Quirijn de Lang as Sam in Trouble in Tahiti(Image courtesy Opera North)
You can watch Dutch barihunk Quirijn de Lang in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti with Opera North on OperaVision from August 25-September 11. He will be joined by the Canadian mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta as the other half of the argumentative couple.
Bernstein wrote the libretto and music for Trouble in Tahiti and directed and conducted the premiere himself in June 1952 at the University of Brandeis, Massachusetts. Eager to make his one-act satirical opera seem as realistic as possible, Bernstein set it in the aftermath of World War II, a time when consumerism was spreading through society. His work had a number of autobiographical references and the male protagonist, Sam, shares his name with Bernstein’s father who left Russia to find the 'American Dream'.
The opera opens with a jingle performed by a musical trio who sing into the microphone of a recording studio. Bernstein wanted this trio to "never stop smiling". The jazz rhythms evoke the radio commercials of the time and the trio is reminiscent of an ancient Greek choir that satirically comments on the story.
Quirijn de Lang will be performing Danilo in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow with Opera North beginning on September 29th and running through November 17th.
Wallis Giunta and Quirijn de Lang in Trouble in Tahiti
The U.K.'s Opera North is presenting a new series dubbed "Little Greats," which are six operas that run about an hour each and are presented as a double-bill. To entice new opera attendees, tickets start for as little as £10. The series will include Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, Janáček's Osud, Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti and Gilbert & Sullivan's Trial by Jury and will run from September 16 to October 21.
Dutch barihunk Quirijn de Lang will be featured in both L'enfant et les sortilèges as the Grandather Clock and Tom Cat and in Trouble in Tahiti as Sam, one half of a bickering married couple.
Quirijn de Lang
The operas will be performed in Leeds starting on September 16, Kingston starting on October 26, Nottingham starting on November 1, Newcastle starting on November 8 and Salford Quays starting on November 15. Ticket information is available online.
Quirijn de Lang can currently be seen as Selim in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia at the Garsington Opera through July 15. On July 29, he'll be featured in "A Night at the Opera," a concert with full orchestra with Opera North featuring soprano Jeni Bern.
Dutch barihunk Robert Brouwer, who is featured in January in the 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar, will be singing Handel's Messiah on Sunday, November 6th in Texel (pronounced Tessel) in The Netherlands. He'll be joined by the Amici Cantus Choir along with soloists soprano Paulien van der Werff, contralto Anne-Marieke Evers and tenor Adrian Fernandes. Tickets are available online.
Brouwer began singing at age 10 with the Koorschool Noord Nederland and a year later with the Roder Jongenskoor. He sang boy soloist roles, including the Third Boy in Mozart's The Magic Flute with the Nationale Reisoper under Ton Koopman. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and continued his studies at the Utrecht School of the Arts, pursuing a Master of Music classical singing. He made his debut in 2011 as Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Opera Mosset.
You can enjoy Robert Brouwer in our new calendar along with dozens of other hot barihunks! Order yours today!
They only time that Wiard Witholt has appeared on Barihunks was in 2010 when we were trying to figure out who the tallest barihunk was in the world. The Cardiff Singer of the World Competition listed him at 6' 7½" which is a little over 2 meters tall, making him the second tallest after Olivier Laquerre (but the tallest to ever compete at Cardiff).
He's now performing the title role in Czech composer Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis at the Nederlandse Reisopera from May 4-13 in Amsterdam, Enschede, Apeldoorn, Maastricht and Leiden. The Netherlands Opera presented the world premiere of the opera December
16, 1975, at the Bellevue Centre in Amsterdam. The opera was performed
at Theresienstadt on May 25, 1991, fifty-one years after the initial
rehearsal.The opera has had numerous performances worldwide in recent years, including in Kassel, Long Beach, Hamburg, Linz, Boston, Lyon, Vienna, Dijon and a U.K. tour. Other upcoming performances will be in Madrid with Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester and in Vienna with Matteo Loi.
Wiard Witholt studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the New Opera Academy in Amsterdam, graduating in 2005. In 2008, he made his debut at the Royal Theatre La Monnaie Brussels as Le Berger in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. In the 2009-10 season, he became a full-time member of the Opera House in Dessau. He created Schemariah, the principal character in Hiob, Erich Zeisl's opera based on the novel by Joseph Roth. Last season he sang the Messanger in the world première of Pascal Dusapin's Penthesilea at the Royal Theatre La Monnaie and Dusapin's Passion at the Sydney Festival 2016.
Viktor Ullman and his librettist Peter Kien wrote Der Kaiser von Atlantis while interned at
the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt (Terezín) around 1943. The
opera received a rehearsal at Theresienstadt in March 1944, but the Nazi
authorities interpreted the work's depiction of the character Kaiser
Overall as a satire on Adolf Hitler and did not allow a performance.
Both of Viktor Ullmann's parents were from families of Jewish descent,
but had converted to Roman Catholicism before his birth. Ullmann
remained active musically at Theresienstadt, where he was a piano
accompanist, organized concerts, wrote critiques of musical events, and
composed, as part of a cultural circle including Karel Ančerl, Rafael
Schachter, Gideon Klein, Hans Krása, and other prominent musicians
imprisoned there. Both the composer and the librettist died in the
Auschwitz concentration camp.
The Netherlands Opera presented the world premiere of the opera December
16, 1975, at the Bellevue Centre in Amsterdam. The opera was performed
at Theresienstadt on May 25, 1991, fifty-one years after the initial
rehearsal.
Martijn Sanders (right two photos as Escamillo in Carmen)
Our site is disproportionately popular in the Netherlands and we have a loyal and devoted following there. A reader in Maastricht recently introduced us to the innovative Dutch company, Opera Zuid. The touring opera company has developed a reputation for its technical and theatrical innovation.
They recently brought in the acclaimed Dutch theater performers Leopold Witte and Geert Lageveen to re-imagine Bizet'sCarmen in a more modern setting. The duo updated the story about love and jealousy to the 1960s counterculture, where the Gypsies are hippies, the tobacco factory girls are smoking cannabis and there are clashes with the police. The Sixties theme of "Make Love Not War!" permeates the production.
Rubèn Plantinga
The production also features two barihunks, one who is new to the site and one who we haven't featured in way too long. We first introduced Dutch barihunk Martijn Sanders to readers in 2007, which was back in the nascent days of our site. We went on to feature him as Don Giovanni later that year and again as Escamillo in 2011. He takes on the role of Escamillo in this production. Morales will be performed by Rubèn Plantinga, who we are introducing to readers for the first time.
Sanders studied at the Utrecht conservatory, before continuing his studies in Vienna. He went on to join the young artist program at the Amsterdam Operastudio. After winning the first prize at the Nico Dostal singing competition, he made his debut as Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute during the Vienna Mozart week in the Theater Schönbrunn and as Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Rheinsberg festival. In November 2010, Sanders performed the baritone solo in Rachmaninov's The Bells at the ‘Prince Claus” concert in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Rubèn Plantinga singing Schumann's "Ich will meine Seele tauchen" at a masterclass:
23-year-old Rubèn Plantinga, who is new to this site, sings the role of Morales. He first hit the stage at the age of 12 in Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical “The Sound of Music” produced by Dutch media tycoon Joop van den Ende. In 2010 and 2011, he sang with the "Bach Choir of the Netherlands,” where he made his debut as a soloist in 2012 in a Dutch translation of Bach’s St. Matthew's Passion. His work brought him to the attention of Opera Zuid, where he has sung the role of Sciarrone in Puccini’s Tosca.
Plantinga is continuing his studies at the Classical Musictheater at Fontys Hogeschool in Tilburg and is part of the young artist program at the Dutch National Opera.
Performances of Carmen will be on tour in Venlo, Den Haag, Eindhoven, Hasselt and Sittard through December 14th
There are only three weeks left to purchase your 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. We are 40 calendars short of our goal to fully fund two projects featuring young artists, so order yours today...and spread the word.
Our goal at Barihunks is two-fold, to promote great low-voice singers, especially since baritones tend to get lost in the shadows of the tenor and soprano p.r. machines. We also believe in promoting singers who take care of their voices as well as their bodies. Not only is it good for a long, healthy career (i.e. - Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Rod Gilfry and Nathan Gunn), but it makes opera a more believable art form and it allows it to compete with the omnipresence of television, movies and online media.
There are few singers who we've been more excited about than the Dutch barihunk Henk Neven. When he shot onto the scene, we instantly compared him to a young Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for his ability to beautifully convey the nuances of an art song. We first featured him almost two years ago, long before he was receiving Gramophone magazine nominations for his great singing.
He's also our birthday feature for tomorrow, so we were thrilled when we learned that BBC3 was giving the public Henk Neven as a birthday gift. His French song recital with English soprano Geraldine McGreevy and accompanist Graham Johnson can be heard live at 7:30 PM London time (2:30 PM EST/11:30 AM PST).
The program from Wigmore Hall features music by Debussy, Faure, Satie, Roussel and the rarely-heard Andre Caplet. Faure's song 'Le plus doux chemin' is the inspiration for Graham
Johnson's latest series of themed recitals, exploring the tonal beauty,
vibrant imagery and sense of spontaneity that is French chanson.
Henk Neven is a former Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and also studied with Graham Johnson and his latest CD is an acclaimed recital of mostly French songs.
Henk Neven, who we recently introduced to American audiences, has been nominated for a presitigious Gramophone Award in the category of "Solo Vocal." Neven was nomintated for his recording of Carl Loewe's "Ballades" and Robert Schumann's Liederkreis with Hans Eijsackers on piano. The winners, including the prestigious Recording of the Year, will be unveiled on October 6 at London's Dorchester Hotel.
Other nominees in the category are:
Richard Rodney Bennett Songs with Sophie Daneman, Susan Bickley and Iain Burnside
Benjamin Britten's "Songs & Proverbs of William Blake" with Gerald Finley
George Butterworth's "A Shropshire Lad" and other songs with Roderick Williams
Richard Strauss lieder with Diana Damrau
Hugo Wolf's "Italienisches Liederbuch" with Christoph Prégardien
For a complete list of nominees visit the Gramophone website.
We were recently sent an email asking why we've never featured Henk Neven. We were certain that we had because we remembered preparing the post. However, when we checked it seemed like we forgot to post it. So we'd like to belatedly introduce you to this gifted Dutch barihunk.
Henk Neven studied with Maarten Koningsberger and Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam where he graduated cum laude in 2003. In winning the 2008 Fortis MeesPierson Award, the jury declared that "Neven has the potential to grow into a sensational artist". On April 16, 2011, Henk Neven received the Dutch Music Prize (Nederlandse Muziekprijs), presented by Judith van Kranendonk, a representative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Neven's new recording of Loewe & Schumann
In addition to lieder and oratorio Henk Neven has sung in many operas, performing such roles as Marco Gianni Schicchi, Don Giovanni and Leporello Don Giovanni, Count Le nozze di Figaro, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, Schaunard La boheme, Morales Carmen, Ben The Telephone and Mr. Gobineau The Medium (Menotti) and Mars Vénus et Adonis (Desmererst), Pollux Castor et Pollux and Frère Léon St. François d’Assise staged by Pierre Audi which was also recorded for DVD by Opus Arte (De Nederlandse Opera). He has appeared at the Opéra National de Paris, Staatsoper Berlin Unter den Linden, Le Duo de Dijon, Grand Théatre de Bordeaux, L’Opéra National de Montpellier, Grand Theatre de Tours, Opéra de Rouen and De Nederlandse Opera. In the Notre Dame in Paris he sung the role of Joseph in L’Enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, conducted by John Nelson.
Neven can next be heard on July 5th at the City of London Festival where he will be performing Brahms, Grainger and Britten.
Our "reader submissions" feature has been particularly popular with readers from Germany, the Netherlands and France. Our latest submission is the 34-year-old Dutch barihunk Thomas Oliemans, who we mentioned yesterday is about to open as Marcello in Puccini's "La Boheme" with the Nationale Reisoper.
His career has taken off in the last five years, with debuts at Salzburg in Schreker's "Die Gezeichneten," Papageno in Mozart´s "Die Zauberflöte" with the Opera of Nantes and Angers, and Guglielmo in Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte" in Geneva. Recent engagements have included Figaro in Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" at the Scottish Opera, Maximilan in Bernstein's "Candide" at the Vlaamse Opera, Harlequin in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Opera National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Tarquinius in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia" at the Vlaamse Opera.
Oliemans is increasingly in demand as a recording artist. He recorded songs by Francis Poulenc and Gabriel Fauré with pianist Malcolm Martineau, Schubert’s Winterreise and Schwanengesang, as well as songs by Frank Martin.
Here is Oliemans with pianist Malcolm Martineau recording Schuberts "Schwanengesang" in London last year.
Amazingly, we haven't featured Dutch barihunk Martijn Sanders since our initial post in 2007. To our eyes, he's only gotten more attractive and the voice richer.
Since we last featured Sanders, he sang his first Riccardo in I Puritani and worked with and performed Henri Dutilleux's Deux sonnets de Jean Cassou. He is also due to release his first recording, which will be songs from the Jugendstil period on Landor Records.
Here he is singing Escamillo from a July 2010 performance:
Our post about the tallest barihunk generated a lot of mail with people speculating about someone who might be taller than Olivier Laquerre. Some of the names sent to us were Thomas Hampson, Paul Whelan, Luca Dall'Amico, Kevin Thompson, Jérôme Varnier, Gregory Gerbrandt and Greer Grimsley. We're pretty confident that none of these singers are taller than Laquerre.
However, the most credible email we received asked about Dutch baritone Wiart Witholt. His website includes the following press tidbit:
Wiard Witholt from the Netherlands has the dubious honour of being the tallest competitor ever in Cardiff Singer. I have no idea how this is known, perhaps somewhere there is the equivalent of a police file kept on everyone, with a photo of each one holding up a number. Anyway Wiard is the tallest at 6' 7½" which I think is 2m, though it is late at night as I type this.
[Gregory Gerbrandt, Greer Grimsley & Kevin Thompson]
We've posted a fair sampling of Quirijn de Lang singing Handel on this site and here's a selection from Agrippina. De Lang has the perfect look for these Handel roles and he's a very engaged singer and actor, as well.
He will be performing the role of Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" with the Nationale Reisopera in the Netherlands in November.
