Trio of low male voices in UK staged premiere of Smetena's Libuše

James Quilligan (Photo: Twitter @JamesQuilligan)

Regular readers (with a long memory) might recall our post in 2015 about the first barihunk sextet to be featured in a professional production. British barihunk James Quilligan was part of that cast and now he's featured with a trio of male low voices in the the British staged premiere of Smetana's 1872 masterpiece Libuše.

The U.K. debut of Libuše will debut take place on March 18th with the University College Opera. Joining Quilligan as Chrudos, will be British baritone Robert Davies as Libuše's husband Přemysl and Scottish baritone John Mackenzie as Lutobor. Joining the men will be Kirstin Sharpin as the queen Libuše and Eve Daniell as Krasava. The opera is directed by Cecilia Stinton. Additional performances are on March 20, 22 and 23 and tickets are available online.

Premysl's aria and quartet from Libuše:

In Czech historical myth, Libuše, the title character, prophesied the founding of Prague. In the current production, Smetana's Bohemian queen and her medieval court reside in a modern-day city, where soaring skyscrapers promise glamour and wealth at a human cost.

The opera was composed in 1871–72 for the coronation of Franz Josef as King of Bohemia, but was not performed. The opera was finally premiered nine years later at the National Theatre in Prague. After a fire destroyed the theater, the opera was performed at the reopening in 1883. The current production is being performed to celebrate the refurbishing and reopening of the 541-seat Bloomsbury Theatre, marking the University College Opera's return to its home after three years away performing at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Introducing Bertie Watson; Performing Guildhall Hall recital

Bertie Watson

British Bass-Barihunk is recently graduated from the Guildhall School of Music, where he has performed Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. He will join the Opera Studies course in September.

At Guildhall, he has performed Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Milton Court Concert Hall, as well as Marcello, Puck and Jupiter in Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers. He was the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah at the Christ Church in Radyr, Wales earlier this year.

On Tuesday,  June 21st at 1:00 pm, he will be joined by pianist Dylan Perez in a program of songs based on Walt Whitman’s poetry. The recital includes composer Clint Borzoni's gorgeous song, "I dreamed in a dream," as well as selections by Rorem, Hoiby, Bernstein, Ruth Schönthal and James H. Rogers. The recital is in the Guildhall lecture hall and admission is free.

He is also finalist in the 2016 Dean & Chadlington Festival Singing Competition along with fellow barihunk Morgan Pearse. The competition will be held from June 23-26.

James Quilligan as photographed by Bertie Watson

He is also a photographer, who specializes in head shots using natural light. One of his subjects was fellow barihunk James Quilligan. You can check out his work HERE.

The Marriage of Figaro reset as Kim Kardashian's life

James Quilligan in Marriage of Kim K

Off the Page Productions is a vastly revised and updated version of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro dubbed The Marriage of Kim K, which needless to say, refers to reality TV star Kim Kardashian. Before purists get too upset, the entire venture is tongue in cheek and even the marketing campaign pokes fun at the entire endeavor (you can watch Episode 1 below and more on YouTube).

The piece stars Gabriella Noble as Kim Kardashian, Jack Trzcinski as Figaro, James Quilligan (who has been featured on this site) as former NBA player Kris Humphries and briefly Kim K's husband, Ell Potter as the Countess, Jono Hobbs as the Count, Amelia Gabriel as Beth and John Paul as Mo. 

The Marriage of Kim K tells four stories at once, each revolving around a marriage: The story of the Count and Countess from the original; the story of the breakdown of Kim Kardashian’s first marriage to Kris Humphries (which lasted 72 DAYS): the story of thr couple Mo and Beth who enjoy watching all of this on TVl and, the story of Figaro himself, a young vlogger, whose makes his own marital decisions based on these stories.

James Quilligan and Gabriella Noble

The librettist of Kim K is the Oxford-based poet and librettist Leo Mercer, who penned the libretto for The Prophetess at the Keble O'Reilly Theatre, a retelling of Henry Purcell’s baroque opera Dioclesian. Mercer is the President of the Oxford University Poetry Society and in 2014 took 2nd Prize at both the BBC Proms Poetry Competition and the Poetry Book Society Student Competition.

Episode 1 of the Kim K marketing campaign: 

Jack Trzcinski sings "Superficial" from The Marriage of Kim K

The performances are at the Keble O'Reilly Theatre at Oxford, and they have performances remaining on March 3rd at 7:30 PM, March 4 at 7:30 PM, and a matinee and evening performance on March 5th. Tickets can be booked here.

  

Introducing our first barihunk sextet; Double-cast Don Giovanni in UK

A Twitter follower just alerted us to a double-cast Don Giovanni at Hampstead Garden Opera in the UK featuring SIX barihunk (3 in each cast as Don Giovanni, Leporello and Masetto). Cast and ticket information is available online.

James Quilligan

We'll start with the cast performing on November 7, 10, 12, 14 and 15, as our (ginger loving) reader specifically pointed out barihunk James Quilligan, who is cast as Leporello.

Born near Cambridge, James Quilligan is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has performed throughout Europe including the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Hall, and Bridgewater Hall and also at chamber venues such as the Wigmore Hall, St George’s, Hanover sq, and St Martin in the Fields.

Recent roles have included several Charpentier roles as part of the London Handel Festival and Count Almaviva and Antonio in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Last season he was part of Opera Holland Park's production of Aida.

Jerome Knox sporting a baritone claw (right)

Barihunk Jerome Knox recently graduated with a Distinction on the Masters in Vocal Performance course at the Royal College of Music. Born in Harrow, Middlesex, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in Classical Studies .

He has performed all three baritone roles in Don Giovanni, as well as Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, Somnus in Handel's Semele, the Badger and Harasta in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, as well as creagint the role of WH Auden in Journeying Boys at the Royal College of Music. He recently made his solo debut in the Royal Albert Hall performing Cole Porter and was a soloist at the Edinburgh Jazz festival and London Song festival 2015.

Rob Clark

Bass-barihunk Rob Clark recently graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a first-class honours degree in Vocal Studies.

He has performed numerous solo oratorio works, including Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Fauré’s Requiem, Duruflé’s Requiem, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and Handel’s Messiah. In 2011, he made his National Theatre debut as Peter in Jonathan Miller’s  production of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. His operatic roles to date have included Morales,Carmen, and the Count, Le Nozze di Figaro.

From 2013 to 2014 Robert was a member of Genesis Sixteen, The Sixteen’s training program and and will rejoin them as part of collaborative project with Streetwise Opera.

Joseph Kennedy

The other trio of barihunks performs on November 6, 8, 11, 13 and 14 with barihunk Joseph Kennedy performing the title role, Samuel Lom singing Leporello and Shaun Aquilina taking on Masetto.

Kennedy began his studies at Birmingham Conservatoire and continued his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was a Christine Collins Young Artist at Opera Holland Par

Recent performance highlights include a tour of Greece performing Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 of operatic excerpts, and singing the bass soloist in Haydn’s Creation with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has performed the Forester in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Noye in Britten's Noye’s Fludde, the Indian in Smetana's The Bartered Bride, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, and Kouravar in Delibes' Lakme.

Kennedy will next be seen in a project called “The Close to Home Show” with Contemporary music ensemble “Thumb”.

Samuel Lom

Barihunk Samuel Lom graduated last year from the University of Warwick where he performed a number of Mozart roles at the Warwick Arts Centre including Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, Papageno in The Magic Flute and Leporello in Don Giovanni. An avid Germanophile, Samuel recently spent a year in Berlin studying at the Deutsche Oper, but spent the majority of his time eating sausage and sauerkraut. Now situated in North London, Samuel can often be found frequenting the various European eateries of Hampstead.

Shaun Aquilina

Barihunk Shaun Aquilina studied at the Royal Academy of Music and is a member of the of the Philharmonia Chorus, which performs major choral works around the UK and Europe

He made his operatic debut with Hampstead Garden Opera last year as the Vicar Mr Gedge in the crit Britten's Albert Herring. He also performed the role of Germano in Rossini’s one-act comic opera La Scala di Seta with Opera Holloway. In 2013, he travelled to Liguria in Northern Italy, to sing scenes from La Nozze di Figaro, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, Lakmé and La Jolie Fille de Perth.

 MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGERS FROM 9 COUNTRIES.

Tristan Hambleton, Seth Carico and Patrick Egersborg