Vittorio Prato to make role and house debut in Hamburg

Vittorio Prato (Photo from artist's website)

Vittorio Prato will make both his role debut and house debut when he steps on the stage this week at the Hamburg State Opera.

He'll be singing the role of Lescaut in Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut, led by the stunning soprano Kristine Opolais in the title role and tenor Jorge de León as Des Grieux. Performance are on March 21 and 29 and tickets are available online.

Puccini's libretto is an amalgam of text by five different librettists whom Puccini employed, including the composer Ruggero Leoncavallo, as well as Marco Praga, Giuseppe Giacosa, Domenico Oliva and Luigi Illica. The opera was composed between 1890 and 1893 and is based on the 1731 novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost. It was the composer's third opera and his first big success.

Lucky Vixen chased by shirtless Lauri Vasar

Lauri Vasar in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen (Photo: Monika Rittershaus)

Whenever we post about Estonian barihunk Lauri Vasar he seems to be either shirtless or pantless. We've featured him as Billy Budd without his shirt and in Il Prigioniero without his shirt or pants. Vasar who has been incredibly popular with our readers also made our coveted "Barihunks Best of 2013" list along with Christopher Burchett for "Best Underwear Shots," one of our favorite categories.

Lauri Vasar from previous Barihunks posts

Vasar is shirtless again and in an opera that is known for showing more fur than skin, Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen (Das schlaue Füchslein. Vasar is playing the role of the Forester at the Hamburg State Opera, a character which was based on Janáček himself. At the heart of the story is a sexy and evasive Vixen who is pursued by the Forester.  The character of the vixen was inspired by a younger woman who Janáček was somewhat obsessed with in real life. 

We won't tell you how the opera ends, but if a shirtless Lauri Vasar was chasing us around, it would definitely have a happy ending. 

The Cunning Little Vixen, which opened yesterday, runs through April 5th and tickets are available online. 

Lauri Vasar as Billy Budd; Don Giovanni on the horizon

Lauri Vasar as Billy Budd

We think that one of our hottest posts was of Lauri Vasar in Luigi Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero. Vasar is definitely one of the hottest barihunks in the over 40 category and he consistently seems to perform in various states of undress. We thought about him again when a German fan of the site sent us this video of Vasar as Billy Budd at the Deutsche Opera am Rhein in Düsseldorf. We posted about this performance when it happened and it proved instantly popular with fans, which led to the Pigioniero post. 

We wondered what was up next for the Estonian singer and were thrilled to find out that he'll be portraying the hot Latin lover Don Giovianni in Mozart's classic opera. Director Doris Dörrie's production at the Hamburg opera explores the opera from a woman's point of view, wondering why women seemingly can't live with a man like Don Giovanni. To stress her point, each of the three main women is portrayed from a different period of history.

Nicola Ulivieri as Don Giovanni

Performances will run in October 2012 and May 13. Vasar will alternate in the title role with Nicola Ulivieri. Visit the Hamburg State Opera website for additional information.

Nicola Ulivieri sings the Catalog aria:

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Lauri Vasar a Hit With Readers

Lauri Vasar in Il Prigioniero

We always love it when we post a barihunk on the site and he proves popular with the readers. The latest to have an instant following seems to be Estonian baritone Lauri Vasar whose pictures from Billy Budd attracted quite a bit of traffic.

Of course, we loved it when we received an email that began, "If you thought he was hot as Billy Budd, you should have seen him in Il Prigioniero." So we found some photos that we thought you'd enjoy and we're going to start keeping an eye on this hunky performer. In fact, he opens tomorrow at the Hamburgische Staatsoper (Hamburg State Opera) in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.

Lauri Vasar in Il Prigioniero

The following month he heads to the Gran Theatre del Liceu singing Ottokar in Der Freischutz. We'll certainly be keeping an eye out for photos in the future.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

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