Barihunks dominate Grammy® nominees for "BEST OPERA RECORDING"

Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien and Lucas Meachem

The odds are pretty good that a barihunk will be placing a Grammy award on his shelf, since every recording that was nominated features at least one. The Grammy® Awards will be held on February 12, 2017 at 8:00 PM PST.

The nominees are:

John Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles from the Los Angeles Opera conducted by James Conlon, featuring barihunks Christopher Maltman and Lucas Meachem along with Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer and Guanqun Yu.

George Freidrich Handel: Giulio Cesare with Il Giardino Armonico under the baton of Giovanni Antonini, featuring bass Ruben Drole,  Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky, Andreas Scholl and Anne-Sofie von Otter.

Jennifer Higdon: Cold Mountain from the Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Miguel Harth-Bedoya with barihunks Nathan Gunn and Kevin Burdette, joined by Isabel Leonard, Jay Hunter Morris and the Santa Fe Opera apprentice artists.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro performed by the Chamber Orchestra Of Europe and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, featuring barihunks Thomas Hampson and Luca Pisaroni, joined by Christiane Karg and Sonya Yoncheva.

Karol Szymanowski: Król Roger at the Royal Opera House conducted by Antonio Pappano, featuring barihunk Mariusz Kwiecień, Saimir Pirgu and Georgia Jarman.

ENJOY BARIHUNK YEAR AROUND WITH OUR 2017 BARIHUNKS IN BED CALENDAR. ORDER TODAY AT LULU.

What? Duncan Rock's U.S. debut part of "A Season of Unforgettable Leading Ladies"

Duncan Rock

A season that was dubbed "A Season of Unforgettable Leading Ladies" by the Boston Lyric Opera, ironically included one of the most anticipated US debuts of a male singer - in an opera named for a male singer. Fans of Aussie barihunk Duncan Rock have been watching his meteoric rise across the pond since 2012 when he generated international buzz appearing in the gender bending "Don Giovanni: The Opera" at London's Heaven. Those clamoring for his US debut were thrilled when the BLO announced a year ago that they were casting him as Don Giovanni. However, there were a few chuckles in the industry when the beefcake singer was lumped together in a marketing campaign with three leading ladies.

We have requested rehearsal photos from the company, but while we're waiting we have the above photos which were recently taken in New York and Boston.

U.K. fans have been enjoying The Rock at Glynebourne and English National Opera in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Billy Budd, Puccini's La boheme, Bizet's Carmen and Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. He also appeared as Billy Bigelow in Carousel at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Marcello in Leed's Rigoletto, Empleado inglés in Britten's Death in Venice in Madrid and Marullo in Rigoletto at the Royal Opera in London. In January, he sang Don Giovanni with the HET Sinfonieorkest in The Netherlands in an intimate production that placed the audience on the stage and around the orchestra.

Performances at the BLO will run from May 1-10, 2015 and tickets are on sale at the BLO website. The remainder of the cast includes the always entertaining Kevin Burdette as Leporello, David Cushing as Masetto, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Donna Elvira, Meredith Hanson as Donna Anna, Steven Humes as the Commendatore, John Bellemer as Don Ottavio and Chelsea Basler as Zerlina.


We recently shared a little bit of trivia about Duncan Rock, which was that he started his musical career playing the bagpipes. The HET Sinfonieorkest added that he played basketball and the bass. Let's see what we learn about him during his U.S. run.

Support a singer and attend your local Handel's Messiah

 

Handel's Messiah has become a full-time employment act for opera singers around the world. It's often much needed work for singers during the holidays, so we encourage you to attend a Messiah near you. We asked singers and orchestras to notify us of upcoming performances of the holiday classic and we've compiled this handy list for you. 

 

Friday, DECEMBER 5:
Jacksonville Symphony with Evan Boyer, bass, Twyla Robinson, soprano, Elise Quagliata, mezzo-soprano, Jason Slayden, tenor and Michael Butterman, conductor. Click HERE for tickets. 

Friday, DECEMBER 5:
Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Richard Eaton Singers with Cameron McPhail, baritone,
Mireille Asselin, soprano, Lauren Segal, mezzo-soprano, Lawrence Wiliford, tenor and
Ragnar Bohlin, conductor. Click HERE for tickets.

Friday, DECEMBER 5 and Sunday, DECEMBER 7:
Atlanta Symphony with Gerard Sundberg, Jeanine De Bique, Kelley O’Connor and Thomas Glenn 
Click HERE for tickets.

Sunday, DECEMBER 7:
Chicago Symphony and the Apollo Chorus with Jonathan Beyer baritone, Kiri Deonarine soprano, Tracy Watson mezzo-soprano, Samuel Levine tenor  and conductor Stephen Alltop
Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 10-14:
The Phoenix Symphony & Chorus with Rod Gilfy, baritone, Celena Shafer, soprano, Carin Gilfry, mezzo-soprano, Norman Shankle, tenor and Tito Muñoz, conductor.   Click HERE for tickets. 

DECEMBER 12 & 13: 
Boston Baroque with Dashon Burton, bass-baritone, Sherezade Panthaki, soprano, Ann McMahon Quintero, mezzo-soprano  and William Burden, tenor Click HERE for tickets:

DECEMBER 13 & 14:
Colorado Symphony & Chorus in Denver with Kyle Ketelsen, bass, Kiera Duffy, soprano Jamie van Eyck, alto and Sean Panikkar, tenor. Click HERE for tickets. 

DECEMBER 13:
The Bach Choir and Mozart Festival Orchestra in full 18th century costumes with Charles Rice baritone, Keri Fuge, soprano, Catherine Hopper, mezzo, Nico Darmanin, tenor  and Oliver Gooch conductor. Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 14:
Detroit Symphony Orchestra & the Michigan State University Chorale at the Seligman Performing Arts Center with Josh Hopkins, baritone, Dominique Labelle, soprano, Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor and Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor. Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 15:
Orfeo 55 and the Chœur de Chambre de Namur at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Andrew Foster-Williams, bass, Susan Gritton  soprano, Sara Mingardo, alto and Benjamin Bernheim  tenor, Under the direction of Nathalie Stutzmann. Click HERE for tickets.  

DECEMBER 16-20:
New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall with James Westman, Baritone, Camilla Tilling, Soprano, Iestyn Davies, Countertenor and Michael Slattery, Tenor. Click HERE for tickets.          ,

DECEMBER 16-19:
American Bach Soloists at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco with Jesse Blumberg, baritone, Mary Wilson, soprano, Eric Jurenas, countertenor, Wesley Rogers, tenor and Jeffrey Thomas, conductor. Click HERE for tickets. 

DECEMBER 18-21:
Houston Symphony & Chorus with Derek Welton, bass-baritone, Anna Devin, soprano, Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor,  Barry Banks, tenor and Christopher Warren Green, conductor.  Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 18-21:
San Francisco Symphony & Chorus with Troy Cook, baritone, Yulia van Doren, soprano, Leah Wool, mezzo-soprano,  Nicholas Phan  tenor and Jane Glover, conductor. Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 19 & 20 SOLD OUT:
Belmont Ensemble of London and English Chamber Choir at St Martin in the Fields by candlelight with Philip Tebb, Bass, Elizabeth Weisberg, Soprano, Ciara Hendrick, Mezzo-Soprano, Peter Davoren Tenor and Peter G Dyson, Conductor.

DECEMBER 19-21:
Seattle Symphony & Chorale with Kevin Burdette, bass, Amanda Forsythe, soprano, Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano, Andrew Stenson, tenor  and Gary Thor Wedow, conductor. Click HERE for tickets. 

DECEMBER 20:
Valencia Orchestra and Coral Catedralicia with Josep Miquel Ramón, bass-baritone, Raquel Lojendio, soprano, Cristina Faus, mezzosoprano,  Agustín Prunell-Friend, tenor and  José María Moreno, conductor Click HERE for tickets. 

DECEMBER 21:
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Petruzzelli (Bari) with bass Christian Senn, Roberta Invernizzi, Romina Boscolo, Robin Tritschler and conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini. Click HERE for tickets.

DECEMBER 21:
Cincinnati Symphony and the May Festival Chorus with Dashon Burton, bass-baritone, Abigail Santos, soprano, Abigail Levis, mezzo soprano, Rufus Müller, tenor and James Bagwell, conductor. Click HERE for tickets.   

DECEMBER 21:
Philharmonischer Chor and the Berlin Batzdorfer Hofkapelle under the baton of Jörg-Peter Weigle with Markus Butter, Baritone, Sibylla Rubens, Soprano, Kai Wessel, Countertenor and Andreas Weller, Tenor. Click HERE for tickets. 

Barihunk duo opens Opera Philadelphia's Barber of Seville

Opera Philadelphia is opening its 40th Anniversary season on September 26th with a new production of Rossini's Barber of Seville starring Jonathan Beyer in the title role and Kevin Burdette as Dr. Bartolo. Performances will run through October 5th, with a free HD broadcast on a giant screen at Independence National Historical Park on Saturday, September 27.

Beyer, made his Opera Philadelphia debut as Escamillo in a 2011 production of Bizet’s Carmen. He has performed Figaro with the Boston Lyric Opera, the Castleton Festival, the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari and at the Lyrique-en-Mer. A little trivia about Jonathan Beyer that you may not know is that he's obsessed with figure skating and knows as much about the sport as most professional commentators. 

Kevin Burdette was last seen as the Prophet/King in the 2012 East Coast Premiere of Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters. He just wrapped up a run at the Santa Fe Opera as Herr Buff/Chamberlain in the double-bill of Mozart's The Impresario and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol. He returns to Santa Fe next season as Sergeant Supice in Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment and as Stobrod/Blind Man in the world premier of Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain.

They'll be joined in the cast by Jennifer Holloway as Rosina, which is her role debut and company debut. Count Almaviva will be sung by the wonderful young tenor Taylor Stayton.

Tickets may be purchased online or by calling 215.893.1018. The free tickets to Opera on the Mall broadcast are available beginning Wednesday, September 3rd at operaonthemall.org.

Happy Birthday, Kurt Weill (1900-1950)

Kurt Weill (L) and a poster from Opera Narodowa

The son of a cantor, Kurt Weill was born in Dessau into a family that took in operatic performances as a main form of entertainment. When Weill was in his teens the director of the Dessau Hoftheater, Albert Bing, encouraged him in the study of music. Weill briefly studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and was already working professionally as a conductor when he attended composer Ferruccio Busoni's master classes in Berlin. Delighted to see the positive responses of an audience to his first collaboration with playwright Georg Kaiser, Der Protagonist (1926), he thereafter resolved to work toward accessibility in his music. In 1926 Weill married actress Lotte Lenya, whose reedy, quavering singing voice he called "the one I hear in my head when I am writing my songs." 

Kevin Burdette  sings 'Let Things Be Like They Always Was' from Street Scene: 

In 1927 Weill began his collaboration with leftist playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht; their first joint venture, Mahagonny-Songspiel (1927), launched the number "Alabama Song," which, to their surprise, became a minor pop hit in Europe. The next show, Die Dreigroschenoper (The Three-Penny Opera, 1928), was a monstrous success, in particular the song "Moritat" ("Mack the Knife").

Louis Armstrong plays and sings Mack the Knife:

Nonetheless, strain in their association was already being felt, and after the completion of their magnificent "school opera" Der Jasager (1930), the two parted company. Brecht and Weill were brought together once more in Paris to create Die Sieben Todsünden (The Seven Deadly Sins) in 1934. In the meantime, Weill collaborated with Caspar Neher on the opera Die Bürgschaft (1931) and Georg Kaiser again on Der Silbersee (1933), works that garnered the hostile attention of the then-emerging Nazi party. 

Liam Bonner sings "Lost in the Stars"

With the rise to power of Hitler, Weill and Lenya were forced to dissolve their union and flee Continental Europe. Weill found his way to New York in 1935; rejoining Lenya, Weill became a citizen and devoted himself to American democracy with a vengeance, preferring his name pronounced like "wile" rather than "vile." After a series of frustrating flops, Weill hit his stride with playwright Maxwell Anderson, producing his first hit, Knickerbocker Holiday (1938).

Frank Sinatra sings "September Song"

In the dozen years left to him, Weill's stature on Broadway grew with a series of hit shows, including Lady in the Dark (1941), One Touch of Venus (1943), Love Life (1948), and Lost in the Stars (1949). Weill had ambitions to create what he regarded as "the first American folk opera"; the closest of his American works to reach that goal is Street Scene (1946), a sort of "urban folk opera" based on a play by Elmer Rice with lyrics by Langston Hughes. 

Jorell Williams  sings 'I Got a Marble and a Star' from Street Scene

On April 3, 1950, Weill unexpectedly suffered a massive coronary and died in Lenya's arms. Weill's estate was valued at less than 1,000 dollars, and Lenya realized that his contribution to musical theater was likewise undervalued. She commissioned composer Marc Blitzstein to adapt an English-language version of Die Dreigroschenoper; it opened off-Broadway in 1954 and ran for three years, touching off a Weill revival that continues to this day.

A number of his works were scored for baritone including (partial):
- 1923 : Stundenbuch, Lieder cycle for baritone and orchestra, text: Rainer Maria Rilke
- 1928 : Das Berliner Requiem, cantata for tenor, baritone, male chorus (or three male voices) and wind orchestra (text: Bertolt Brecht)
-1928 : The Threepenny Opera (German: Die Dreigroschenoper), Macheath (tenor or baritone), Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, Tiger Brown and numerous smaller roles.
- 1929 : Der Lindberghflug, cantata for tenor, baritone and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra (text: Bertolt Brecht, first version with music by Paul Hindemith and Weill, second version, also 1929, with music exclusively by Weill)
- 1930 : Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Dreieinigkeitsmoses (Trinity Moses), Sparbüchsen Billy (Bank Account Billy) and Alaska Wolf Joe.
- 1947 : Street Scene, Frank Maurrant, George Jones and numerous smaller roles.

David Bowie sings "Moon of Alabama"

Ian Greenlaw sings 'Oh Captain! My Captain!' from Walt Whitman Songs

Songs frequently performed by baritones include (partial):
- Lost In The Stars, F Major, composed by Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill, from 'Lost In The Stars'.
- Mack The Knife, C Major, composed by Marc Blitzstein, Kurt Weill, from 'The Threepenny Opera'.
- September Song, C Major, composed by Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill, from 'Knickerbocker Holiday'.
- This Is The Life, Eb Major, composed by Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill, from 'Love Life'.
- Thousands Of Miles, C Major, composed by Maxwell Anderson, Kurt Weill, from 'Lost In The Stars'.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com