Listen to Andrew Foster-Williams as Rossini's Pharaoh

Andrew Foster-Williams as the Pharaoh

For the next four weeks you can listen to Andrew Foster-Williams in Rossini's rarely performed opera Moses in Egypt. The British baritone sang the role of the Pharaoh in this production from the Welsh National Opera.

Although not as well known as the Barber of Seville, La Cenerentola, or William Tell, Moses in Egypt is among Rossini's greatest musical achievements. First heard in Naples in 1818, Rossini's telling of the Old Testament story pulls focus between the epic and the intimate, as the story of an entire people persecuted by a cruel tyrant is juxtaposed with the forbidden love of two young people on either side of a religious divide.

The Pharaoh refuses to free the Hebrews from slavery and allow them to leave for the Promised Land. Moses, with God's help, brings down plagues on the Egyptians until eventually he and his people are freed. But Pharaoh's son, Osiris, is in love with a Hebrew girl, Elcia, and he is punished when he attempts to have Moses killed.

The Hebrews reach the Red Sea and are rescued from the pursuing Egyptians by divine intervention.

Click HERE to listen to the broadcast. 

During the holiday season, you can catch Foster-Williams singing Handel's Messiah under the baton of the great contralto Nathalie Stutzmann at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées.

Don't forget that our 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar is now on sale. You can purchase a copy by clicking the image of Donovan Singletary.

Introducing Italian Barihunk® Mattia Olivieri

Mattia Olivieri: Don Giovanni (left), rehearsing Belcore (right)

Italian barihunk Mattia Olivieri will be starring as Nardo in Mozart's La finta giardiniera at Glyndebourne from October 5-23. The production then goes on tour to Woking, Canterbury, Norwich, Milton Keynes, Plymouth, Dublin & Stoke-on-Trent.

Mozart wrote  La finta giardiniera when he was just 18 years old for the Salvatortheater in Munich. Mozart based the opera on Goldoni's play Pamela nubile and it was only his second comic opera. The story follows seven characters in search of love, involving disguise, and recognition of both identities and emotions - trying to discover what is real and what is finta (fake). You can listen to an earlier performance of the opera on BBC 3 starring Gyula Orendt as Nardo and the amazing tenor Joel Prieto as Count Belfiore. It will be available until October 22.

Mattia Olivieri as Ping at the Arena di Verona:

30-year-old Mattia Olivieri was born in Sassuolo, Italy and studied at the G.B. Martini Music Conservatory in Bologna and at the G.B. Pergolesi Music Conservatory in Fermo. He made his operatic debut in 2008 as the Imperial Commissioner in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Fiorello in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Tuscan Lyric Festival. He also toured Italy as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte as part of a nationwide opera education project.

In 2012, he sang Dulcamara in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore at the Sarzana Opera Festival and Don Prudenzio in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims with the Rossini Academy in Pesaro. This year he's sung the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Palermo and Ping in Puccini's Turandot at the Arena di Verona.

After the tour of La finta giardiniera, he sings more Mozart as he takes on Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte in Nice. In August 2015, he makes his debut at La Scala in Milan as Schaunard in Puccini's La boheme followed by Belcore in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore.

Listen to Simon Keenlyside on BBC3 in Eugene Onegin

Simon Keenlyside and Krassimira Stoyanova in Eugene Onegin

Make sure to tune in to BBC Radio 3 all week to hear Simon Keenlyside in the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The performance was recorded earlier this year at the Royal Opera House and was Kasper Holten's first production for the company after taking over as Director of Opera. The cast includes Krassimira Stoyanova as Tatyana, Diana Montague as Madame Larina and Pavol Breslik as Lensky.

Simon Keenlyside and Krassimira Stoyanova in Eugene Onegin:

Keenlyside can currently be seen in Wozzeck at the Teatro Real in Madrid with Nadja Michael as Marie. Performances run from June 3-20 and tickets are available online.

Dreamy Casting: Barihunks on the air

Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Don Giovanni

Thanks to a heads up from an alert reader, we've learned that Edwin Crossley-Mercer just performed his first Don Giovanni in Dijon, France. He was joined by fellow barihunk Damien Pass as Masetto. If you missed the performance, you're in luck, as it's temporarily available on Medici.tv. Click HERE to watch the entire performance.

Medici.tv has a number of current releases featuring barihunks, including Purcell's Dido and Æneas with Lucas Meachem, Gounod's Romeo and Juliet with François Le Roux, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with Stéphane Degout and Messiaen's Saint-François d'Assise featuring both Henk Neven and Rod Gilfry.

Guido Loconsolo

On April 4th, Italian barihunk Guido Loconsolo makes his Met debut as the scheming Egyptian general Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare. He'll be part of a dream cast that includes David Daniels, Natalie Dessay, Alice Coote and the amazing Christophe Dumaux as Tolomeo.

You can watch the April 27th matinee as part of the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series which will be transmitted live around the world.

Guido Loconsolo previously sang the role of Achilla at Glyndebourne. Earlier this season, he sang the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne, Publio in a new production of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito at Madrid’s Teatro Real, Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Bolshoi in Moscow, and Plutone in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in Freiburg and Essen, Germany.

Simon Keenlyside

Fans of Simon Keenlyside will get plenty of chances to hear the ageless barihunk online. On April 6th, Radio France will broadcast his performance of Berg's Wozzeck from the Vienna, Staatsoper under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. On April 25, BBC 3 will rebroadcast his Macbeth opposite the riveting Lady Macbeth of Liudmyla Monastyrska from the Royal Opera House. This is a performance that is not to be missed! BBC 3 has also announced that they will be broadcasting Keenlyside's Eugene Onegin from the Royal Opera House. The date and time has not been announced, but we believe that it will be June 1st.

Morgan Smith

On Sunday, April 7th at 8:00 PM/PST San Francisco's KDFC will broadcast Jake Heggie's latest masterpiece Moby-Dick. The opera stars barihunk Morgan Smith along with Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Lemalu, Talise Trevigne, Matthew O'Neill and Robert Orth. The performance is a rebroadcast from last season.

Luca Pisaroni LIVE from Edinburgh

Luca Pisaroni

Luca Pisaroni just wrapped up a critically acclaimed performance of Rossini's Maometto II in Santa Fe, adding another major success to his burgeoning career. He now heads to the Edinburgh International Festival where he will be performing a song recital.

Pisaroni will continue performing Rossini with selections from Péchés de vieillesse. The rest of the program includes Schubert’s Three Songs D902, lieder by Meyerbeer and  Liszt's Petrarch Sonnets.

The entire recital can be heard live on BBC3 on August 23 at 11 AM DST/6 AM EST/3 AM PST. 

Markus Werba sings Brahms

Markus Werba antiqued

Here are five Brahms songs performed by barihunk Markus Werba and pianist Gary Matthewman. This is from an October 2010 performance at Wigmore Hall in London that was broadcast on BBC 3.

The set includes:
Vor dem Fenster, Op.14'1
Ein Sonett, Op.14'4
Der Gang zum Liebchen, Op.48'1
Murrays Ermordung, Op.14'3
Alte Liebe, Op.72'1
O kühler Wald, Op.72'3
Unüberwindlich, Op.72'5

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Begin 2011 WIth Two Barihunks

Alex Esposito & Ildebrando d'Arcangelo

You can ring in the New Year by listening to two incredible barihunks, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo and Alex Esposito, singing Don Giovanni and Leporello respectively. The performance is from the Vienna State Opera and will be conducted by Franz Welser-Most. The performance will be broadcast on BBC Three beginning at 6 PM GMT.

In the meantime you can enjoy Alex Esposito singing "Se vuol balare" from Le Nozze di Figaro:



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Rescheduled Markus Werba Recital on BBC

Popular Austrian Barihunk Markus Werba

Brits were greatly disappointed last April when Iceland's ash cloud caused the cancellation of Austrian barihunk Markus Werba's Wigmore Hall BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert. The program of Schubert and Brahms lieder with accompanist Gary Matthewman finally was heard the other night and is now available for free on BBC radio for Werba fans across the globe to hear.

You can click HERE to listen to the recital, which starts at about the 3:00 mark.

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