Huw Montague Rendall to make role debut as Count Almaviva

Huw Montague Rendall

British barihunk Huw Montague Rendall will be making his role debut as Count Almaviva in Mozart's the Marriage of Figaro at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, France.

Performing Figaro will be 25-year-old Russian bass-barihunk Mikhail Timoshenko, who won the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in September. The cast also includes Adriana Gonzalez as the Countess, Lilian Farahani as Susanna, Giuseppina Bridelli as Cherubino and Ugo Guagliardo as Bartolo.

Performances are on January 31 and February 2, 4, 7 and 9. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

 Huw Montague Rendall performs Mahler:

He will also be performing a recital on February 11th at Salle Poirel à Nancy accompanied by Ensemble Stanislas and Hélio Vida on the piano. The program will feature French and English songs. Tickets are available online.

This summer, Rendall will perform Marcello in Puccini's La bohème at the Komische Oper.

Introducing Welsh bass-barihunk (and harpist) John Ieuan Jones

John Ieuan Jones (photos by Sarah Foubert)

John Ieuan Jones, who hails Rhos-on-Sea in North Wales, is new to our site and was suggested by a colleague at the Royal Northern College of Music, where the Welsh barihunk is in his fourth year. Jones will be performing  Count Almaviva from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in operatic scenes presented at the Royal Northern College of Music Opera Theatre on January 26th. Admission is free and no tickets are required.

Jones won the James Martin Oncken Song Prize in 2015 and received 2nd place in the Musical Theatre category at the Urdd National Eisteddfod in 2015 and 2016.

 John Ieuan Jones sings "If I were a rich man" in Welsh:

In 2015, he performed the role of Harry Easter in the Royal Northern College of Music's production of Kurt Weill's Street Scene. In 2016, he took on the role of Lord Ellington in his school's production of Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne. He also performs musical theater, having sung Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicoloured Dreamcoat and the role of Charles Clarke in Titanic: The Musical.

John Ieuan Jones

Additional upcoming performances include the bass soloist at Manchester Welsh Society's annual St.David's Day concert on February 24 and as the bass soloist in Gounod's St Cecilia Mass at Chester Cathedral on May 19th.

Jones is also a harpist, who has performed at the Welsh Rally Championship, Welsh Youth Excellence Awards and Conwy Business Awards.

Barihunk duo alternating Count Almaviva's at Bolshoi

Konstantin Shushakov (left) and Andrei Jilihovschi (right)

We have "Barihunk scouts" on three continents who keep us well apprised of singers and productions worldwide, but we rarely get messages from Russia even though we get a lot of traffic from the country. So we were pretty thrilled to receive a message from a fan in Moscow letting us know about the barihunk duo alternating Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Bolshoi Theater. 

We originally featured Konstantin Shushakov back in 2011 when he took 2nd place at Operalia, but Andrei Jilihovschi is new to us. 

Shushakov was born in Udmurtia, Russia and began his vocal studies at Izhevsk Music College before moving on to the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art. He has been a regular at the Bolshoi Theatre since 2011, where he's been critically acclaimed as Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades. In the 2012-13 season he made his debut in the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Maribor Opera. Last season, he appeared as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte at La Scala in Milan. 

Shushakov appears as the Count on September 16, 18 and 20. 

30-year-old Andrei Jilihovschi was born in Moldova and completed his studies in choral conducting at the Ştefan Neaga Music College in the capital city of Chisinau. During his time at school he also studied singing in the opera studio and then continued his studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatoire where he sang he title role in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

 

From 2010-2012, he was a soloist with the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg where he appeared as Belcore in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore, Schaunard in Puccini's La Boheme, Robert in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, the Prince in Asafiev’s Cinderella, Silvano in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, Baron Douphol in Verdi's La Traviata and Dancairo in Bizet's Carmen.

In October 2012 he joined the Bolshoi Theatre Young Artist Program and become a member of the Bolshoi ensemble two years later. He will be singing Dancaïro in Bizet's Carmen with the company from September 4-9.  Next year, he makes his debut at the Opéra National de Paris as Robert in Tchaikovsky's Iolanata.

He appears as the Count on September 17 and 19.

Watch Luca Pisaroni live from Vienna

Luca Pisaroni as Count Almaviva

The Vienna State Opera's live streaming opera service will be presenting Luca Pisaroni in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro on February 25th at 5:30 PM CET/11:30 AM EST/8:30 AM PST). The service requires a log-in and the first seven days are free. On demand operas will cost €14.00 ($17.40) for a single opera with subscriptions available. The service also includes the option to view multilingual subtitles and to follow along with the score.

The cast also includes  Adam Plachetka as Figaro, Olga Bezsmertna as the Countess and Anita Hertig as Susanna.

The Vienna State Opera produces more than 40 live broadcasts annually, and is making nearly all of its 2014-15 season productions available in Ultra HD via the Internet, smart TVs and mobile devices. Click HERE to start watching now.

Pisaroni returns to the U.S. early in the new year, with a performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in January with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas. He then heads to the Met in February for a run as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Peter Mattei sings the title role.

Don't forget to order your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar before the busy shopping season begins.

Craig Verm in the 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar

Introducing Davide Luciano; Starring in Teatro Real's Marriage of Figaro

Davide Luciano preparing for Le nozze di Figaro

We thought that you might enjoy seeing how Davide Luciano is preparing for his upcoming role as Figaro in Teatro Real's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. The opera is kicking off their new season on September 15th and includes two casts. Other upcoming operas include Donizetti's La fille du Régiment, a double-bill of Goyescas and Gianni Schicchi, and Britten's Death in Venice.

Davide Luciano will be paired with the Count Almaviva of Andrey Bondarenko, while the other cast features barihunk Luca Pisaroni as Almaviva and Andreas Wolf as Figaro.

Davide Luciano, was born in Benevento, Italy to a family of musicians. Before taking up singing, he played piano, percussion, bass and classical guitar. When he was 19 he began studying voice with the baritone Gioacchino Zarrelli.

Davide Luciano

Five  years later, he won his first competition and was awarded "Best New Artist" at the Associazione Lirica e Concertistica Italiana. He subsequently made ​​his debut as Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at Opera domani, followed by his debut at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro as Don Profondo in Rossini's comic masterpiece Il viaggio a Reims under the baton of Alberto Zedda. He won first prize and the audience prize at the Premio internazionale di canto lirico Santa Chiara in Naples. 


After singing Figaro, he heads to Sāo Paolo, Brazil to sing Silvio in Pagliacci. He then returns to his home base at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where he will perform Nottingham in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, Ping in Puccini's Turandot, Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Reader Submission: Martijn Cornet

Martijn Cornet

Dutch barihunk Martijn Cornet will be performing the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany opening on March 16th. He was suggested by a reader after we ran our piece about the Dutch National Opera, where he has performed Patrocle in Gluck's Iphigenie en Aulide, Citheron in Rameau’s Platee and one of the Walvisvaarders in Legende by dutch composer Peter-Jan Wagemans.

Martijn Cornet sings "Tonight at Eight" from She Loves Me:

He joined the Aalto Theatre this season and just wrapped up a run as Johann in Massenet's Werther. In addition to additional performances of Werther around Christmas, he will be performing Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Baron Douphol in Verdi's La traviata.

Tickets for performances at the Aalto Theatre are available online.

Zachary Gordin takes Count Almaviva to the Farm Country

Zachary Gordin as he appears in the 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar

Visalia, California may be the least likely place to find great opera, and perhaps an even more unikely place to find one of the hottest barihunks in the business today. The city of 125,000 people sits in the heart of California's agricultural region and is known as the Gateway to the Sequoias, as it sits just 36 miles west of Sequoia National Park. 

We've always maintained that some of the most interesting opera happens off of the beaten path, where smaller, more agile companies are willing to take risks that often pay great rewards. The nascent Visalia Opera Company is just such a company. They've brought in Zachary Gordin to portray Count Almaviva in their upcoming production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, which runs from November 8-10. They've even taken to Twitter (@VisaliaOpera) to promote his appearance on Barihunks. Apparently farm country ain't what it used to be.

Gordin, who is also a well-respected vocal coach in the San Francisco Bay Area, will also conduct a master class in voice on Tuesday, November 5th from 3:10-4:20pm. Gordin will work with selected students from the music program and coach them on their specific arias. This workshop is free and the public is welcome to attend.

Tickets for Le Nozze di Figaro are only $25 for adults and $15 for students. They can be purchased online.

You can enjoy Zachary Gordin all year around in our new 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. It's also a great way to support young artists. This year, we're letting readers tell us who should get the money. Post your suggestions on our Facebook timeline or tweet us using #Barihunks2014. Click HERE to purchase yours today.

Introducing Theo Hoffman

Theo Hoffman (Photo by Liv Hoffman)

We originally noticed native New Yorker Theo Hoffman when someone pointed him out as a member of the 2013 Gerdine Young Artists at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Next season, the young singer will be returning to the riverfront city to cover Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and performing in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.

He is currently working on in his undergraduate studies at Juilliard with the great baritone Sanford Sylvan. He will be performing Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze do Figaro at Julliard in November and then perform a recital in Spring 2014. We will provide readers additional information closer to the performance dates.

"Tu se' morta" from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Charles Ives' "Tom Sails Away"

Last season,  Hoffman made his Juilliard Opera debut as Lunardo in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Le donne curiose. This summer, he covered Major General Stanley in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance and Tomeš  in Smetana's The Kiss for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

In 2013, as a  SongFest Stern Fellow, he performed John Musto’s The Brief Light at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, where he also performed Ravel’s famous Don Quichotte a Dulcinée with famed accompanist Martin Katz.. He appeared in recital as part of Juilliard’s Songbook series, Schubert & Co, as well as at the Bruno Walter Auditorium in Lincoln Center, the Chautauqua Institution, the Eastman School of Music, and Juilliard Pre-College.

Barihunks Galore available for viewing at Arte Live Web

Giorgio Caoduro

Director Olivier Py's sexy production of Bizet's Carmen is currently available in its entirety at Arte Live Web. The production stars Giorgio Caoduro as Escamillo and it's not to be missed!

If Carmen's not your cup of tea or if one barihunk isn't sufficient to whet your appetite, then check out Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with Paolo Szot as Count Almaviva and Kyle Ketelsen as Figaro. (The production also features the amazing Cherubino of Kate Lindsey).

Paolo Szot & Kyle Ketelsen

Both operas will be available for free for about the next six month. For your convenience, we've posted them both on Barihunks for your viewing pleasure.

In an unrelated matter, we're taking submissions for our 2nd Annual Barihunks Charity Calendar. Send pictures (with appropriate permissions) to Barihunks@gmail.com.

Okulitch's Returns to Los Angeles

Since we're on a Mozart kick, check out the barihunk laden cast coming to Southern California.

The Los Angeles Opera is presenting seven performances of "The Marriage of Figaro" with one of this sites most popular barihunks, Daniel Okulitch. The Canadian returns to Los Angeles as Figaro after he created a sensation as Seth Brundle in "The Fly," where he appeared totally nude on stage.

They've also cast Danish barihunk Bo Skovhus as Count Almaviva, who just wrapped up a critically acclaimed performance as Don Giovanni opposite the Leporello of Kyle Ketelsen at Aix-en-Provence.

Figaro returns to the L.A. Opera after two successful runs in 2004 and 2006. Performances run from September 26 through October 17.

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