The Dilemma over Crossover Barihunks

Nicky Wuchinger (left) and Jan-Philipp Rekeszus (right)

We're usually pretty clear about our mission at Barihunks, which is to promote baritones (down to bass) who take great care of their voices as well as their bodies. Generally, that has meant operatic baritones, but occasionally those lines get blurred. Take the cases of Ramin Karimloo, Doug Carpenter and Seph Stanek, three of the most popular singers to have appeared on this site. All three were trained as operatic baritones, but both have crossed over into other genres.

Paulo Szot, Seph Stanke and Doug Carpenter

Ramin Karimloo has gone on to be one of the most heralded singers to perform Jean Valjean in Les Mirerables and the title character in Phantom of the Opera. Seph Stanek, who studied classical voice at Furman University and the L'Accademia dell'Arte, went on to have a career as part of the crossover group Figaro, sang on tour with the Twelve Tenors and even starred in Naked Boys Singing! Then there's the case of Paulo Szot, one of opera's biggest stars, who is probably best known for singing Emile De Beque in South Pacific, taking home a Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award the Outer Critic’s Circle Award and the Theater World Award.

That brings us to Jan-Philipp Rekeszus and Nicky Wuchinger, two German singers with operatic pedigree who are making their mark in operetta and musical theater. Wuchinger was a finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition when fellow barihunk Doug Carpenter took away the top prize. Carpenter has also successfully "crossed over" starring in the national tour of Dirty Dancing.

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Rekeszus and Wuchinger are mentioned in a new article by Kevin Clarke entitled "Eyes Wide Open: A New Generation of Operetta Superstars?." He even refers to Rekeszus as a barihunk, although upon listening to the two singers we'd be compelled to call them bari-tenors, much like Karimloo. Clark imagines Rekeszus as ideal for Wiener Blut or The Merry Widow, and points out the Wuchinger was hired to sing in Eduard Künneke’s operetta Der Vetter aus Dingsda.

Wuchinger and Rekeszus bothe studied voice at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. Wuchinger went on to embark on a successful career singing in Cats, The Who's Tommy, Phantom of the Opera and Hairspray. Rekeszus has made his mark performing in Hair and Bye, Bye, Birdie.

We'd love your thoughts on us featuring crossover artists on the site. However, if our statistics are any indication, we think that we know the answer, as posts about Karimloo, Stanek and Carpenter remain some of the most trafficked on the site.  Feel free to email us at Barihunks@gmail.com or leave a comment below. 

Photos from Erwin Schrott at 54 Below

Erwin Schrott at 54 Below Photo: Matt Madison-Clark

We covered Erwin Schrott's debut performance at New York City's nightclub 54 Below in a previous post, but now we have actual photos from the show. The evening of music from his award-winning CD "Rojotango" proved to be quite a hit, as there wasn't an empty seat in the house to see and hear the hunky Uruguayan barihunk. Schrott was accompanied by the Pablo Ziegler Quartet. 

Erwin Schrott and bass player Pedro Giraudo Photo: Matt Madison-Clark

54 Below, which has been hosting the best of Broadway, is now hosting the best from the world of Opera. It appears to have caught on and regular readers will recall that barihunks Ildar Abradzakov and Dmitry Hvorostovsky showed up along with Schrott for tenor Charles Castronovo's show.  Next up from the world of opera is soprano Patricia Racette, who performs for five nights opening on March 26th. Tickets are available online. 

Schrott can be seen tonight and Saturday at the Metropolitan Opera where is he is singing Dulcamara opposite the Belcore of fellow barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. Schrott's real life wife, Anna Netrebko, is Adina. Tickets are still available.

If you can't make the concerts, Racette and Castronovo, both have CD's available at GPR Records that include much of the music from their shows. Also, available is the new CD "American Portraits" from the gifted BARIHUNK tee shirt model Andrew Garland (look to your right). Keep your fingers crossed and maybe he'll be the next opera singer booked in to the club.

Reader Submission: Jason Forbach

Jason Forbach

We've said it so many times, but it bears repeating: We love our reader submissions of new talent. We still seem to remind people that this site is dedicated to baritones, bass-baritones and basses. In January, we received four tenor submissions, four countertenor submissions, two directors and a mezzo soprano!

Our latest submissions come from the United States where a reader saw Jason Forbach on stage.

Jason Forbach is a former Metropolitan Opera National Council regional semifinalist, who has been perfoming the role of Enjorlas in the national tour of the 25th Anniversary production of "Les Miserables." Previously he appeared in a Las Vegas production of "The Phantom of the Opera."

Jason Forbach sings Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere":

Forbach was classically trained in opera as a lyric baritone and performed at The New York Festival of Song tribute to Hal Prince at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. He has also performed with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, Abilene Philharmonic and Boston Lyric Opera. He holds a bachelor's degree in vocal performance from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master's in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston.

Jason Forbach

Forbach was also an apprentice artist with the Central City Opera and studied with John Moriarty.  He was named the Spencer Penrose Artist for 2003.

He recently self-produced his first solo album, "A New Leading Man" and a collection featuring his songwriting debut, "Remembering To Dream."