Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Marco Vratogna and Douglas Williams
Puccini operas aren't known for great baritone roles, like Verdi or Wagner, and certainly not a lot of great barihunk roles. Gianni Schicchi is a dying old man, Michele is an old barge operator, Jack Rance is the law and order town sheriff with his eye on the girl, Scarpia is usually played as a lecherous old police chief and The Bonze is usually a despicable old relative.
The only Puccini opera where we regularly get one and sometimes two barihunks is La bohème where the young Parisians often include a sexy Marcello and lower-voice Colline. So imagine our delight when we learned that the online broadcast of the composer's Tosca would include the barihunk trio of Marco Vratogna as Scarpia, Alexander Tsymbalyuk as Cesare Angelotti and Douglas Williams as Sciarrone. We've always liked the idea of a younger Scarpia, as it adds some sexual tension to the Act II "seduction" scene with Tosca.
The trio will join Kristine Opolais as Tosca and Marcelo Alvarez as Mario Cavaradossi for the Berlin Philharmonic's fifth visit to the Easter Festival of the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.
Bass-barihunk Douglas Williams portrays the villainous Kyoto in Mascagni's opera Iris with Bard Summerscape at the Fisher Center. He's joined by soprano Talise Trevigne as the vulnerable Iris, Matt Boehler (who has appeared on this site) as Il Cieco and tenor Gerard Schneider as the fickle Osaka.
Williams has previously collaborated with Iris director James Darrah on Agrippina for Opera Omaha, which we wrote about in 2014 for having the "Hottest Cast in Opera." He has also worked with Darrah on Jonathan Dove’s monodrama, The Other Euridice for Bay Chamber Concerts. On August 21, he'll perform Escamillo with the director at the Rockport Opera House in the Bizet/Brooks version of La tragédie de Carmen.
Composed by Puccini’s friend Pietro Mascagni, who composed the better known opera Cavalleria rusticana, Iris
debuted in Rome in 1898, ushering in a wave of fin-de-siècle exotic
opera. Mascagni’s dreamlike score provides the backdrop for Luigi
Illica’s haunting libretto recounting the tragic story of Iris, an
innocent young girl tricked into abandoning her elderly blind father and
lured to a brothel in Tokyo’s notorious red-light district.
Remaining performances on July 27, 29 and 31. Tickets are available online.
On August 25, Williams will sing Scarlatti's La Gloria di Primavera with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and conductor Nicholas McGegan at Tanglewood. On September 17 and 18, he makes his Mozart debut as Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with the Milwaukee Symphony and conductor Edo de Waart. He'll be joined by fellow barihunk Gordon Bintner as Count Almaviva. Tickets are available online.
Sasha Waltz's Dido & Aeneas(left)& Douglas Williams
Choreographer Sasha Waltz is bringing her provocative and entertaining work back to opera when she takes on Monteverdi's Orfeo with the Dutch National Opera. Waltz had great success with Purcell's Dido & Aeneas in 2005 and 2011 with her brilliant combination of dancers and opera singers.
Orfeo promises to have a lot of singing and dancing and the cast is lead by one of the most popular barihunks on our site, Douglas Williams. Williams has made a specialty of baroque music, singing Orcone in Alessandro Scarlatti’s Tigrane, Purcell's Apollo e Dafne, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Purcell’s King Arthur.
We can't imagine a singer better suited to a Sasha Waltz production. Performances are on September 3, 5 and 6 and tickets are available online.
Perhaps the best looking cast currently assembled for any opera performance worldwide is in Omaha. The Nebraska company is located about seven hours from the nearest major opera company in Chicago, but that hasn't stopped them from creating some major buzz in the opera world. The cast of their upcoming performances of Handel's Agrippina includes not only some of the best young baroque singers in the world today, but some of the best looking singers across the entire range of voices.
Agrippina, written in 1710, is considered Handel's first operatic masterpiece and a surprising comic gem. The Opera Omaha production premieres an original edition of the opera prepared by conductor and early music specialist Stephen Stubbs.
Agrippina cast: Hadleigh Adams, Peabody Southwell, Nathan Medley, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Jennifer Rivera, Zachary Wilder and Douglas Williams(left to right)
There are two bass-baritone roles in the opera, the larger role of Claudio the emperor and Pallante, one of two men that Agrippina pledges to marry. Both roles are being sung by two of the sexiest men in opera.
Claudio is sung by former model and rising superstar Hadleigh Adams. He established himself as a Handel singer to be reckoned with at the 2012 Merola Grand Finale when he performed “Somnus awake! ... Leave me
loathsome light … More sweet is that name” from Handel's Semele with
Suzanne Rigden and Erin Johnson. Later that year, Adams wowed critics and audiences in another early music piece when he portrayed Pollux in Rameu's Castor & Pollux with Pinchgut Opera in Australia. He also showed off some seriously gym-toned arms [see below].
Since his debut with the Boston Early Music Festival in 2003, Doug Williams has gone on to establish himself as one of the most compelling low voices in early music. The Omaha production reunites him with conductor Stephen Stubbs, who led him in performances of Monteverdi’sIl Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria in Seattle with the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa.
His list of successful early music performances includes Purcell’s King Arthur with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato with Tafelmusik, Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Polyphemus in Handel's Acis and Galatea and Jesus in the recoring of Bach’s Johannes-Passion with the Yale Schola Cantorum. He can also be heard on the recording of Lully’s Psyché with the Boston Early Music Festival, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording of 2008.
The remainder of the cast includes the brilliant and gorgeous young mezzo Jennifer Rivera as Nerone, who is married to the prematurely retired barihunk Michael Rice. She'll be joined by Nathan Medley as Ottone, Zachary Wilder as Narciso, Jamie-Rose Guarrine as Poppea and Peabody Southwell in the title role of Agrippina. Performances are February 14 and 16 and tickets are available online.
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 Hallandtickets 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.
We saw a dramatic uptick in traffic to our site yesterday with a sudden interest in posts from 2009 and 2010. We figured out pretty quickly that we must have been featured somewhere only to learn that we were a prominent part of BuzzFeed's "33 Opera Hunks Who Need To Serenade You Right Now." We have to say that they did a remarkable job of picking out 30+ of the steamiest, sexiest and most talented acoustic singing hunks on the planet.
Barihunks included are Matthew Worth, Randal Turner, Zachary Gordin, Ramin Karimloo, Duncan Rock, Philippe Sly, Chris Herbert, Hadleigh Adams, Beltran Iraburu, Tim McDevitt, Douglas Williams, Gordon Bintner, Mariusz Kwiecien, Erwin Schrott, Vasil Garvanliev, Nathan Gunn, David Adam Moore, Adrian Kramer, Matthew Morris, Jerome Vernier, Tom Corbeil, Kelly Markgraf, Jason Hardy, Donovan Singletary, John Brandon and Simon Keenlyside.
Do the math and it comes out to 78% baritones. That seems about right in our eyes.
Congratulations guys! Who says that sexy men don't increase the interest in opera? You got the coveted "WIN" button on BuzzFeed.
Also keep your eye out for a Barihunks feature in a major New York publication coming out this week.
The Boston Herald is running a feature on Barihunks in today's paper. The article focuses on three singers from the region: Douglas Williams, David McFerrin and Andrew Garland. We particularly like their subheader, "Verdi Verdi Hot." You can read the entire article on their website.
The Herald also featured the following photo of Douglas Williams that somehow escaped us.
Timothy McDevitt (L), Michael Kelly (C) and Douglas Williams (R)
The barihunk hotness continues at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where they just wrapped up "Prima Donna" with Randal Turner. The latest production is Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts with three barihunks!!! The Mark Morris Dance Group production of Four Saints in Three Acts will feature barihunks Michael Kelly as St. Ignatius, Tim McDevitt as St. Plan, and Doug Williams as Compere. The opera will be paired with the world premiere of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy.
There are only three performances between March 1-3 and there is limited ticket availability. Visit the BAM website for tickets.
Video from the 2006 production of Four Saints in Three Acts:
At Barihunks, we find baritones to be sexy and seductive, like Douglas Williams. Could a face like this be a villain?
The beautiful, funny and gifted mezzo-soprano Kate Jackman penned a list of the "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains" for the wonderful blog Operagasm. Of course any list about villains will invariably include some baritones, as many composers consider it the perfect voice for devils, killers, rapists and evil husbands. In fact, six of her ten villains are baritones or basses. (For the record, we think the baritone voice is sexy, sultry, seductive and virile).
Falk Struckmann as Kaspar in Vienna
Her baritone and bass villains include Kaspar from Der Freischutz, of whom she writes:
I get it. You don’t want to go to hell. Understandable.
But tricking some poor, love-sick sap into shooting his beloved Agathe, just so you can get three more miserable years on Earth seems excessive. And how did that plan work out for you? She’s alive, everyone else is happy, and you are burning in a fiery pit for all eternity. Good game.
Barihunk Kyle Ketelsen as Nick Shadow in London
Nick Shadow from The Rake's Progress:
The Shadow Master. The Puppeteer. You pull the strings of poor, feckless Tom. You give him money, loose women, a bearded wife (that’s right, BEARDED), and a magic bread maker, and in doing so make him penniless, loveless, hopeless, and eventually lifeless (as in DEAD). You evoke ruin, disaster, and shame from the second you appear until the instant you sink back into the depths of Hades. You, sir, are a scoundrel.
Barihunk Marco Vratogna as Iago with Carlo Ventre as Otello in Frankfurt
Iago from Otello:
Much like the same-named, cartoon parrot in Disney’s Aladdin, you perch on Otello’s shoulder and spew deceit.
I get that you hate Otello and want him to suffer, but was it really worth going through this whole elaborate plan? Couldn’t you just off the guy and be done with it? And, honestly, what did Desdemona ever do to you? Why does she have to be collateral damage? You had to know that you were not going to walk away from this without facing the consequences.
But you didn’t care, did you? You are just a hateful little worm, aren’t you?
Stephen Costello as Faust) with barihunk Greer Grimsley asMéphistophélès in San Diego
Mephistopheles from Faust:
ATTENTION TENORS: OMG DO NOT ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL!
Really, just don’t even talk to him. It’s not worth it and you will regret it in the long haul.
Take the story of Faust as a cautionary tale: He’s old; he has a lot of regrets. Suddenly, Mephistopheles appears and promises to make him young and virile in exchange for his soul. Stupid Faust agrees, and four acts later he is being dragged down into perdition.
Mephistopheles is just about as bad and scary as they come. Watch the Church Scene in the middle of the night and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Lado Ataneli as Barnaba and Violeta Urmana as Gioconda in the stunning Pizzi production
Barnaba from La Gioconda:
Gentlemen, take note. When a lady tells you she is not interested in your advances, you should: a) Move on. Fish in the sea blah blah blah
OR
b) Attempt to woo her with the standard flattery, flowers, dinner, etc. She may eventually develop romantic feelings for you.
When a lady tells you she is not interested, you should NOT:
a) Denounce her blind, elderly mother as a witch in front of the entire town.
b) Drown said elderly mother in the Venetian canals.
Your lady will not love you for it and may just stab herself in the gut to get away from you.
And her #1 evil villain is, of course, Scarpia (who we have actually found to be quite sexy in some productions, which adds a whole different element to the seduction scene):
María José Siri as Tosca and Claudio Sgura as Scarpia at the Savonlinna Festival
Scarpia from Tosca Congratulations, Scarpia. You are the nastiest of the nasty characters in Opera.
Nobody likes you. Everyone was happy to see you die.
Why?
Well, let’s recap: You arrested a painter and had him tortured where his lover, a singer, could hear his screams. You then attempted to seduce the singer, like she’d be in any kind of mood for nookie when her lover is being tortured in the next room… and she could hear
his screams. You made her promise to give herself to you in exchange for his life, and then had him executed anyway.
Seriously, dude. If anyone deserved to get stabbed in the chest by a vengeful soprano, it’s you.
Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com. We LOVE hearing from you!
Barihunks Michael Kelly & Douglas Williams (L); Douglas Williams behind tenor Aaron Sheehan (R) - photos by Kathy Wittman
If you like your barihunks like your redwood trees, which is tall and awe-inspiring, then head to the Boston Early Music Festival. The group is performing Charpentier's glorious Orphée with three statuesque barihunks, Michael Kelly at 6'2", Douglas Williams at 6'4" and Olivier Laquerre at 6'7". [By the way, we featured two post on who might be the world's tallest barihunk, which you can read HERE and HERE].
The opera tells the famous story of Orphée who decends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.
There will be two performances of the opera at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday evening, November 26th and Sunday afternoon, November 27th. The Boston Early Music Festival not only features singers who are easy on the eyes, but they produce some of the most wonderful baroque opera to listen to in the world. You can click HERE to watch one of our favorite singers, Jesse Blumberg, perform Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe.
Douglas Williams is also part of our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. He's our July feature of "All-American Boys" along with Jonathan Boehr and Christopher Temporelli. You won't want to miss it! Shopping season is officially kicking off tomorrow so order your calendar today by clicking HERE. Please remember that all proceeds are going to benefit young artist programs.
Michael Kelly was supposed to be part of the calendar, but a reprinting error inadvertently left him out. We promise to feature plenty of this gifted young singer in 2012!. You can watch Kelly's recital from the Trinity Wall Street Church, which we featured earlier this year, by clicking HERE.
If you know of a barihunk singing in Handel's Messiah this year, please email us the information at Barihunks@gmail.com.
An astute reader and attendee of the Boston Early Music Festival pointed out to us that Jesse Blumberg isn't the only barihunk performing at the festival. Douglas Williams, who has also appeared on this site before, is singing Polyphemus in Handel's "Acis and Galatea."
Michael Kelley
Also appearing in the cast is Michael Kelly as Coridon. If you've needed an excuse to experience baroque opera, what more do you need than Jesse Blumberg, Douglas Williams and Michael Kelly? There are performances on June 18, 26 and 27. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
Click HERE to watch Michael Kelly perform Schubert's Winterreise.
There aren't many professional opera singers who trained as Shakespearean actors that we know of, but Douglas Williams is one of them. The early music specialist trained as an actor with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. He received his musical training at he New England Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
He is currently performing the role of Laurence in Gretry's Le Magnifique with Opera Lafayette. There is one remaining performance on Wednesday, February 9th at the Rose Theater in New York City. Click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
In 2010, Williams made his European solo debut with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyrique in Purcell’s King Arthur at Cité de la Musique, Paris. He can be heard on the recording of Lully’s Psyché, with the Boston Early Music Festival, nominated for a Grammy for best opera recording in 2008.
Enjoy this video of him taken from the Carmel Bach Festival blog where he discusses Bach, his first encounters with music, other music he enjoys and his future plans. You can also listen to audio clips HERE.
