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.
Barihunk Jérôme Varnier made his role debut as Méphistophélès tonight in Gounod's Faust at Opéra Grand Avignon. There will be one additional performance on June 11th.
The cast in this new production includes Nathalie Manfrino as Marguerite, Florian Laconi as Faust and Lionel Lhote as Valentin. Tickets are available online. Varnier will repeat the role of Méphistophélès with Opera Massy on November 10 and 12, with Ludivine Gombert as Marguerite, Thomas Bettinger as Faust and fellow barihunk Régis Mengus as Valentin.
Varnier has also performed the role of Brander in the Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, based on the same German legend.
Philippe Sly mock conducts the Dallas Symphony (left)
Barihunk Philippe Sly is joining an all-star cast for Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which opens tonight with the Dallas Symphony and runs through April 2nd. He'll be joined by baritone Matthias Goerne, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, tenor James Gilchrist, tenor Werner Güra, soprano Valentina Farcas and conductor Jaap van Zweden.
When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion
in the 1720s, the passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow
orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by
the standard of the Baroque passion, the Passion According to St.
Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.
Musically, the score is of
imposing length, and calls for double orchestra and double choir—three
choirs, at one point. The musical textures range from complex
counterpoint to simple hymns. Dramatically, the point of view shifts
regularly, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of
Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual
believer. But in Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is not
one of a brilliant collage, but a single, sustained, somber
meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a
church service.
Philippe Sly sings Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"
Scholars believe the first performance of the St. Matthew Passion
may have been in 1727. It was certainly performed on Good Friday of
1729, and perhaps at several other Good Friday services during Bach's
life. It then dropped from public view until 1829, when it was
triumphantly revived by Felix Mendelssohn, crystallizing a revival of
interest in Bach that grew throughout the 19th century and still
continues.
The text of the passion was
created by the German writer Christian Henrici, who wrote under the pen
name of Picander. Like Bach, he lived in Leipzig, and it is believed
that he and Bach worked closely together on the text.
There are three strands in the
text: the actual text from the book of Matthew; Picander's own poetry;
and the pre-existing hymns, or chorales, which Bach incorporates into
the score, which would have been immediately recognizable by his first
hearers.
Sly can next be heard as Panthée in Berlioz's epic Les Troyens with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg from April 15-17. He'll be joined by another all-star cast featuring Joyce DiDonato as Didon, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Cassandre and a barihunk quartet of Stéphane Degout as Chorèbe, Jérôme Varnier, Nicolas Courjal as Narbal and Sly.
Jérôme Varnier photographed by L'Oiseleur des Longchamps
Two of our favorite barihunks, Jérôme Varnier and Stéphane Degout, will share the stage in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on Thursday, November 27th. Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the performance which also includes Felicity Palmer as Geneviève, Monica Bacelli as Mélisande and Laurent Naouri as Golaud. Varnier is singing Arkël, which has become somewhat of a signature role, and Degout is singing Pelleas.
Tickets and additional concert information are available online.
Pelléas et Mélisande appears a lot on Varnier's upcoming performances, including singing Arkël at l'Opéra National de Lyon, and the dual roles of Un Médecin and Le Berger at the Paris Opera. He'll be joined in Paris in Robert Wilson's famous production by Stéphane Degout, who is singing Pelleas. Performances in Paris run from Febuary 7-28 and tickets are available online.
We also wanted to share with you the newest photo of Jérôme Varnier [above] taken by fellow barihunk/photographer L'Oiseleur des Longchamps. The latter appears in our new 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar [below]. We hope to feature more of his amazing work in the future.
L'Oiseleur des Longchamps (left)
Order your calendar featuring L'Oiseleur des Longchamps today by clicking below.
For you legions of Mariusz Kwiecien fans, there are two videos of the Hot Pole on Polish television. One of the clips includes extensive performance footage and backstage shots. Even if you don't understand a lick of Polish, these are worth watching. (WARNING: We had a hard time getting the videos to work. Click on the STOP button and then hit PLAY). You can watch both videos at Dzień Dobry TVN. Kwiecien is currently in Poland singing Halka and Don Giovanni.
La Scala
A few of our readers have written in to inform us that the Don Giovanni from La Scala that we posted about yesterday will be broadcast today on Italian radio at RAI 3. The broadcast begins at 6 PM Milan time (Noon EST/9 AM PST).
Doppelgängers? Franz Liszt and Michael Kelly
The gifted young barihunk Michael Kelly will be joining sopranos Victoria Browers and Mary Mackenzie tonight at the WMP Concert Hall in New York City for a night of music by Franz Liszt. We couldn't help but notice a bit of a similarity between the striking composer and the equally eye-catching Michael Kelly. Liszt songs include "Was Liebe sei?," "Freudvoll und Leidvoll," "Die Lorelei", and"Die Fischerstochter, " as well as music by Debussy, Wolf and Rachmaninoff. Visit the SongFusion website for additional information.
Jérôme Varnier
French barihunk Jérôme Varnier will be performing a recital on Thursday night at the Temple Saint Marcel in Paris, France. The program includes lieder by Mozart, Schubert, Ravel, Ibert as well as Argentinian music from de Ginastera, Buchardo and Aguirre. Visit the Musicatem website for additional information.
We have to give a shout out to one of our favorite low voices, Matthew Treviño, who received rave reviews for his performance as Sarastro. The role seldom gets singled out in a review, but Treviño majestic bass caught the attention of Terence Blain in the Irish Theater Magazine:
"But it was Texan bass Matthew Treviño who truly galvanised attention: his Sarastro was magnetically sung and acted, an eerily hermetic presence with an insinuatingly malevolent agenda (he manhandles Pamina creepily during one aria). Sarastro’s part goes very low musically, but Treviño’s bottom Fs were unpinched and beautifully supported, his sonorous, burnished tone and clear enunciation a source of constant pleasure."
You can see Treviño in our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. Copies are still available HERE. But now before they're either all gone or January 1, 2012 has rolled in. You won't want to miss one day of this sexy calendar.
Anita Rachvelishvili as Carmen & Michael Todd Simpson as Escamillo in rehearsal; (Bill Mohn, photo)
Michael Todd Simpson brought his swaggering Escamillo to Seattle Opera for their performances of Bizet's "Carmen." In a performance that included the riveting Carmen of Anita Rachvelishvili and a host of other hot men, the American barihunk managed to catch the attention of reviewer Jackson Holtz at the Everett Herald.
"Seattle Opera veteran Michael Todd Simpson was sexy and charming as the matador."
You can read the entire review at the Everett HeraldNet website.
Bernard Jacobson of the Seattle Times wrote:
"Don José...projected just the nebbish air of indecision that makes José putty in Carmen's hands — no competition for the sexy Escamillo and Zuniga of Michael Todd Simpson and Donovan Singletary."
Donovan Singletary in his Barihunks tee shirt
Performances run through October 29th and tickets can be purchased online. Simpson next heads down the coast to California, where he will perform Handel's "Messiah" with the amazing San Francisco Symphony. Performances are on December 16, 17 & 18. Visit the San Francisco Symphony website for tickets and additional performance information.
By the way, if you haven't seen the Seattle Opera's "If Carmen and her friends were on Facebook...," then you missed one of the funniest and creative things that we've ever seen from an Opera Company (that was meant to be funny!). You can see the entire post on their wonderful blog.
Kudos to the Seattle Opera, which continues to be one of the most creative opera companies in the world.
Cirque du Soleil performers and Marian Pop combine forces in Detroit
The Michigan Opera Theater hired some Cirque du Soleil acrobats to add an erotic touch to Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana." The piece was part of a double-bill with Menotti's "The Medium." Barihunk Marian Pop, a regular fixture with the opera company, was singled out for his performance by the local press.
"Baritone soloist Marian Pop's expressive singing was the musical highlight of "Carmina."
You can read the entire review at the Detroit Free Press website.
Jérôme Varnier
Jérôme Varnier is wrapping up a run as Palémon in Massenet's "Thaïs" tonight at the Opéra de Tours. He now heads to the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz to perform Guido in Ambroise Thomas' "Francesca da Rimini," which opens on November 18. Tickets and additional performance information are available online.
[Photo of Jerome Varnier by L'Oiseleur des Longchamps]
Here are three video clips of the sexy French barihunk Jérôme Varnier showing off his beautiful voice in a concert performance of Pelléas et Mélisande. Check out his previous post on this site: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/search?q=varnier
