bradley Moore. Additional information is available online. 

In January, Crossley-Mercer returns to the Opéra national de Paris to rotate the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte with fellow barihunk Philippe Sly. 

Watch Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Fauré's Pénélope

Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Pénélope

You can watch barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Eurymaque in Fauré;s Pénélope from the Opéra national du Rhin until April 21st by clicking HERE. The performance includes honorary barihunk Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role.
 
The opera was featured along with Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring at the opening of the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in March 1913. The opera is based on Homer's Odyssey and tells the story of Pénélope who has been waiting twenty years for the return of her husband Odysseus, the King of Ithaca. Meanwhile, many suitors emerged who she promised to marry when she has finished weaving a shroud for her father Laertes.

Mark Van Arsdale and Edwin Crossley-Mercer

A silent, but sexy figure in Olivier Py's Pénélope

The role of Pénélope was originally written for the soprano Lucienne Bréval, who triumphed in the roles of Brünnhilde, Kundry and Griselda. Fauré's score is often reminiscent of both Wagner and Debussy and is filled with exotic, poetic motifs of desire.

This production is directed by Olivier Py with sets by Pierre-André Weitz in a realistic yet dreamlike interpretation. 

Edwin Crossley-Mercer making Dallas Opera debut in Manon

Edwin Crossley-Mercer (left) and Troy Cook (right)

Barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer will me making his Dallas Opera debut as Lescaut in Massenet's Manon opening March 4th at the Winspear Opera House for four performances. Fellow barihunk Troy Cook will also be in the cast singing the role of de Brétigny. The role of Lescaut was originally sung by the French baritone Émile-Alexandre Taskin, who also sang in the premiere of Debussy's L'enfant prodigue.

Joining them in the cast are soprano Ailyn Pérez in the title role, tenor Stephen Costello as Chevalier des Grieux, bass-baritone David Pittsinger as Le Comte, also is his Dallas Opera debut and baritone Theodor Carlson as the innkeeper.

Natalie Dessay & Edwind Crossley-Mercer sing "Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen" 

from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte: 

Additional performances of Manon will take place on March 6, 9 and 12 and tickets are available online.

After Dallas, Crossley-Mercer goes on a recital tour in Gran Canaria, Spain, then to the Festival de Paques Deauville in France, and the Berea Art Song Festival in Ohio. Cook next heads to the Austin Lyric Opera, where he will sing the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. He's also slated to make his company debuts with the Atlanta Opera in Kevin Puts' Silent Night, San Diego Opera and Washington National Opera. He also returns to the Des Moines Metro Opera as Young Galileo in Phillip Glass' Galileo Galilei.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer surrounded by devilishly sexy men

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

There isn't much that could've gotten us to take our eyes off of the gorgeous, underwear clad men dancing and writing around the stage during the Paris Opera's La Damnation de Faust, except perhaps Edwin Crossley-Mercer. The barihunk managed to stand out singing the Song of the Rat (Chanson de Brander) in an all-star cast that included Bryn Terfel as Mephistopheles, Jonas Kaufmann as Faust and Sophie Koch as Marguerite. You can watch a highlight of the Song of the Rat by clicking HERE.

The men of Damnation at the Paris Opera

The controversial production by director and set designer Alvis Hermanis, which was booed by some in the audience, re-imagined Faust’s intellectual daring in the age of Stephen Hawking and the exploration of the Universe. Hawking appears as a silent character throughout the opera who [spoiler alert] stands up at the end of the opera.

Ther Damnation Booty Dance at the Paris Opera

Whatever one thinks of the production, which you can currently watch on Culturebox, the singing from all of the principles is magnificent under the baton of Philippe Jordan. If you like a little skin with your opera, it might be worth watching, as there is plenty of eye candy to pass the time.

ONLY 9 DAYS UNTIL THE NEW YEAR! Time is running out to order your 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar, featuring 18 of the sexiest men in opera. ORDER TODAY by clicking HERE (you won't regret it!).

Malte Roesner

Edwin Crossley-Mercer in Fauré rarity

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

Edwin Crossley-Mercer returning to the stage after entertaining guests aboard the MS Europa on the Baltic Sea. He'll be performing Eurymaque in Fauré's Pénélope at the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg. He'll be joined by the amazing Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role and hunkentenor Mark Van Arsdale as Léodès. Performances run from October 23 through November 22. 

Pénélope is the story of the return of the disguised Ulysses'to his wife who has faithfully waited twenty years for him. Many suitors unsuccessfully attempted to bend Ulysses' great bow before he proclaims his identity and the couple is reunited.

The opera, which has not set arias and little dramatic action, so it is rarely performed. This is the only scheduled performance of the opera through 2017. There are two glorious recording of the opera featuring Régine Crespin and Jessye Norman in the title role.  

MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR!!! 

Edwin Crossley-Mercer visiting Arabian Peninsula literally and musically

French-Irish barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer is bringing opera to the Arabian Peninsula in a recital at the One & Only Mirage Resort in Dubai. The May 29th show is entitled "It's All About Love" and will feature famous love songs in German, Russian, French and English.

The show will take the audience to Berlin, Moscow, Paris and New York by featuring pop classics from’40s, songs by Franz Schubert and the 19th century song repertory.  Crossley-Mercer, who grew up in the French town of Clermont-Ferrand, is also quite familiar with Berlin, having studied at the
Hanns Eisler Hochschule fur Musik.

Tickets for the show are available online. 

The singer's next performance also takes him to the Arabian Peninsula, but only musically. He will perform Schumann's Paradise and the Peri at the Festival de Saint Denis, which was inspired by one of the tales of the Arabian Nights. The text mixes enchantments with elements from the Bible, the Koran, and mythology.

On March 4, 2016, he makes his much anticipated US stage debut as Lescaut in Massenet's Manon at the Dallas Opera.

Craig Verm in free recital at Dallas Museum of Art

Craig Verm's photo from the 2015 Barihunks Calendar

Barihunk Criag Verm, who was featured in our 2015 Barihunks Calendar, will perform a free recital on May 23 at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The recital is sponsored by the Dallas Opera, where he starred as Doug Hansen in the Dallas Opera’s world premiere of Joby Talbot's Everest. He’ll perform works by Mahler, Richard Strauss and Korngold. Both recitals, planned to coincide with the Dallas Opera’s Soluna festival, will be at the DMA’s Horchow Auditorium. He'll be accompanied by his wife Karen Roethlisberger Verm at the piano. Call 214-443-1000 for tickets or additional information.

Next season, the Dallas Opera will present the world premiere of Jake Heggie's Great Scott, Puccini's Tosca, Mark Adamo's Becoming Santa Claus, Massenet's Manon and Show Boat. Manon will feature the exciting US stage debut of Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Lescaut.