Introducing Michael Honeyman in Opera Australia's sexy King Roger

Michael Honeyman and dancers in King Roger at Opera Australia

Opera Australia isn't exactly known for their sexy performances, so we were thrilled to see their stunning performance of Karol Szymanowski's King Roger starring Michael Honeyman in the title role and tenor Saimir Pirgu as the Shephard. Pirgu has sung the role with the most famous King Roger of all time, Mariusz Kwiecien. This is a co-production with the Royal Opera House directed by Kasper Holten.

The opera is about struggle between conservatism and sensuality, between Christian orthodoxy and pagan abandon, portrayed onstage by the church and the sexually tempting shepherd.

Honeyman worked in banking at the Commonwealth Bank before joining the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir and eventually deciding on taking formal training as a singer. He began his vocal training at the Australian National University, graduating with First Class Honours and was immediately accepted on scholarship to 2 years full-time practical performance training at the Australian Opera Studio, Perth. He has performed Amonasro in Verdi's Aida, for which he received a nomination for a Green Room Award for Best Male in a Supporting Role, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Ford in Verdi's Falstaff, Di Luna in Verdi's Il Trovatore and a New Year’s Eve Gala for Opera Australia. He has also worked with West Australian Opera and State Opera of South Australia.

Szymanowski is best known for his wonderful piano music, which includes the famous Étude, Opus 4, No. 3, his four symphonies, two violin concertos, the ballets Harnasie and Mandragora, two string quartets, a sonata for violin and piano, his famous Stabat Mater and a number of orchestral songs.

The production opened tonight at the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House where it will run through February 15, when it moves to Melbourne, where it will run from May 19 – 27,.

Introducing German barihunk Kay Stiefermann

Kay Stiefermann (center as King Roger)

We ran across Kay Stiefermann when looking at picture's for the upcoming production of Karol Szymanowski's King Roger at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. The current production features Mikolaj Zalasinski, who we featured nude in the early days of our site. Stiefermann takes on the role for the company on May 9th.

The German born Stiefermann, who turns 43 on March 19th, sutdied at the  Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with the great bass Kurt Moll. His repertoire includes many of the greatest Mozart roles including Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso and Count Almaviva. Other roles include the title character in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Danilo in Lehar's The Merry Widow, Eisenstein in Struass' Die Fledermaus and Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème. 

In recent years, German he's focused on more German roles, including the title role in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, Amfortas in Parsifal, Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde, Simone in Korngold's Eine florentinische Tragödie, Gyges in Zemlinsky's König Kandaules, Johanaan in Strauss' Salome, Mandryka in Arabella and Don Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio. Later this year he takes on Klingsor in Parsifal at the Teatro Colón with fellow barihunk Ryan McKinny as Amfortas.

He has performed at many of the world's greatest opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera,  Komische Oper,  Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Regio Torino, Vienna Volksoper, Opéra National du Rhin, and the Nederlandse Opera.

A 40th Birthday Tribute to Mariusz Kwiecien

Mariusz Kwiecien (photo: Mikołaj Mikołajczyk)

Few singers are more popular on this site than Polish barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien. He was also one of the early inspirations for this site along with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Erwin Schrott. He's developed a cult following with opera fans around the world and today we're celebrating his 40th birthday. Like Simon Keenlyside and Thomas Hampson, he seems to get better with every passing year. As regular readers of this site know, we've dubbed him "The Hot Pole."

Mariusz Kwiecien (photo: Mikołaj Mikołajczyk) & in King Roger

Kwiecien has a long history with New York, beginning with his participation in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and then becoming one of the biggest box office draws at the Metropolitan Opera. During the 2011/12  Met season, he amazed everyone with his resilience when he returned to take on the demanding title role of  Don Giovanni after injuring his back in rehearsals. The performance was also broadcast live in HD worldwide. He sang Belcore in Donizetti's L’Elisir d’Amore to open the Met’s current season, which was also broadcast worldwide. 

Mariusz Kwiecien sings Onegin's aria:

Kwiecien is probably best known for his sensuous and sexually charged portrayal of Don Giovanni. In this golden age of baritones, he's considered one of the two or three best exponents of the role. He's also made his mark in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, as Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Riccardo in Bellini's I puritani, Belcore in Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore, Marcello in Puccini's La bohème and the title role in Szymanowski's King Roger.

Watch Kwiecien in the complete opera King Roger:

Kwiecien can next be seen later this month in King Roger at Ópera de Bilbao.

Many of his performances have been preserved on DVD including his stunning Eugene Onegin from the Bolshoi Opera and Met broadcasts of Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor. His new recording of “Slavic Heroes” is arguably one of the best recordings of Eastern European arias on CD.

To enjoy hot singers all year, make sure to purchase our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Singers like Mariusz Kwiecien honed their skills in young artist programs and all proceeds from the calendar will go to similar programs. Click on the blue button to buy NOW.

Both Szymanowski Operas Being Performed in July

Mariusz Kwiecien

There is a lot of excitement about Mariusz Kwiecien bringing his world-remowned performance of Karol Szymanowski's title character King Roger to the Santa Fe Opera. There are five performance beginning tonight and running through August 14. Visit their website for additional information.

We've covered Kwiecien's sexy portrayal of the king extensively on the site, including the complete video of the opera and some sexy shirtless pictures of the "Hot Pole" from the Paris Opera production. You can also listen to Mariusz Kwiecien's recent radio interview where he talks about his love for Santa Fe and performing King Roger.

We're huge fans of Szymanowski and are thrilled that the Santa Fe Opera is exposing his music and stagecraft to American audiences. Although King Roger is the best known opera, his rarely performed Hagith is certainly worth experiencing.

Mariusz Kwiecien as King Roger at the Paris Opera

Szymanowski is best known for his wonderful piano music, which includes the famous Étude, Opus 4, No. 3, his four symphonies, two violin concertos, the ballets Harnasie and Mandragora two string quartets, a sonata for violin and piano, his famous Stabat Mater and a number of orchestral songs.

Hagith, which has been compared to Richard Strauss' Salome, is based on the Old Testament story of King David. Priests tell the aged king that the love of the young girl Hagith will bring him a new lease of life. But Hagith and the young king, the aged king's son, love each other, and Hagith refuses to make a sacrifice on behalf of the aged king. The aged king eventually dies, and Hagith is stoned to death.

The opera is receiving a rare performance outside of Poland this month as the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires is presenting four performances between July 22-28 in a double bill with Schoenberg's Erwartung. You can watch the Opera Wrocławska production in its entirety with Viktor Gorelikov below.

Opera Wrocławska's performance of Hagith:

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Mariusz Kwiecien Stars In Two Met HD Broadcasts

Mariusz Kwiecien as the title character of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”

Photo: Nick Heavican/Metropolitan Opera

On Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Opera launched their latest installment of the Live in HD broadcasts to hundreds of movie theaters across the United States with Donizetti's Anna Bolena.

There are five more broadcasts and two feature barihunk mega-star Mariusz Kwiecien, who will be seen in June 27th performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni and the July 18th performance of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. The Don Giovanni is a barihunk lovers dream cast, as it also includes Luca Pisaroni as Leporello and Aussie Joshua Bloom as Masetto. The Lucia performance will feature Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala as the ill-fated lovers.

Mariusz Kwiecien and Luca Pisaroni (Leporello) in the Met's Mozart's "Don Giovanni"

Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

Additional broadcasts include Anna Netrebko in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann on July 11th,  hunkentenor Juan Diego Flórez in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory on June 20th and Renée Fleming in Der Rosenkavalier on July 25th.

All screenings will begin at 6:30 p.m. local time. You can click HERE to find the theater closest to you.

Fans of Kwiecien should be reminded that he'll be in Santa Fe performing Karol Szymanowski King Roger from July 21 through August 14th. Check out the Santa Fe Opera website to watch Kwiecien discuss the opera or to purchase tickets.

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Three Barihunks Photographed Together at Santa Fe Opera Reception in NY

The Three Barihunks? Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien & Thomas Hampson

If you were going to copy the famous Three Tenors format and use superstar barihunks, you couldn't do much better than Luca Pisaroni, Mariusz Kwiecien and Thomas Hampson. The three singers were recently photographed at a party for the Santa Fe Opera in New York City. All three baritones will be performing with the opera company this summer.

Is it just us, our do Pisaroni and Hampson appear to be wearing shirts with matching patterns? Perhaps the family did some shopping in Santa Fe's famous downtown. 

Pisaroni will be performing the title role in Rossini's underperformed masterpiece Maometto II, which also features soprano Leah Crocetto, a voice you won't want to miss! Pisaroni's father-in-law Thomas Hampson will be displaying his sinister side as Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca. International sensation Mariusz Kwiecien will be taking on one his favorite roles, King Roger, in the opera of the same name by fellow Pole Karol Szymanowski. The three men are some of the most popular singers on this site and we're thrilled that all be together at one of the greatest music festivals in the world. If you haven't been, book your travel plans today.

The season opens with Tosca and June 29th. Visit the Santa Fe Opera website for additional information.

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The "Flexin' Texan" Michael Mayes & The "Hot Pole" Mariusz Kwiecien

Michael Mayes' Barihunks Calendar Shot

We've raved about Michael Mayes' podcast, the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow podcast, for years and it remains one of the most entertaining shows on the web. His podcasts are often fueled by either heavy doses of caffeine or liberal servings of alcohol. Michael makes sure that no topic is off limits. Some of the recent topics include "Country Music is 3 chords and the truth," "The shared lexicon of opera and addiction," "Sleeping against the pole~ not the Polish guy, but the actual pole," "Singing opera in the mobile home" and "Heterosexual countertenors sure let you know."

Mayes is currently in Nashville reveling in his country roots. One thing that we can say with certainty is that Michael Mayes is an unabashed country boy and Elvis Presley fanatic. It's so refreshing to meet an opera singer who remains authentic to who he is and doesn't start talking in the "international opera accent."

Mayes is performing Silvio in Pagliacci with the Nashville Opera, which continues to be one of the most interesting and creative smaller opera companies. Mayes' Silvio has been greeted with critical acclaim and there is one more performance on Sunday, December 4th. Get your tickets HERE.

We've been eagerly awaiting to hear when Mariusz "the hot Pole" Kwiecien's new CD of "Slavic Heroes" would be released. We've now learned that it will available in the U.S. on January 10, 2012. The album includes arias by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Smetana, Dvoák, Moniusko, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Szymanovsky. Included is Apollo's Hymn from Szymanovsky's "King Roger," which he will be singing at the Santa Fe Opera this summer from July 21 to August 14.

Mariusz Kwiecien

Kwiecien is wrapping up 2011 in his native Poland with performances of Moniuszko's Halka and Mozart's "Don Giovanni." He opens 2012 at the Bavarian State Opera performing the Marquis de Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo, which we've been told is SOLD OUT. The cast is one of the best that we've seen assembled at any opera house. It includes René Pape as King Philipp II, Jonas Kaufmann as Don Carlos and Anja Harteros as Elisabeth.

If you want to enjoy photographs of talented young artists like Michael Mayes all year long, you can purchase our 2012 Barihunks Charity Calendar by clicking HERE. You'll also be assisting the next generation of young singers, as all of the proceeds will go to young artist programs. We're announcing our first two beneficiaries next week.

Please feel free to contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com with your tips, comments, praise and occasional corrections.

Barihunk Role Announcements; Happy Birthday, Vincenzo Bellini

We've learned that Dmitri Hvorostovsky aka "The Siberian Hunky," will be singing Iago at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2015/16 season. We'll have more on this as the date approaches.

Since today is Vincenzo Bellini's birthday, here is Hvorostovsky singing a jaw-droppingly beautiful version of "Ah, per sempre io ti perdei" from "I Puritani."



The other big news regarding roles comes out of Santa Fe. Thomas Hampson and Mariusz Kwiecien will be bringing roles to the U.S. that that received critical acclaim in Europe. Hampson will be singing Scarpia in Puccini's "Tosca" and Kwiecien will be performing his sizzling hot portrayal of King Roger in Karol Szymanoski's opera of the same name. Visit the Santa Fe Opera website for additional cast and performance information.

Here is Hampson singing the Te Deum from Tosca in Zurich:



You can watch an entire performance of King Roger with "The Hot Pole" on YouTube. Here is the Part 1 of 10:



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Don't forget to order your 2012 Barihunks calendar. Click HERE to order. All proceeds go to support young artists and young artist programs. It's a great gift and an easy way to support our next generation of baritones. You can read more about our calendar at this previous post.

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Kwiecien Ruling Again as King Roger

Mariusz Kwiecien: KING OF THE WORLD

In June 2009 we posted about Polish barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien's steamy hot potrayal of  Karol Szymanowski's "King Roger" at the Paris Opera (Pictures HERE). We subsequently named him as one of our "Top 10" posts of 2010 for being "just plain hot."

Kwiecien has returned to the role that he owns at the Teatro Real in Madrid. There are nine performances of the opera running through May 14th. He is joined in the production by the Ukrainian-born Polish soprano Olga Pasichnyk as Queen Roxana. 

Kwiecien as King Roger in Paris

Teatro Real is also hosting an exhibition in the foyer documenting the life and work of Karol Szymanowski, whose compositions served as a transition between Chopin and the Polish avant-garde movement. Many have described King Roger as the pinnacle of Szymansowski's "sensualist phase" and there are echoes of Ravel, Stravinksy, Richard Strauss and Prokofiev in his music.

You can watch the entire opera from Paris on YouTube with Kwiecien. Here is the first video in a series of ten:




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More Mariusz Kwiecien From King Roger

Who said that King Roger isn't an interesting opera? One couldn't help but be totally mesmerized by Mariusz Kwiecien during the entire broadcast yesterday from the Bastille. Also, now everyone knows why he's called the Hot Pole (see center photo - or should we say "box' 3?).

One other thing needs to be said about Mariusz Kwiecien on a serious note. He's undoubtedly a great singer and he's unquestionably a barihunk. But Kwiecien is probably the best actor in all of opera. One of the motivations for creating this site was having seen Kwiecien in arguably the greatest portrayal of Don Giovanni ever at the San Francisco Opera. He dominated the stage with sexual energy and he had the type of edginess that makes one understand how women fall in love with rakes, murderers and societal bad boys.

King Roger is a notoriously difficult opera to pull off dramatically. The joke amongst music critics is that it's best enjoyed on CD, where one can lather in it's luxurious melodies. Kwiecien brings out so much of the character's inner self that it actually elevates the opera.

With all of that said, enjoy the pictures, which is why this site exists.

This site can be contacted at barihunks@gmail.com

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Mariusz Kwiecien Brings Some Sexual Energy to King Roger

The Paris Opera is performing Karol Szymanowski's rarely performed opera King Roger (or Le Roi Roger in France). King Roger's lack of performance stems from the fact that the opera is much more interesting musically than it is dramatically. In fact, the music is exquisite. The Paris Opera has created a visually stunning version of the opera and having the Hot Pole run around his briefs boxer shorts would make Pfitzner's Palestrina interesting.

You can watch this performance live on Saturday, June 19th at 11 AM P.S.T at http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Le_Roi_Roger_de_Karol_Szymanowski_a_l_Opera_Bastille/

You can find a synopsis of the opera here: http://www-umi.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbill/2008/7/16/20080716_1_1900/

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