George Humphreys sings lead drag role in Donizetti's Viva la Diva

George Humphreys' shirtless curtain call in Glass' The Trial

British barihunk George Humphreys just wrapped up a successful run in Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon at the Salzburger Landestheater, where is a member of the ensemble.

He will next appear with the company in Donizetti's comedy Viva la Diva, whose original title was the mouthful Le convenienze e le inconvenienze teatrali (Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage). Performances start on February 8 and run through April 2.

Donizetti wrote the lead role of La Diva (aka Agata) for a baritone, which opens up another level of comedy as the singer performs in drag. As the drama unfolds and the jealousies come to a head, it is up to La Diva  to rescue an evening at a theater company trying to mount an opera. Donizetti chose a subject that allowed him to compose both virtuosic and parodistic music.

The opera became a great success after its 1827 world premiere in Naples and 1831 performances in Milan, but was soon forgotten. Regular performances did not resume until 1963. Recent performance include a 2015 production at the Volksoper Wien and one at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2017. The National Theatre Prague is currently staging the opera with Roman Hoza in the title role.

The Salzburger Landestheater produces its own version of the opera with a new translation by Andreas Fladvad-Geier, which revives the tradition of transferring the opera’s plot into a local setting to make the parody of the opera world even easier to recognize and appreciate for audiences.

Barihunk quartet in Reisoper's Don Giovanni

George Humphreys, Aleš Jenis, Matthias Hoffmann & Lukas Jakobski

The Netherland's innovative Reisoper is presenting Mozart's Don Giovanni with the barihunk quartet of George Humphreys as Leporello, Aleš Jenis as Don Giovanni, Matthias Hoffmann as Masetto & Lukas Jakobski as the Commedatore.

Their new production is seen through the eyes of women who wonder how men got so influenced by this lothario and why other men don't stop him from rape and murder. The concept is the idea of director Jo Davies and the opera will be conducted by Julia Jones. The production is update to the 1970s with bell bottom trousers and colorful wide-lapelled jackets.

 Aleš Jenis sings Don Giovanni's serenade:

Remaining performances are spread around across the country, including March 14th in Maastricht, March 16th and 18th in Zwolle, March 21st in Apeldorn, March 23 in Groningen, March 25th in Arnhem, March 28th in Utrecht, March 30th in Leeuwarden, April 1 in Rotterdam, April 4th in 'S-Hertogenbosch, April 6th in Amstelveen and April 8th in Den Haag. 

Tickets are available online.

Watch barihunk George Humphreys in world premiere of In Parenthesis

George Humphreys (left) and Andrew Bidlack (right) in In Parenthesis

Iain Bell's new opera In Parenthesis received its world premiere on May 13th at the Welsh National Opera with barihunk George Humphreys in the key role of Lieutenant Jenkins. The all-star cast also included hunkentenor Andrew Bidlack in the major role of Private John Ball, Peter Coleman-Wright in the Bard of Brittannia, Alexandra Deshorties is the Bard of Germania and the Queen of the Woods and Graham Clark is the Marne Sergeant.

It wraps up performance on July 1 at the Royal Opera House in London, but will be available worldwide for viewing on The Opera Platform at 8pm CET on July 1st, and then available to view online for free for six months. (3 PM EST, Noon PST).

The opera is an adaptation of the epic poem In Parenthesis by Welsh poet, writer and artist David Jones. The libretto centers around Private John Ball and his comrades in the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who are posted to the Somme. In Mametz Wood they enter a strange realm – outside of time, dream-like but deadly. Rather than simply reporting the horrors of the Somme, the story dares to offer hope. Even here amongst all of the destruction there is a fragile flowering of regeneration and re-birth. Bell’s score combines traditional Welsh song with moments of other-worldliness, terror, humor and transcendence.

T. S. Eliot called In Parenthesis "a work of genius." W. H. Auden considered it "...the greatest book about the First World War" that he had read, a work in which Jones did "for the British and the Germans what Homer did for the Greeks and the Trojans" in "a masterpiece" comparable in quality to The Divine Comedy. 

There will also be screenings across the U.K., including at the Pontio in Bangor on July 3, the Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on July 6,  the Theatr Gwaun in Fishguard on July 9,  The National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth July 16, and the Theatr Colwyn in Colwyn Bay on November 22.