Jonathan McGovern goes from Avatar Jake to King Ulysses

We somehow lost track of Jonathan McGovern after his critically-acclaimed performances as the avatar Jake in Nico Muhly's Two Boys at the English National Opera in 2011. At the time, he had just taken 2nd Prize at the 2011 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and was joining the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme.

He recently caught our attention again as Ulysses at the Iford Opera Festival production of Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses. Rian Evan said his "burnished baritone embraces both the heroism of Ulysses and the emotional torture of this culminating episode of his odyssey." It's amazing to think that this is the same guy who played the baby faced boy n Two Boys. He next takes on Sid in Puccini's La fanciulla del West at ENO in October and then sings the role of the captain in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Grand Théâtre de Genève with fellow barihunk Michael Nagy as Onegin.

Behind the scenes with Jonathan McGovern and Louise Alder:

Other engagements this season have included Polynices in Julian Anderson’s world premiere The Thebans at ENO, the role of Adam in a staged version of Haydn’s The Creation for Vocal Futures at the Ambika P3 in London, the St John Passion with Winchester Music Club, and a recording of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Le Reniement de Saint Pierre where he sang the role of Jesus.

Jesse Blumberg stunning as Ulysses

Jesse Blumberg in Opera Omnia's The Return of Ulysses

We were very excited when we learned that the innovative young opera company Opera Omnia had hired Jesse Blumberg for their production of Claudio Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. He's become a favorite of ours, as well a favorite of composers like Ricky Ian Gordon and a number of leading opera companies. A thoughtful singer with great dramatic instincts and a beautiful voice, he's also a true barihunk in every sense of the word. For this role he had to sing shirtless for almost the entire first act and we heard that he stuck to a pretty strict workout regime. Of course, we had to get a picture to share with our readers.

The New York Times wrote of his performance, "And the vocal performances were in general excellent. Jesse Blumberg was compelling as Ulysses, throwing himself into the role physically as well as vocally."

Blumberg can next be seen on October 4th in the premiere of Paul Richards' Biennale with fellow barihunk Christopher Burchett in Philadelphia. Later that month he can be heard performing music of Emmanuel Chabrier with the Mirror Visions Ensemble in New York and Philadelphia. We're most excited about a performance in April next year with the Minnesota Opera when he'll be performing Papageno in the brilliant production of Mozart's The Magic Flute created by director Barrie Kosky and the British theatre group 1927. We saw this in Berlin and it is brilliant. Add it to your opera travel calendar today. More information is available online.

Jesse Blumberg in English language "The Return of Ulysses"

Jesse Blumberg and Hai-Ting Chinn (Is it just us, or is this one of the sexiest pictures of Jesse Blumberg ever?)

Opera Omnia is presenting their third opera,  Claudio Monteverdi’s The Return of Ulysses. As with all their operas, it will be performed in an English translation. The cast features barihunk Jesse Blumberg and mezzo-soprano Hai-Ting Chinn in the leading roles, with accompaniment by a period-instrument ensemble led by music director Avi Stein.

Opera Omnia, which was founded in 2008, concentrates on musical-dramatic works of the 17th century, performing them in English translations with modern stagings. Their mission is to expose new audiences to early opera masterworks. They have previously performed Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea and Cavalli’s Giasone in English translations at Le Poisson Rouge. The Return of Ulysses will be performed at the Baryshnikov Arts Center’s Howard Gilman Performance Space with staging by Crystal Manich.

Jesse Blumberg & Laura Heimes perform Handel's Apollo & Dafne

Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses is the story of Ulysses’s return to Ithaca and reunion with his wife Penelope, who has remained faithful during his long absence. Also in the cast are Tammy Coil as Minerva, Joseph Gaines as Iro, Karim Sulayman as Eumete , Owen McIntosh as Telemachus, Joe Chappell as Neptune, Nicholas Tamagna as Peisander Richard Lippold as Antinous and Elaine Lachica as Love.

Performances run from September 10-12 and tickets are priced at the ridiculously low cost of $20.00 each. Go online and reserve your tickets today! You won't want to miss this.