Our latest Bari-chunk to Bari-hunk is Andrea Carcassi, who recently lost 32 kilos (71 pounds) in 11 months.
"Needless to say I feel amazing," Carcassi told us when we contacted him. "My body was just ready to shed the weight and wanted me to lose it all and so did the theatres [he added with a laugh]."
Andrea Carcassi
"My personal life also has greatly changed," he told Barihunks. "I still have a long way to go and I now have to work on building lean muscle mass. I'll slowly get there. I have to say my work has benefited so much as well purely due to confidence and posture."
Andrea Carcassi studied at the Victorian College of the Arts and at the Faculty of Arts of The University of New England, graduating with majors in Music Performance (Classical Voice) and Communications (Theatre) in 2008. He also studied acting at the Victorian College of the Arts and the Drama Studio in Sydney.
Carcassi made his professional debut upon graduation in 2008 as Dexter Fox in Green Room at the ChamberMade Opera. Later that year, debuted with the Melbourne Opera as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème. In 2009, he joined Co-Opera in Adelaide for their national tour of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. He appeared in the same role for Co-Opera’s Europe tour, which included performances at the Wiesbaden Festival.
His other operatic credits include Silvio in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci and Morales in Bizet's Carmen with the Melbourne City Opera, Sapiente in Turandot for the Melbourne Puccini Festival, Marcello in Puccini's La bohème for Gippsland Opera, Sarastro in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Dr. Bartolo in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Hessisches Stattstheater in Wiesbaden
Finally, Carcassi told us, "It's an honor to be recognized by a group like Barihunks, which gives me even further impulse to achieve the body I want."
Ezio Pinza (Fortunato Pinza) was one of the most popular and important basses of
the twentieth century. Born in Rome in 1892, he originally wanted to
make a career in sports, or perhaps engineering, but after discovering
his voice he began studies at Ravenna and Bologna. He made his debut in
the town of Spezia as Oroveso in Bellini's Norma in 1914, but his career was soon delayed by service in the Italian Army during World War I.
After the war, he sang at the Teatro Verdi in
Florence in 1919 and then the Teatro Costanzi in Rome where he sang
leading roles in Verdi's La Forza del Destino, Ponchielli's La Gioconda, Rossini's Il barbière di
Siviglia, and Aida. He made his Teatro alla Scala debut in 1921 as
Pogner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger. This and other German roles in Tristan und
Isolde and Salome were sung in Italian translations. He sang Tagellino
in the premiere of Boito's Nerone in 1924. During this time, he also sang in Naples, Turin, and other Italian opera houses.
His Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1926 as Pontifex Maximus in Spontini's La Vestale. He sang there for the next 22 years, and was greatly admired for his interpretations of leading Verdi roles in La Forza del Destino, Simon Boccanegra, Aida, and Rigoletto.
Even more important was his participation in the revivals of Mozart's
Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro; his importance to the success of
these productions cannot be overestimated, with his good looks having as
much to do with his fame as his superb vocal abilities. Pinza was
equally popular in several French operas including Gounod's Faust, Delibes' Lakme, and Bizet's Carmen. His Russian roles included King Didon in Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or (in French) and Boris Godunov (in Italian). Other important
roles at the Metropolian Opera were Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor,
Basilio in Il barbière di Siviglia and the Father in Louise.
Pinza also appeared regularly in Europe at Covent
Garden, the Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Florence, and Vienna State
Opera. He appeared every season at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires from
1925 until 1932. In the United States, he also sang in Chicago and San
Francisco. Late in his career, he appeared with his daughter, Claudia Pinza, who had a minor career singing leading soprano roles. After his retirement from the opera stage, he made a successful Broadway debut
in South Pacific and later in Fanny. He also appeared in several motion
pictures.
His voice was a rich basso cantante and had an easy elegance of phrasing, which
is exhibited in nearly all of his recordings. He was at a disadvantage
from some of his colleagues because he could not read music, but this
meant that he was more willing to follow the concept of the conductor
and, indeed, he was a favorite of Arturo Toscanini, Tullio Serafin, and Bruno Walter.
He was able to sing the baritone role of Escamillo in Carmen as easily
as most baritones. Although he had the lower notes of a bass, they did
not have the presence usually associated with the true bass voice, which
meant that his Sarastro (The Magic Flute) was not as effective as his
Figaro or Don Giovanni. He willingly undertook smaller roles such as
Ferrando in Il Trovatore and Colline in La Bohème.
Italian bass-barihunk Andrea Mastroni opens on August 10th as Ramfis and the King in the popular production of Verdi's Aida at the Arena di Verona in Italy. Last season at the Arena, Mastroni's sinister and dark Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto was a big hit singing opposite Leo Nucci and Aleksandra Kurzak. Performances run through September 7th with rotating casts (Cast lists for daily performances can be found HERE).
We should also mention that Marco Vratogna, who has been featured on this site, is singing Amonasro.
Andrea Mastroni sings "Quel vecchio maledivami" from Rigoletto;
Andrea Mastroni was born in Milan and originally studied the clarinet.
He then began studying voice with the great Italian soprano Lello
Cuberli and Rita Antoniazzi. He graduated with honors from the Istituto
Claudio Monteverdi in Cremona, while also obtaining a degree in
Aesthetic Philosophy. In 2005, he won the Mario Basiola Prize and in
2007 took home both the Giuseppe Di Stefano Competition and the Bibiena
Prize.
The current Verona season also includes Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.
On January 10, 21 and 23 next year, Mastroni will be appearing as Walter in Verdi's Luisa Miller at the Aalto-Musiktheater in Essen, Germany.
Luca Pisaroni, Lenny & Tristan: Backstage and out for a walk
Anyone who follows Italian bass-barihunk Luca Pisaroni on social media knows three things about him: he has a devoted and supportive wife - web designer Catherine, he loves performing opera and he's rarely without his beloved dogs, Tristan and Lenny.
He was recently featured in the GBTimes, a Finnish-based media site that serves as a gateway between the East and West.
Luca Pisaroni, Lenny & Tristan
In the interview, he reveals that he's a lot like his blonde, long-haired dachshund Tristan. "Tristan, just like me, always needs to be in control of the situation,
needs to know exactly what's going on, and is a little bit less
relaxed,” says Pisaroni.
