Introducing Hungarian barihunk Marcell Bakonyi

Marcell Bakonyi

Hungarian barihunk Marcell Bakonyi, who is new to this site, will be starring in the world premiere of composer Zsófia Tallér's opera Leander és Lenszirom (Leander and Linseed). The fairy tale opera is the story of Leander the goblin and Princess Linseed. Librettist Barnabás Szöllősi based the story on Andor Szilágyi's fable with the intent to appeal to children. It will be performed at the Erkel Theater under the auspices of the Hungarian State Opera. Performances are on April 18 and 19.

Marcell Bakonyi was born in 1980 in Győr, Hungary and studied voice at the Leo-Weiner Conservatory of Music in Budapest, and later at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart, Germany. He appeared in the Stuttgart Opera School’s productions of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Bastien und Bastienne, as well as in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

For the Young Opera series at the Staatsoper Stuttgart he took part in the world premiere of Matthias Heep’s Träumer. He also sang the role of Lord Sidney in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims at the Pesaro International Rossini Festival. From 2007-2008 he was a member of the ensemble at Theater Heidelberg. From 2008 to 2009 he was a member of the Zürich International Opera Studio, where he sang the role of the Steersman in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. In 2009 he appeared at the Schwetzinger Festival in Handel’s Ezio.

Marcell Bakonyi sings "Tardi s'avvede" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

Since 2009, he has been a member of the ensemble of the Landestheater Salzburg where he sang the roles of Bartolo and Figaro in Mozart`s Le nozze di Figaro, as well as Kaspar in Weber`s Der Freischütz, Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca, Dulcamara in Donizetti`s L'elisir d`amore and Leporello Mozart`s Don Giovanni.

In April 2011, he won the International Competition Rolando Nicolosi in Rome and received a Special Price at Marcello Giordani Competition in Catania, resulting in an invitation to make a major North-American debut. In the same year he has made his debut as Pietro in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at the Budapest State Opera House. In the Summer of 2012, he made his U.S. debut as the Speaker in Mozart`s Die Zauberflöte at the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado.

At the Budapest Opera House he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohéme, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Masetto in Mozart`s Don Giovanni. In 2013, he made his debut at the Innsbruck Festival für Alte Musik as Publio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

In 2014, he performed Colline in a revival of the famous Stefan Herheim production of La bohéme in Oslo, as well as Leporello. On May 2, he'll sing Bach's Mass in B Minor in Turin, Italy. 

Gianluca Margheri back as Don Giovanni; Debuts new website

Gianluca Margheri from Zomeropera's Don Giovanni

Italian barihunk and calendar model Gianluca Margheri finally has a website, where you can follow his career. It's loaded with great pictures and video. The first that caught our eye is that he'll be taking on Don Giovanni at the Hungarian State Opera from March 20-26. It's a traditional performance of the opera, so expect another shirtless, sexy, testosterone fueled performance like the one from Zomeropera last year.

You can enjoy some excerpts from that performance below or on his YouTube site.

Next up is Rossini's Stabat Mater at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on May 14th. He'll be joined by tenor Edgardo Rocha and mezzo-soprano Marina Comparato.

We're still baffled why no-one in the United States has engaged this amazing talent. Make sure to check out his website and follow him on Twitter @GianlucaMargher.

Christopher Maltman and Fernando Radó as Don Giovanni

If you can't catch Margheri there are plenty of other barihunk performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Christopher Maltman will take on the role Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City from March 17-29. Opéra de Monte-Carlo will feature Erwin Schrott as the Don and Fernando Javier Radó as Masetto with the amazing Sonya Yoncheva as Donna Elvira. The Metropolitan Opera has two remaining performances left with Peter Mattei, Luca Pisaroni and Adam Plachetka as the male leads.