Jarrett Ott makes role debut as Jupiter and rare West Coast recital

Jarrett Ott (Courtesy Opera News, photo: Dario Acosta)

American baritone Jarrett Ott was recently named one of twenty-five “Rising Stars” by Opera News, will make his role debut as Jupiter in Jacques Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld (Orphée aux enfers) in November with the New Orleans Opera. The work, first performed in 1858, is said to be the first classical full-length operetta.

The operetta is part of the company's ongoing commitment to French culture and French opera. The piece is an outrageous parody on the life of everyman Orpheus, as he quests heaven and hell for his true love, poking fun at the politics of the day and the state of life in the hands of “the gods.” Orpheus gave birth to the “infernal galop”, which became so popular it was adopted into the “can-can” at the Moulin Rouge decades later. It also had the distinction of insulting just about everyone in Second French Empire.

The cast also includes Casey Candebat  as Orpheus, Cree Carrico as Diana, Daniel Curran as Aristeus/Pluto, Sara Hershkowitz as Eurydice and Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet as Public Opinion.  Performances are on November 10 and 12 and tickets are available online.

On November 18, he makes a rare West Coast appearance with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera in an evening of Mozart and Rossini.  There will be selections from Rossini's La Scala di Seta and The Barber of Seville,  as well as from Mozart's Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and a performance of the composer's Symphony No. 38 (Prague). Tickets are available online. 

2018 Barihunks Photo Book

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 in Opera Danube's Orpheus in the Underworld

Jan Capiński (Photo: Ash Mills) and Matt Buswell (Photo: Chris Christodoulou)

Once again Twitter provided us a path to our latest post when Jake Arditti responded to a tweet from Opera Danube introducing the men of their cast for their upcoming performance of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. He correctly predicted that we'd be onto them in no time. For the record, if we ever start a site dedicated to hunky countertenors Arditti will be our first post.

Performing in the cast are barihunks Jan Capiński and Matt Buswell, the latter who is new to the site. Opera Danube was founded in 2013 to provide emerging artists a showcase for their talents with full orchestra. As the name implies, their primary focus is operetta and in prior years they have performed Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus and Franz Lèhar's The Merry Widow. Performances of Orpheus will be on January 29, 30 and 31 at St. John's, Smith Square and additional cast and ticket information is available online.

The "Oracle of Arditti" speaks!

We introduced Jan Capiński a year ago when it was announced that he was singing Armando in Donizetti's The Siege of Calais with the English Touring Opera. The Polish native studied at the Academy of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He went on to train at the ENO Opera Works professional development program and is a recipient of the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, as well as the Garsington Opera Simon Sandbach Award. He recently completed two tours of the U.K. with Mid Wales Opera and English Touring Opera as Moralès in Jonathan Miller's new production of Carmen. According to his website, Capiński stays in shape by white-water kayaking, stand-up-paddleboarding and hiking.

Offenbach's Can Can at Opera Danube's gala:

Bass-barihunk Matt Buswell trained at the Royal College of Music where he graduated with honours. Upcoming performances include performances with with the Brandenberg Choral Festival in Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers. He has previously performed Cadmus and Somnus in Handel's Semele with the London Early Opera, Il Sonno in Handel's Arianna in Creta and Licaone in Handel's Giove in Argo at the Royal College of Music International Opera School & London Handel Festival, Wilfred in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard with Portsmouth Guildhall, Calmon in Jonathan Dove's The Little Green Swallow with the British Youth Opera and  Figaro in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with the Mid-Wales Opera Young Artist Program. When not performing, he also teaches voice.

You can follow Jan Capiński on Twitter @jancapinski, Matt Buswell at @MattBuswell,  Jake Arditti at @JakeArditti and Opera Danube at @OperaDanube.