Barihunk duo in Bavarian State Opera's "Iolantha"

Boris Prýgl and Markus Suihkonen

Bass-barihunk Markus Suihkonen and barihunk Boris Prýgl will be featured in the Bavarian State Opera's "Iolanta," which will be paired with Stravinsky's "Mavra." The opera is about a blind princess who doesn't not know that she is blind or that she is a princess. Her blindness is eventually cured by love. 

Iolanta was Tchaikovsky's final opera and premiered on December 18, 1892. The libretto was written by his brother, Modest Tchaikovsky, who adapted the play “King Rene’s Daughter” by the Danish playwright Henrik Hertz. The opera was originally paired with The Nutcracker ballet and was actually better received initially than it's counterpart.

The best known piece from the opera is the love duet at the end of the opera, but the opera also features two arias for low male voices. King Renè's prayer and Robert's aria "Who can be compared with my Matilda?"

Igor Stravinsky's Mavra is a one-act comic opera and one of the earliest works of Stravinsky's neo-classical period. Boris Kochno's libretto is based on Alexander Pushkin's The Little House in Kolomna.

Performances of the double-bill run from March 15-28 and tickets are available online. 

Karl V: First full-length twelve-tone opera to be broadcast

Actor Janus Torp and Bo Skovhus (Photo: Bayerische Staatsoper)

Ernst Krenek's "Karl V," the first full-length twelve-tone opera will be broadcast from the Bavarian State Opera on February 23rd with barihunk Bo Skovhus in the title role. The opera can be seen live on February 16, 21 and 23. 

The opera revolves around the life the Holy Roman Emperor, Karl V, particularly the end of his life. In his life confession he defends his actions as ruler and his failure to establish a grand Christian empire to the monk, Juan de Regla.

Krenek’s opera Karl V has rarely been performed since its debut on June 22, 1938. The opera created a cause célèbre when the 1934 premiere in Vienna was cancelled after Krenek was blacklisted in Germany by the Nazi government immediately following the German parliamentary elections in March 1933. Krenek revised the opera in 1954. Krenek was wrongly named as a Jewish composer during the Third Reich and ended up fleeing to the United States due to constant threats from the Nazi regime.

Bo Skovhus (Photo: Bayerische Staatsoper)

It was performed at the Bregenzer Festspiele in 2008 and has previously been seen in Munich. Performances at the Bavarian State Opera run through February 23rd, but the opera will also be performed at the Munich Opera Festival on July 19th.

The current modernist staging was produced by Carlus Padrissa, a member and co-founder of the theatre group, La Fura dels Baus, with stage designs and costumes by artist Lita Cabellut.

Alex Esposito and Joyce DiDonato in Live Stream of Semiramide

Alex Esposito and Joyce DiDonato

Rossini's Semiramide will be live streamed from the Bavarian State Opera on Sunday, February 26th at 5 p.m CET/11 AM EST/8 AM PST. The production stars Honorary Barihunk Joyce DiDonato and barihunk  Alex Esposito along Daniela Barcellona and Lawrence Brownlee. The broadcast will be available HERE.

The new production by David Alden sets the action in a modern, generic Middle Eastern dictatorship, rather than in ancient Babylon.  Both Alex Esposito and Joyce DiDonato are making their role debuts, as Semiramide and Assur respectively. The role of Semiramide was written for Rossini's mistress Isabella Colbran, an alto with great extension. In recent years the role has been sung primarily by sopranos including Joan Sutherland, Angela Meade, Laura Aikin, Elena Mosuc. Leah Crocetto, Montserrat Caballé, June Anderson and Edita Gruberová, Perhaps the most famous Assur of our generation was Sam Ramey, who recorded the role and performed it on stage.

The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria.

In the opera, Queen Semiramide is haunted by the ghosts of her past. Together with her lover Assur, she once murdered her husband King Nino; a deed which ever since has weighed heavily upon her. With her marriage to Arsace, she hopes her soul will at last find solace. Her love, however, is misplaced. Arsace not only loves another, he is also, as is later revealed, the son Semiramide and Nino believed to be dead. He is faced with a decision: should he avenge the death of his father – and thus become his mother's killer?

American barihunk Sean Michael Plumb joins Bavarian State Opera

Sean Michael Plumb (Karli Cadel Photography)

American barihunk Sean Michael Plumb has joined the ensemble at the Bavarian State Opera, where he will kick off his fest contract as the Porter in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Fellow barihunk Alexander Tsymbalyuk will also perform in the production as the Police Inspector and the Old Convict. 

This season Sean Michael Plumb will go on to perform a variety of roles with the company, including Servitore and Sicario in Verdi's Macbeth opposite fellow barihunk Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Morales in Bizet's Carmen, Olav Bjaaland in Srnka's South Pole, Harlekin in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos with Karita Mattila in the title role, Yamadori in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

Sean Michael Plumb sings Rene Orth's Empty the House:

Last summer, he was part of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project. Prior to that, he racked up a number of impressive wins at vocal competitions, including the Grand Prize at the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Top Prize at the 2016 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, a 2016 Shoshana Foundation Grant, the 2015 Sullivan Foundation Award from The Sullivan Foundation, Top Prize at the 2015 Opera Index Competition, a 2015 Sara Tucker Grant from The Richard Tucker Foundation, First Prize at the 2015 Gerda Lissner Liederkranz Competition, and the 2015 Theodor Uppman Prize from the George London Foundation.

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Our 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar is now on sale. Order your copy by clicking on the LULU button. 

Malte Roesner

Erwin Schrott to kick off Ljubljana Festival; Barihunk trio Don Giovanni in Munich

Erwin Schrott

Bass-barihunk Erwin Schrott will kick off the the 64th Ljubljana Festival tonight in an open air concert in Congress Square joined by Argentine soprano Jaquelina Liveri.

The opera Don Giovanni will feature prominently on the program, as it includes the Leporello's Catalog Aria, Donna Anna's Non mi dir and Don Giovanni and Zerlina's duet La ci darem la mano. Schrott will also perform Dulcamara’s aria from L’elisir d’amore "Udite, udite, o rustici," "Et toi, Palerme" from Verdi's I vespri siciliani, Mephistophele’s aria "Le veau d’or" from Faust, in addition to duets with Liveri.

Brandon Cedel (Photo:Opera News) and Alex Esposito

Don Giovanni is also up next on Schrott's calendar, as he performs the title role at the Opernfestspiele at the Bavarian State Opera with fellow barihunks Alex Esposito in his signature role Leporello and Brandon Cedel as Masetto. The all-star cast also includes Pavol Breslik as Don Ottavio, Albina Shagimuratova as Donna Anna, Ain Anger as the Commendatore and Dorothea Röschmann as Donna Elvira. Performances are on July 23 and 25 and tickets are available online.

Watch Barihunk "Passion" from Nürnberg

Krešimir Stražanac (left) and Tareq Nazmi (right)

Three barihunks teamed up for a stunning performance of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245 at the St. Lorenz Church in Nürnberg this week with Concerto Köln and the Bayerischen Rundfunks Choir. The cast also includes three amazing low voices (who also happen to be barihunks!):Tareq Nazmi as Christ, Krešimir Stražanac as Pilate and Andreas Burkhart as Peter.

The performance marked the opening of this year's International Organ Week in Nürnberg and was performed with the choir and soloists as part of the audience.

Fortunately, the performance was saved for posterity and is available for viewing online here.

Written for Good Friday in 1724, the passion was the centerpiece of Bach's year-long cycle of liturgical cantatas. His other passion setting is the more oft-performed St Matthew Passion. Perhaps the biggest joy of the St. John Passion is that, for all the ferocity and sorrow of the Good Friday story, it's a truly optimistic work, anticipating the resurrection with music suffused with light and hope. 

Andreas Burkhart (left), Tareq Nazmi (center) and Krešimir Stražanac (right)

Tareq Nazmi was born in Kuwait and grew up in Munich. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Edith Wiens and Christian Gerhaher. He won first prize at both the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation prize and the National Song Contest.  Since the 2012-23 season, Tareq Nazmi has been a permanent member of the Bavarian State Opera where he has performed Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Speaker in Mozart's Magic Flute, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Publio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Krešimir Stražanac (left) and Tareq Nazmi (right)

Stražanac studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. He went on to win the International La Voce Competition of the Bavarian Radio for art song and the International Cantilena Competition in Bayreuth for opera/operetta. In September 2012, he won the International Hugo Wolf Competition in Hugo Wolf's birthplace in Gradec, Slovenia. Since the 2007-2008 season, he's been a member of the ensemble at the Opernhauses Zürich, where he's performed Ping in Turandot, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Fernando in Fidelio, Morales in Carmen and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. In November 2012, he made his debut as Dr. David Livesay in the world premiere of Frank Schwemmer's Die Schatzinsel and in March 2013 in the role of Baron Tusenbach in Péter Eötvös' opera The Three Sisters.

Tareq Nazmi (left) and Krešimir Stražanac (right)

Born in Munich in 1984, the baritone Andreas Burkhart was a chorister with the Tölz Boys Choir, going on to study at the Bavarian Singakademie and from 2005 with Frieder Lang at the Munich Hochschule für Musik und Theater. Winner of a number of prizes, in 2011 he appeared at the Bonn Beethoven Festival in a recital of songs by Poulenc, Liszt, Schumann and Schubert. He is a member of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus.

Barihunk duo in broadcast of Pelléas et Mélisande

Elliot Madore and Markus Eiche

The Bavarian State Opera's free live streams at STAATSOPER.TV continue from Munich on July 4th at 7 PM CET/2 PM EST/11 AM PST with Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.

The cast includes barihunks Elliot Madore as Pelleas and Markus Eiche as Goulaud, as well as soprano Elena Tsallagova as Melisande. Later this year the duo appear together again in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, with Madore as Harlekin and Eiche as the Music Instructor.

Madore has become a regular on live streaming opera, having been featured recently in Don Giovanni, Chabrier's L'étoile Rameau's Les Sauvages.

Markus Eiche studied at the Music Academy of Stuttgart and went on to win the 1998 the International Singing Competition ”Francesco Viñas” in Barcelona. He has become a regular at both the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. Upcoming roles in Munich include Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, Gunther in Gotterdammerung, Marcello in La boheme and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro.

Elliot Madore, a native of Canada, has been singing primarily in Europe since becoming part of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera. However, he'll be appearing on both US coasts this year, starting on September 12 when he sings Antony Hope in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Opera with Gerald Finley and Stephanie Blythe. In December, he'll head east to appear at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Isabel Leonard and David Portillo in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia .

Barihunk lovers should be alerted that from May 8-29, 2016 at the Opernhaus Zürich, Pelléas et Mélisande will be performed with the barihunk trio of Jacques Imbrailo as Pelléas, Kyle Ketelsen as Goulaud and Eric Anttine as the Doctor.

Bo Skovhus in sexy livestream of Berg's Lulu

Bo Skovus and Marlis Petersen

The ageless barihunk Bo Skovhus takes on Jack the Ripper opposite the sexy Lulu of Marlis Petersen in Alban Berg's provocative opera at the Bavarian State Opera. The production by Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov features lots of beautiful bodies in various states of undress throughout the production.

Fortunately, the opera will be available in the company's third season of performances available on their free live streams at STAATSOPER.TV. The live stream can be watched on June 6th at 6.00 PM CET/1 PM EST/10 AM PST. The cast also includes Daniela Sindram as Countess Geschwitz, Matthias Klink as Alwa and Rainer Trost as the painter.

Rainer Trost and the Lulu ensemble

The Bavarian State Opera's live streams will continue on July 4th at 7 PM CET with barihunk Elliot Madore as Pelleas and soprano Elena Tsallagova as Melisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.

Bo Skovhus next heads to the Salzburg Festival where he will sing Cortez in Wolfgang Rihm's Die Eroberung von Mexico (The Conquest of Mexico) opposite Angela Denoke. The production runs from July 26-August 10.

Elliot Madore returns to North America for two recitals

Elliot Madore

Canadian barihunk Elliot Madore, who has been singing primarily in Europe since becoming part of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera, will be returning to North America for two recitals. Madore studied at Curtis and was a Gerdine Young Artist with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

On March 15th, he'll appear with the Baldwin Wallace Art Song Festival outside of Cleveland before heading to his native Canada for a March 26th recital with Music Toronto.  He will perform Robert Schumann’s Balsatzar, op. 57, followed by Schumann’s Liederkreis, op. 39, a song cycle on poems by Joseph von Eichendorff; Francis Poulenc’s Banalités, on poems by Guillaume Apollonaire; and five Charles Ives songs - The Circus Band, Ich grolle nicht, The Side Show, Tom Sails Away and Memories.

After his brief North American tour, he returns to Europe to perform Debussy's Pélleas et Mélisande with the Croatian National Opera in Zagreb and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.

Barihunks in free broadcast of William Tell

Goran Jurić (left) and Günther Groissböck (right)

The Bavarian State Opera continues its popular free live streaming of opera this Saturday, June 28th at 6 PM CET/Noon EST/9 AM PST with their new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (William Tell). The broadcast will be available at STAATSOPER.TV.

The broadcast features two barihunks,  Günther Groissböck as the villain Gesler and Goran Jurić as Walter Furst. Groissböck has been extremely popular on our site, especially the pictures of him in the "Brokeback Onegin," as it's been dubbed by opera bloggers. He can next be seen at the Salzburg Festival as Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Zubin Mehta.

31-year-old Croatian bass-barihunk Goran Jurić has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble since the 2011-12 season. At the Bavarian State Opera he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Il Re in Verdi's Aida, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Banco in Verdi's Macbeth, Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlos and Timur in Puccini's Turandot. He also performs regularly with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Bevy of Barihunks in Broadcasts from Bavaria

Michael Nagy and Günther Groissböck

The Bavarian State Opera is continuing the popular live streaming of their performances which they debuted last year. This year's selection features some of our favorite barihunks in their free broadcasts which are available at STAATSOPER.TV.

Previous broadcasts have included Alban Berg's Wozzeck, Richard Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten, Verdi's La forza del destino and Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Tareq Nazmi

On May 31st at 7 PM CET./1 PM EST they will present Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten with Michael Nagy as Stolzius and Tareq Nazmi as Obrist.

30-year-old Bass-Barihunk Tareq Nazmi, who is new to this site, was born in Kuwait and grew up in Munich. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Edith Wiens and Christian Gerhaher. He is a first prize of both the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation prize and the National Song Contest.

Since the 2012-23 season, Tareq Nazmi has been a permanent member of the Bavarian State Opera where he has performed Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Speaker in Mozart's Magic Flute, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Publio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Goran Jurić

On June 28th at 6 PM CET./Noon EST they will present a new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (William Tell) with Günther Groissböck as Gesler. Groissböck has been extremely popular on our site, especially the pictures of him in the "Brokeback Onegin," as it's been dubbed by opera bloggers. The cast also includes Goran Jurić as Walter Furst.

31-year-old Croatian bass-barihunk Goran Jurić is also new to the site. He has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble since the 2011-12 season. He received his Master's degree in Opera Studies at the Academy of Music at the University of Zagreb, where is completing his second Master's degree in Phonetics and Italian Language and Literature.

At the Bavarian State Opera he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Il Re in Verdi's Aida, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Banco in Verdi's Macbeth, Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlos and Timur in Puccini's Turandot. He also performs regularly with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

On July 27th at 6 PM CET./Noon EST the company will present Claudio Monteverdi L'Orfeo with the amazing Christian Gerhaher and the stunningly talented Anna Bonitatibus.

Hampson & Pisaroni reprise "No Tenors Allowed"

Thomas Hampson & Luca Pisaroni

Thomas Hampson and his son-in-law Luca Pisaroni are taking their "No Tenors Allowed" show to the Czach Republic and Slovakia. The duo will perform their popular show on Wednesday, December 4th in Bratislava and again on Monday, December 9th in Prague.

The program includes arias and duets from opera and Broadway. Pisaroni will perform Leporello’s catalogue aria from Mozart's Don Giovanni, Mephistopheles’ serenade from Gounod's Faust, "Sorgete… Duce di tanti eroi: from Rossini's Maometto II and Rodgers & Hammerstein's Some Enchanted Evening. Hampson will perform Gabey’s song from Bernstein's On the Town, Iago's Credo from Verdi's Otello, "Vision fugitive" from Massenet's Hérodiade and "Hai già vinta la causa... Vedrò mentr’io sospiro" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. They will also team up for duets from Verdi's Don Carlo, Bellini's I Puritani and Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

Hampson originally performed the "No Tenors Allowed" format with bass Samuel Ramey in the 1990's, which is available on Teldec.

Hampson's next operatic performance is in Verdi's La traviata at the Bavarian State Opera opposite Ailyn Pérez and Charles Castronovo. The show opens on December 31st. Luca Pisaroni's next operatic performance is as Mozart's Figaro at the Vienna State Opera opening January 9th.

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Major Barihunk Cast Changes Announced in London, Munich and New York

There is nothing like a cast change announcement to get the online opera world abuzz. Three recent announcements involved barihunks at major houses.

Lucas Meachem (L) & Simon Keenlyside (R)

London opera bloggers seem to be taking sides in the recent announcement that American barihunk Lucas Meachem will replace British barihunk Simon Keenlyside for all performances of Le nozze di Figaro due to the latter's illness. The Brits love the ageless Simon Keenlyside and the raw sexuality and swagger he brings to his Mozart portrayals. We've seen Meachem many times and he's a very different performer, but a solid replacement.

Meachem has sung the role of Count Almaviva at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera and the San Francisco Opera. His repertoire also includes the role of Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini’s prequel to Le nozze di Figaro.  Lucas made his Royal Opera debut as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, most recently performing in the UK as the titular character in Glyndebourne’s Don Giovanni last summer.

Luca Pisaroni: Sexy whether he's "groomed," or not

Baritone Thomas Quasthoff announced his retirement on January 11th due to unspecified health reasons. Theaters have been scrambling to replace the German singer around the globe. At New York's Lincoln Center it was announces that Italian barihunk Luca Pisaroni will step in for Quasthoff in his joint recital with tenor Michael Schade at Alice Tully Hall on March 25.

Luca Pisaroni sings Mozart, Schubert, Tosti + Interview:

Pisaroni, who is currently appearing in the Metropolitan Opera's production of The Enchanted Island, has previously performed alongside Schade on the opera stage.  Pisaroni will present selections by Schubert and Brahms. Schade and Pisaroni will also perform duets by Mendelssohn, Schumann and others.

Diogenes Randes (L) & Thorsten Grümbel (R)

At the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Diogenes Randes announced that due to health reasons, he will be unable to sing the role of Fasolt in the performances of Richard Wagner's Das Rheingold on February 4, 8 and 12, 2012. Taking his place will be Thorsten Grümbel.

Fasolt and Fafner fight in the famous Met production under James Levine:

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The "Flexin' Texan" Michael Mayes & The "Hot Pole" Mariusz Kwiecien

Michael Mayes' Barihunks Calendar Shot

We've raved about Michael Mayes' podcast, the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow podcast, for years and it remains one of the most entertaining shows on the web. His podcasts are often fueled by either heavy doses of caffeine or liberal servings of alcohol. Michael makes sure that no topic is off limits. Some of the recent topics include "Country Music is 3 chords and the truth," "The shared lexicon of opera and addiction," "Sleeping against the pole~ not the Polish guy, but the actual pole," "Singing opera in the mobile home" and "Heterosexual countertenors sure let you know."

Mayes is currently in Nashville reveling in his country roots. One thing that we can say with certainty is that Michael Mayes is an unabashed country boy and Elvis Presley fanatic. It's so refreshing to meet an opera singer who remains authentic to who he is and doesn't start talking in the "international opera accent."

Mayes is performing Silvio in Pagliacci with the Nashville Opera, which continues to be one of the most interesting and creative smaller opera companies. Mayes' Silvio has been greeted with critical acclaim and there is one more performance on Sunday, December 4th. Get your tickets HERE.

We've been eagerly awaiting to hear when Mariusz "the hot Pole" Kwiecien's new CD of "Slavic Heroes" would be released. We've now learned that it will available in the U.S. on January 10, 2012. The album includes arias by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, Dvoák, Moniusko, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Szymanovsky. Included is Apollo's Hymn from Szymanovsky's "King Roger," which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer from July 21 to August 14.

Mariusz Kwiecien

Kwiecien is wrapping up 2011 in his native Poland with performances of Moniuszko's Halka and Mozart's "Don Giovanni." He opens 2012 at the Bavarian State Opera performing the Marquis de Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo, which we've been told is SOLD OUT. The cast is one of the best that we've seen assembled at any opera house. It includes René Pape as King Philipp II, Jonas Kaufmann as Don Carlos and Anja Harteros as Elisabeth.

If you want to enjoy photographs of talented young artists like Michael Mayes all year long, you can purchase our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking HERE. You'll also be assisting the next generation of young singers, as all of the proceeds will go to young artist programs. We're announcing our first two beneficiaries next week.

Please feel free to contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com with your tips, comments, praise and occasional corrections.

Todd Boyce's really big...

VOICE.

We try not to be tacky on this site, but when we received this email from Germany we couldn't resist but post it: "Check out barihunk Todd Boyce, who is showing off a lot more than his voice in this video." Attached was this LINK to a YouTube video of him singing the Count's aria from Albert Lortzing's "Der Wildschütz."

Todd Boyce

The 27-year-old Wisconsin native has spent the last two years at the Bavarian State Opera's Young Artists Program and is currently under contract with the Tiroler Landestheater in Innsbruck. His roles at the Bavarian State Opera Studio included Guglielmo in "Cosi fan tutte" and Dandini in "La Cenerentola."

He also sang the title role in "Don Giovanni" at the Philharmonie Bad Reichenhall and Figaro in "Il barbiere di Siviglia" with the Munich Kulturgipfel.

We look forward to seeing more of this young artist in the future.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com (and we're loving the onslaught of mail from Deutschland!)

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John Chest Wows Audience and Judges

Dreamy John Chest

John Chest was clearly the audience favorite a the 2010 Stella Maris International Vocal Competition and almost walked away with the judges top prize, as well. The blonde barihunk walked away with the €15,000 audience favorite prize money and a test contract with Deutsche Grammophon. 

Chest sang a broad range of music throughout the competition, topping it off with a stunning rendition of "Look, through the port" from Britten's "Billy Budd." He also performed "Dunque io son" from the Barber with fellow Merola participant Daniella Mack, Rigoletto in the quartet from Verdi's opera, "Auf dem flusse" from Schubert's "Winterreise," "Lord God of Abraham" from Mendelssohn's "Elijah," the Pierrot-Lied from Korngold’s "Die tote Stadt" and the famous Largo from Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia."

Singers in the competition must be nominated by one of the top opera eight opera companies in the world. Chest was nominated by the Bavarian State Opera and his partner in the Barber duet, Daniella Mack, was nominated by the San Francisco Opera, where Chest was part of the prestigious Merola Opera Program. 

Our source at the competition wrote, "Chest looked every bit as good as he sounded. This guy has true star quality."

John Chest: Future Billy Budd?

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Maija Kovalevska: Luckiest Woman in the World

Latvian soprano Maija Kovalevska had to be the luckiest woman in the world when director Stephan Kimmig called for her to be "hunk handled" by both Erwin Schrott and Alex Esposito at the Bavarian State Opera. This performance was from October 2009 and it returns next month with Mariusz Kwiecien as Don Giovanni and Alex Esposito returning as Leporello. Maija Kovalevska returns as Donna Elvira - and who could blame her.



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Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!

[Mariusz Kwiecien]


[Erwin Schrott with Isabel Bayrakdarian in L.A.]


Oops, not the Rossini Figaro. But if you're looking to see two of the hottest Figaro's in Mozart's classic opera, now is the time. Mariusz Kwiecien is at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Erwin Schrott is at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Both of these barihunks are known for injecting sexuality into a role that in the hands of some baritones can be a little wooden.

Those attending the opera in Chicago get the added bonus of Kyle Ketelsen as the Count.

[Kyle Ketelsen with Danielle deNiese in Chicago]


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Another Sexy Don From the Hot Pole

It doesn't matter who directs Mariusz Kwiecien in Don Giovanni, he still manages to ooze sex. At the Bavarian State Opera German director Stephan Kimmig splatters him in blood, shaves his head, throws a cheap blond wig on him and even surrounds him by butchered pigs, but the Hot Pole still seethes with his usual sensuality. His counterpart, once again, is barihunk Alex Esposito.

He remains the most interesting actor among male singers in operas. Kwiecien and Esposito works incredibly well together on stage, so even if you don't like the production, the acting is outstanding.

For more information about the production, visit the Bavarian State Opera website.
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Casting Coup at Michigan Opera; Bavarian State Opera Promises Eye Candy

[Top, John Relyea from his website; Center; Die Bassariden from Bavarian State Opera and bottom, photo of Paulo Szot]

The Michigan Opera Theater has announced the casting coup of the season. Paulo Szot, fresh off his hugely successful run in South Pacific on Broadway, will play the lead role in Don Giovanni next season. It's amazing that Barihunks even got this information as MOT is the worst opera company on the planet in listing complete casts. Even for their upcoming Carmen, they don't list the Escamillo!

Nonetheless, we're all going to be keeping our eye on this performance. Paulo Szot is one of the hottest singers in the world and sex appeal clearly reached the masses reprising the classic Ezio Pinza role of Emile De Becque. If anyone at MOT is reading this, who is playing Leporello and Masetto?

Also, I received an email from the Bavarian Opera informing us that Barihunks Lucas Meachem and John Relyea will perform together next season in Le Nozze di Figaro. Meachem will play the Count Almaviva and Relyea will be Figaro. Mrs. Teddy Tahu Rhodes, a.k.a. Isabel Leonard, will portray Cherubino. The opera company will also present Henze's Die Bassariden, which often gives us some great skin shots, as evidenced from the picture above. No cast list is available yet.

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