Keith Miller's sexy Riolobo in Florencia en al Amazonas

Keith Miller as Riolobo

Keith Miller just wrapped up a 3-performance run as Riolobo in Daniel Catán's Florencia en al Amazonas with the Nashville Opera. We had to share this amazing picture of the bodybuilding barihunk, who become a regular in our annual calendar.

Back in August, director John Hoomes told us this about the production:

"As opposed to some productions of the work, our production with focus more of the magic-realistic, sensual, fever-dream aspects of the piece, with extensive dreamlike immersive HD video, and a living, writhing, singing river...As Riolobo, [Keith Miller] will sing the role of the steersman of the steamship, and he will also appear as a manifestation of a mystic Amazon River god.  His river god costume will be inspired by the male costumes from Trinidad Carnival."

In 1996, Florencia en al Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major American opera house. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, and was subsequently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera. Daniel Catán died in 2011 at age 62, shortly after the premiere of his last opera, Il Postino, based on the popular Italian film. At the time of his death, he was at work on a new piece, Meet John Doe, inspired by Frank Capra’s classic film of the same title.

The two-act opera Florencia en al Amazonas is set on the steamboat El Dorado in 1910, where the famous opera singer Florencia is traveling down the Amazon to perform in Manaus. Florencia desires to encounter her lost love, a butterfly hunter who entered the jungle and never returned. The dramas aboard the steamboat weave love, conflict, loss, a violent storm, and ultimately a cholera epidemic that keeps the passengers quarantined and Florencia’s dream apparently dashed.

Ildar Abdrazakov & Keith Miller in Met Broadcast

Keith Miller (left) and Ildar Abdrazakov

Two of opera's hottest barihunks, Ildar Abdrazakov and Keith Miller will be in Live in HD broadcast of Bizet's Carmen from the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday, November 1st at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST. Abdrazakov will sing the bullfighter Escamillo and Miller will sing Lieutenant Zuniga.

Richard Eyre’s production will feature mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili in the title role of the ill-fated gypsy temptress and Aleksandrs Antonenko as the soldier Don José. 

There will be ab encore performances in the U.S. on Wednesday, November 5th and in Canada on November 29 and 30, and December 8th. Visit the Met website for tickets and a listing of theaters near you. 

 You can also enjoy Keith Miller in our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar (bottom right), as he's featured for the second straight year. Click on the LULU button below to buy your copy today!

Christopher Bolduc and Keith Miller in new Two Boys recording

Christopher Bolduc and Keith Miller

Nonesuch is releasing Nico Muhly's Two Boys, which was recorded live during the Metropolitan Opera’s 2013 production with barihunks Christopher Bolduc as Jake and Keith Miller as Peter. It's currently available for pre-orders at the Nonesuch Store with an instant download of the opera’s Act I, Scene 6.

The two-act opera, which features a libretto by award-winning playwright Craig Lucas, is loosely based on true events and follows a lonely detective whose investigation of a seemingly simple crime draws her into a complex web of online intrigue. Alice Coote sings the role of Detective Inspector Anne Strawson and Paul Appleby sings Brian, the 16-year-old boy at the center of her investigations.

The 32-year old Muhly, 32 is the youngest composer ever commissioned by the Met, and Two Boys was his first large-scale opera. Two Boys, set in an English industrial city in 2001, combines two story elements rarely seen on the operatic stage: a police procedural and a dramatization of the mysterious and lonely lives of those who inhabit the dark corners of the Internet.

Muhly’s other recent projects include music for the Broadway production of The Glass Menagerie and the score to the film Kill Your Darlings. His other film credits include scores for Joshua (2007), Margaret (2009), and the Academy Award–nominated The Reader (2008).

The cast also features Jennifer Zetlan as Rebecca, Caitlin Lynch as Cynthia, Sandra Piques Eddy as Fiona, Judith Forst as Anne’s Mum

Christopher Bolduc is currently a resident artist at the  Hessisches Staatstheater in Wiesbaden, Germany. He'll be performing Der Einäugige in Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten from September 12-October 11. In October, he'll be Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, followed by Figaro in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia in December.

Make sure to check out our recent post about Keith Miller's upcoming appearance in Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas at the Nashville Opera.

Keith Miller in sexy production of Florencia en el Amazonas

Traditional Trinidal Carnival costume (left) and Keith Miller (right)

Keith Miller, who is our Mr. November in the 2014 Barihunks calendar, will be showing off his amazing physique as Riolobo in a new production of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas at the Nashville Opera.

The opera will be directed by John Hoomes, who we asked about the production. He told us:

"As opposed to some productions of the work, our production with focus more of the magic-realistic, sensual, fever-dream aspects of the piece, with extensive dreamlike immersive HD video, and a living, writhing, singing river...As Riolobo, [Keith Miller] will sing the role of the steersman of the steamship, and he will also appear as a manifestation of a mystic Amazon River god.  His river god costume will be inspired by the male costumes from Trinidad Carnival."

Hoomes suggested that we do an online search to see what the Trinidad Carnival costumes look like and were we ever pleasantly surprised. We can't imagine a singer in all of opera who would look better in a Carnival costume.

In 1996, Florencia en al Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major American opera house. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, and was subsequently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera. Daniel Catán died in 2011 at age 62, shortly after the premiere of his last opera, Il Postino, based on the popular Italian film. At the time of his death, he was at work on a new piece, Meet John Doe, inspired by Frank Capra’s classic film of the same title.

Andrew Garland sings Riolobo's invocation from Florencia en al Amazonas:

The two-act opera Florencia en al Amazonas is set on the steamboat El Dorado in 1910, where the famous opera singer Florencia is traveling down the Amazon to perform in Manaus. Florencia desires to encounter her lost love, a butterfly hunter who entered the jungle and never returned. The dramas aboard the steamboat weave love, conflict, loss, a violent storm, and ultimately a cholera epidemic that keeps the passengers quarantined and Florencia’s dream apparently dashed.

The Nashville Opera will present the opera on Friday, January 23, Sunday, January 25 and Tuesday, January 27, 2015. Single tickets are available online.

Doug Williams & Jesse Blumberg in Early Music Gala

Doug Williams

Two of the most talented and arguably sexiest barihunks performing today will appear together at the Boston Early Music Festival's gala performance on Sunday, December 1st. Jesse Blumberg and Douglas Williams will be joined by members of the company's ensemble in selections from seven operas that have been featured in their Chamber Opera Series since 2008.

Led by three-time Grammy-nominated Artistic Co-Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, the singers will perform excerpts from Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Monterverdi’s Orfeo, Blow's Venus and Adonis, and Charpentier's Actéon, La descente d'Orphée aux enfers, and La Couronne de Fleurs.

Jesse Blumberg as Ulysses with Opera Omnia

The Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Opera Series has become a favorite of early music devotees with its fully staged operas focused on rarely heard masterpieces at Boston’s Jordan Hall. Other performers includee soprano Amanda Forsythe, tenor Aaron Sheehan, mezzo Thea Lobo, tenor Jason McStoots, mezzo Danielle Reutter-Harrah, tenor Zachary Wilder and soprano Teresa Wakim. 

Performances are at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and tickets are available at 617-661-1812,  online. or at the box office located at 30 Gainsborough Street in Boston.

Douglas Williams can next be heard with the Houston Symphony in Handel's Messiah under the baton of Nicolas McGegan. Performances run from December 19-22 and tickets are available online. 

Upcoming performances for Jesse Blumberg include a December 3rd recital at Cary Hall in New York City celebrating the release of the AMR album Winter Songs, featuring vocal music of Robert Paterson. On December 8th, he'll be perfroming Finzi's In terra pax and selections from Handel's Messiah at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. On December 13 and 14, he returns to Bean Town for Handel's Messiah with the Boston Baroque at Jordan Hall.

Keith Miller: Mr. November

Time is running out to purchase your 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar, so order it today by clicking the Lulu button below. All proceeds go to benefit young artists. There isn't a better way to get into the spirit of holiday giving than to help out the next generation of opera singers.

Christopher Bolduc makes Met debut in Two Boys

Christopher Bolduc

Christopher Bolduc is finally making his Metropolitan Opera debut, after being a national semifinalist in both the 2007 and 2008 Metropolitan National Council Auditions. He'll be performing as Jake in Nico Muhly's Two Boys, which we've been following since its premiere at the English National Opera in 2011. The much anticipated U.S. premiere, which happens six years after it was commissioned by the Met, takes place on Monday, October 21 at 8 PM. 

The opera explores identity and desire in the shadowy world of the Internet as a detective investigates the stabbing of one teenage boy by another—and discovers a tangled web of online intrigue. Loosely inspired by real events, the work even comes with a warning for Met audiences about graphic and sexual language.

Performances will run through November 14th and tickets are available online.

This revised version of the ENO production of Two Boys is the first composition to be performed at Met stage since it inaugurated its commissioning program with Lincoln Center Theater seven years ago. If you want to see the opera, you'll have to see it live, since General Manager Peter Gelb said the adult themes ruled out the opera from inclusion in the company's HD theater simulcasts.

Keith Miller in the 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar

Appearing as Peter will be Barihunks calendar model Keith Miller. Other performers include mezzo-soprano Alice Coote as Detective Anne Strawson and tenor Paul Appleby as Brian, a 16-year-old accused of stabbing Jake.

Don't forget that money from this year's Charity Calendar will be determined from suggestions on our Facebook page or on Twitter using the hashtag #Barihunks2014. Money can go to young artist programs or any efforts involving young artists, including recording, recitals or performances. You can purchase a calendar and help out young artists by clicking HERE. 

Saturday Barihunk Fest at Met and 54 Below

Keith Miller in Anna Bolena at the Met

The Saturday, December 8th matinee performance of the Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera kicks of the new HD broadcast season with a feast for the eyes. The broadcast features not one, but two, of our favorite barihunks: the "Siberian Hunky" Dmitri Hvorostovsky and former football player Keith Miller.  

Miller will sing Count Ribbing and Hvorostovsky takes on the role of Count Anckarström (Renato). Miller will also be interviewed by Kathleen Kim during the first intermission. To find you local theater click HERE. 

If you're a fan of Keith Miller, he is easy to follow online with a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter account at @KeithMillerBass and a YouTube site. 

Tenor Charles Castronovo with the Three Barihunks: Erwin Schrott, Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Ildar Abrdazakov

We don't usually post about tenors, but when THREE barihunks show up for your performance at 54 Below we take notice. That's what happened Thursday night at the famous nightclub for a performance and celebration of his new CD Dolci Napoli. Of course, Abdrazakov and Schrott are both singing in Don Giovanni at the Met with Castronovo. Hvorostovsky is in the aforementioned Ballo.

Schrott, Hvorostovsky, Castronovo and Abdrazakov (Photo Credit: Charles Martin)

Erwin Schrott, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Ildar Abrdazakov showed up to pay hommage to the man who would be a certifiable barihunk if his voice was a little lower. Fortunately, for those who missed the show, there's a second performance at midnight on Saturday. You can order his CD online.

Readers of Barihunks should use the code "menevent10" at 54 Below to receive a special $10.00 discount. 

Of course, if you like sexy men, you'll find plenty of them in our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. You'll also be helping out young singers, as every penny of profit goes to young artist programs:

  

Rocky Mountain High: 3 Barihunks in Crested Butte

Marcell Bakonyi

Yesterday we featured barihunks out in the English countryside, so it's only appropriate that we head up into the Colorado Rockies today. In beautiful Crested Butte, Colorado a trio of barihunks is also taking up Mozart. At the Crested Butte Music Festival, Philip Cutlip (Papageno), Keith Miller (Sarastro) and Marcell Bakonyi (Speaker) are performing the Magic Flute at the famed ski resort.

Keith Miller & Philip Cutlip

We've featured Cutlip and Miller extensively on this site in the past, but Bokonyi is a new singer for us. Bakonyi was born in 1980 in Győr, Hungary. He studied voice at the Leo-Weiner Conservatory of Music in Budapest, and later at the Hochschule für Musik, Stuttgart with Professor Julia Hamari where he also attended classes in Lieder singing. Since 2009 he has been a member of the ensemble of the Landestheater Salzburg where he sang the roles of Bartolo and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as Kaspar in Der Freischütz, Angelotti in Tosca and Bacco in Arianna, Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore and Leporello in Don Giovanni.

Crested Butte is best known for their international film festival, skiing and as the birthplace of mountain biking. The Music Festival presents diverse array of music, dance and opera. This year's lineup includes Broadway tunes, bluegrass, jazz, sacred, chamber, symphonic and operatic fare. There is also a young artist training program headed by tenor Marcello Giordano. The Magic Flute will run from July 25-29. Visit their website for additional information.

In a sign that barihunks are being viewed as sex symbols more widely, Keith Miller was asked to model for this Suburu ad and we think he looks pretty hot.

 

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Keith Miller: Jock, Singer and now Youth Mentor and Professional Trainer

Keith Miller: From Buffaloes to Barihunks

We've featured American barihunk Keith Miller before and his story of "football player to opera singer" has been well-documented. He continues to draw attention and praise everywhere he goes. He was in the cast of Donizetti's Anna Bolena that featured Anna Netrebko and received international press coverage. He will return to that production in 2012. 

Miller will also perform in Billy Budd at the Met next year, with fellow barihunk Nathan Gunn in the title role.  Performances in other venues include a recital at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado and singing the role of Riolobo in the production of the late Daniel Catán's opera "Florencia en el Amazonas" at Opera Colorado.

When we first featured shirtless photos of Miller, it created quite the sensation and the photos remain some of the most popular with our readers. Because of his own athletic training and how much it has contributed to his success as a singer, Keith has also founded Puissance Training (Meaning “Power” in French), a progressive new way of looking at opera today that helps singers train for physically demanding roles and scenes. And in yet another sign of how football and opera can mix, he’s doing the training with the help of a business partner, one of his former football trainers.

Of course, at Barihunks we love the idea of singers looking fit, as well as believable, on stage. We hope that his new venture takes off as fast as his singing career. His press release said it best"

"He's a perfect fit in the new world of opera where singers are expected to look like movie stars and where fitness is a non-negotiable requirement."   

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Opera Jocks

Former Colorado Buffalo Keith Miller

We've covered the story about former University of Colorado running back Keith Miller and his transition to singing on the major stages of the world. It's an amazing story for a guy who was inspired to sing opera in college after seeing the musical "Phantom of the Opera."

You can click HERE to watch Keith Miller on ESPN talking about his transition from sports to opera.

Elliot Madore: Trading pads for opera

Now we've learned that he isn't the only opera jock around. The St. Louis American has a feature on Canadian barihunk Elliot Madore, who once played hockey and dreamed of Ice Rinks, not Ice Princesses. You can read the entire article HERE.

Madore, who recently replaced fellow Canadian barihunk Daniel Okulitch as Don Giovanni in St. Louis, now heads off to the haloed Salzburg Festival. He will be performing as part of the Young Singers Project.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

WABC Features Keith Miller

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