Watch livestream of Günter Papendell in Barrie Kosky's new La bohème

Günter Papendell (photos courtesy Komische Oper)

You can watch German barihunk and audience favorite Günter Papendell as Marcello in Barrie Kosky's new production of Puccini's La bohème from the Komische Oper Berlin from January 27 through July 26. The livestream can be seen on OperaVision.

Kosky says that the opera is about death and the audience needs to shed a tear, but without sentimentalism. This production looks at how young people look at death. Kosky sees the opera through the daguerreotype, which was invented around the time that the story takes place. 

The remaining cast includes Nadja Mchantaf as Mimì, Gerard Schneider as Rodolfo,Philipp Meierhöfer as Colline, Vera-Lotte Böcker as Musetta, and Dániel Foki as Schaunard.

 Günter Papendell sings Tchaikovsky's "Nur wer die Liebe kennt":

If you want to see Papendell live as Marcello, he is performing the role on January 27 and 28, February 8, March 17, 22 and 30, and June 28 and 29. Tickets are available online, but many dates have limited availability.

Papendell's other roles at the Komische Oper include Doktor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Graf Almaviva in Mozart's Die Hochzeit des Figaro, Fritz Kothner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Fürst Jeletzki in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Sharpless  in Puccini's Madame Butterfly, the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Odysseus in the Monteverdi triptych, Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, and Pollux in Rameau's Castor et Pollux.  

Duncan Rock takes on Don Giovanni Down Under before heading to The Met

Duncan Rock rehearsing with Opera Queensland

British/Australian barihunk Duncan Rock will make his principal role debut with Opera Queensland in the title role of Mozar'ts Don Giovanni, which runs through November 2nd. He'll be joined in the cast by Shaun Brown as Leporello, Eva Kong as Donna Anna, Virgilio Marino as Don Ottavio, Hayley Sugars as Donna Elvira, Samuel Piper as Masetto, Katie Stenzel as Zerlina and Andrew Collins as The Commendatore.

After his run of Don Giovanni, he heads to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème from November 29-Deccember 13 and Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute on January 3rd. 

Sean Michael Plumb steps in as Schaunard

Sean Michael Plumb

American barihunk Sean Michael Plumb will step in for Andrea Borghini in today's family performance of Puccini's La bohème at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. The cast also includes Lavente Molnár as Marcello, Bálint Szabó as Colline, Guangun Yu as Mimi, Golda Schultz as Musetta and Bryan Hymel as Rodolfo.

He joined the company's ensemble in 2016, when he sang the Porter in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Servitore and Sicario in Verdi's Macbeth, Moralèe in Bizet's Carmen, Olav Bjaaland in Srnka's South Pole, Harlekin in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos , Yamadori in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola. 

This season, he sings Moralèe in Bizet's Carmen, which opens on February 16th, followed by two performance in March: Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola.

He is schedule for two upcoming performances in the United States this year, singing Melot in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with the Cleveland Orchestra and Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.

Barihunk trio returns in Opera San Jose's "La boheme"

Brian James Myer, Colin Ramsey and Matthew Hanscom

Opera San Jose's upcoming performance of Puccini's La boheme will feature the barihunk trio of Matthew Hanscom as Marcello, Colin Ramsey as Colline and Brian James Myer as Schaunard. There will be six performances from April 15-30, including three with budding soprano superstar Julie Adams as Mimi. 

The opera will be updated the end of WWI, when Paris was delirious with optimism for the new century and great artists like Nijinsky, Stravinsky, Picasso and Coco Channel were creating a new way of life in the art's capital of the world.

The barihunk trio also appeared together in Opera San Jose's production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night, with Colin Ramsey as Father Palmer, Brian James Myer as Ponchel and Matthew Hanscom as Matthew Hanscom as Lt. Gordon.

The April 23rd performance will also feature a pre-performance brunch in the elegant courtyard of the California Theatre. Tickets for La boheme and the brunch are available online.

Reader Submission: Aussie Adrian Tamburini

Adrian Tamburini

Our latest reader submission comes from down under, where someone pointed out that we've somehow missed Adrian Tamburini in our posting of Aussie barihunks. He's been singing the roles of Alcindoro and Benoit in Opera Australia's production of Puccini's La bohème, which will be reprised in Melbourne from May 3-28. Tickets and additional cast information is available online. 

From October 28 to November 5, he'll perform The Maestro in Alan Jones' new opera The Eighth Wonder, a piece written ABOUT the Sydney Opera House. The story revolves around the dramatic story of the creation of one of the world’s most famous buildings and the coming of age of Australia. The opera will be performed outside of the opera house, with a giants stage built across the 100 metre (328') steps, with giant screens, huge glowing balls of paper, projections and spectacular lighting effects.

Adrian Tamburini

Other recent engagements for Opera Australia have included Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen, Antonio in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Sciarrone in Puccini's Tosca and The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute. He sang Colline in La bohème for West Australian Opera and also joined an all-star cast in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 for the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Melbourne Opera, has appeared on the TV Christmas special Woolworths Carols in the Domain, and has been a musical director and producer.

Tamburini started his singing career as a chorister with the Victorian Boys Choir at age five and was awarded a scholarship to sing with the St Patrick's Cathedral Choir at age 10. He went on to receive many awards, prizes and scholarships including the Robert Salzer Vocal Scholarship, the Lygon Street Festa Aria Competition, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Competition, the Lythgo Trust Operatic Aria Award, the Melbourne Welsh Male Voice Choir Singer of the Year Competition, the Acclaim Awards Scholarship and was twice a finalist in the German Australian Opera Grant

On September 3rd, he will join the Penrith Symphony Orchestra as a soloist Verdi’s Requiem. Tickets are available online.

Barihunk switcheroo in Vienna's Barber

Christopher Maltman & Alessio Arduini

British barihunk Christopher Maltman, who performed the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in Vienna last Fall, unexpectedly returned to the company last night. He replaced fellow barihunk Alessio Arduini in the title role of Rossini's Barber of Seville after the young Italian withdrew from the final two performances. Maltman will perform again on Friday, January 8th. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Maltman next heads to the Teatro Real in Madrid where he'll rotate the role of Friedrich in Wagner's Das Liebesverbot with James Rutherford. Performances run from February 19-March 15. In the Spring, he returns to the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Dutch National Opera alongside fellow barihunk Fernando Radó as Masetto.

Christopher Maltman in The Met's Barber of Seville:

Arduini is expected to return to the Vienna State Opera to perform Marcello in Franco Zeferelli's production of Puccini's La bohème on March 19, 22 and 26, as well as Figaro opposite Luca Pisaroni's Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro on June 22, 25 and 28.

Barihunk trio in Paris Opera's Barber of Seville

Alessio Arduini

Last month we posted about the Opéra national de Paris' barihunk quartet in Mozart's Don Giovanni, which featured Artur Ruciñski in the title role, Alessio Arduini as Leporello, Fernando Radó as Masetto and Alexander Tsymbalyuk as the Commendatore.

Pietro Di Bianco as Thoas at the Paris Opera (left)

It fairly common to see barihunk trios and, occasionally quartets, in Don Giovanni, but Rossini's Barber of a Seville is a different matter. Leave it to the Opéra national de Paris to assemble three of opera's hottest barihunks for their all-star Barber of a Seville featuring Lawrence Brownlee as Almaviva and Pretty Yende as Rossini. They have brought back Alessio Arduini as Figaro, Ildar Abdrazakov as Basilio and Pietro Di Bianco as Fiorello to fill the low voice roles.

The production opens on February 2 and runs through March 4. Tickets are available online.

 Ildar Abdrazakov sings La Calunnia from the Barber of Seville:

Alessio Arduini's current schedule included two roles in Puccini's La bohème, as he takes on Marcello in La bohème in Vienna beginning November 7, 2015 and Schaunard at The Met beginning April 5, 2016. He will rotate Schaunard with two other barihunks, as Alexey Lavrov opens the opera on November 23 and David Pershall takes over on January 6.

Ildar Abdrazakov is currently at The Met singing Henry VIII in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. In December, he'll sing the title role in Verdi's Attila at the Marinsky Theater.

MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.

 

AVA's Bohemian Barihunks shine at Met Auditions

Nathan Milholin, Anthony Schneider, Jared Bybee and Michael Adams (L-R)

The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia is kicking off a twelve day run of Puccini's La bohème featuring four barihunks who all recently shined in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

On February 2nd, we ran a feature on Michael Adams winning the New Orleans District regionals. He'll be singing Schaunard on opening night, Thursday, February 7th.

His Colline will be Nathan Milholin, who was regional finalist at the Philadelphia District auditions. He's sharing the role with Anthony Schneider, who also was a finalist at the Philadelphia District auditions.

We certainly can't forget about Marcello, who will be sung on opening night by Jared Bybee, another winner at the Philadelphia District auditions.

Adams and Bybee have both been featured on this site before, but Milholin and Schneider are new to our readers. Milholin, who hails from Greensboro, North Carolina, is a first-year resident artist at AVA. Bass Anthony Schneider, grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and Vienna, Austria, and is a second-year artist at AVA.

Tickets for all performances are available online.

Barihunks star in Atlanta Opera's new season

David Adam Moore in Winterreise at the Anchorage Opera

Some of the most popular barihunks in the world will be headlining in a number of performances in the just announced 2015-16 Atlanta Opera season.

David Adam Moore, who is currently performing the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Arizona Opera, will bring his critically-acclaimed semi-staged production of Schubert's Winterreise. The production was designed by GLMMR with costumes by Moore's partner Vita Tzykun.

Eugene Opera runs through February 8th at the Arizona Opera and the cast also features barihunk Nicholas Masters as Prince Gremin. Barihunk Chris Carr takes over the title role for one performance on February 7th. Additional information is availabel online.

    .

Matthew Worth will take on David T. Little's Soldier Songs, which David Adam Moore had a critical success with in 2008 when it was presented by Beth Morrison Projects in New York. Worth is currently preparing the role of Sergeant Raymond Shaw in the world premiere of Kevin Puts' The Manchurian Candidate at the Minnesota Opera. The opera opens on March 7 and runs through March 15.

Matthew Worth (left) and Theo Hoffman (right)

Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia event that combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation to explore the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war. The libretto was adapted from recorded interviews with veterans of five wars.

Moving into the standard repertory, rising star Theo Hoffman will sing the role of Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème in a cast that also features Trevor Scheunemann and Leah Partridge. The remainder of their season included Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance and Gounod's Romeo & Juliet. Visit their website for additional information.

Aaron Sørensen to sing Colline in reopened historic theatre

Aaron Sørensen from the Barihunks calendar & the Criterion Theatre in Maine

Aaron Sørensen, who was one of this year's recipients of a Barihunks calendar grant, made his West Coast recital debut in a concert with hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock with the grant. Having wowed audiences along the Pacific Ocean with his sonorous low notes, he now returns to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. He'll be at the Bar Harbor Music Festival performing Colline in a single night performance of Puccini's La boheme. 

The opera will be performed in the historic art-deco Criterion Theater in downtown Bar Harbor. Opened in 1932 as a movie palace, prominent families like the Rockefellers, who vacationed in the area, were frequent patrons. The theatre is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and recently reopened after a $150,000 upgrade 
to their marquee. 

Aaron Sørensen sings Mozart's "Alcandro, lo confesso" at his West Coast recital debut at Duende (Don't miss the low note at the end!):

Now in its 48th season, the Bar Harbor Music Festival has advanced the careers of over 1,800 aspiring instrumentalists, singers, and composers, presenting a summer of music encompassing recitals, chamber music, Pops, a new composers series, opera, jazz, and string orchestra concerts.

La boheme will be performed on Friday, July 11 at 8:00 p.m.. The cast also includes Jonathan Lasch as Marcello, Chad Sloan as Schaunard, Janinah Burnett as Mimi and Scott Scully as Rodolfo. Tickets are available online.

Duncan Rock to make U.S. stage debut with Boston Lyric Opera

The highly-anticipated U.S. stage debut of British Barihunk sensation Duncan Rock will occur not far from another rock, Plymouth Rock. The Boston Lyric Opera has snagged the charismatic fan favorite to portray the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni next season.

Fans will have to wait a year, as the opera runs from May 1-10, 2015, but we assure you it will be worth the wait. To order a tickets, call 617-542-6772 or email boxoffice@blo.org. The remainder of their upcoming season includes Verdi’s La Traviata, Frank Martin’s The Love Potion and Janáček’s Kátya Kabanová.

At rehearsals of La bohème at English National Opera

We first discovered Duncan Rock when he was in Britten's Billy Budd at Glyndebourne and then as Moralès in a sexy production of Bizet's Carmen directed by Calixto Bieto at the English National Opera. In his young career, Rock has developed a reputation as both a gifted singer and riveting stage presence. His gender bending performance in Don Giovanni: The Opera at London's famous nightclub Heaven was a sensation. He followed that with an portrayal as an often shirtless Tarquinius in Benjmain Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne, where Irish actress and theatre and opera director Fiona Shaw pushed him to new dramatic limits. His performance prompted Tim Ashley, of the Guardian to comment, "Rock undercuts Tarquinius's raffish allure with unnerving intimations of psychotic violence."
 
Duncan Rock recently finished a successful run as Marcello in Puccini's La bohème with the English National Opera in a production that was updated to 1950s Paris. European fans can catch him as the waiter in Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice at the Teatro Real in Madrid from December 4-23. The cast also includes the amazing countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as the voice of Apollo. Tickets are available online.

Matthew Treviño returns to U.S. for La bohème

Matthew Treviño

Matthew Treviño will make his debut this weekend with the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee as Colline in Puccini's La bohème. The role is becoming a bit of a calling card for the Texas native, as he's performed it with Opera Carolina, Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Fresno Grand Opera.

Treviño recently wrapped up a successful stint with the English National Opera where he performed  Hobson in Britten's Peter Grimes and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto.  

Performances of La bohème are on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, May 11 at 2:30 PM. Tickets are available online. 

Renamed Dutch National Opera features sexy ads, sexy singers

Dutch National Opera

We'd be lying if we didn't admit that the bare butt in the ad for the Dutch National Opera (formerly De Nederlandse Opera) caught our attention. Curiosity got the best of us and we checked to see if anyone equally sexy was in their upcoming 2014-15 season. 

We also noticed pretty quickly that if sex sells, they'll have very few empty seats in the house, as that every opera features fairly provocative photography. 

Doug Williams

We didn't have to dig too deep into their calendar, as their first complete opera of the season, Monteverdi's Orfeo, features barihunk Doug Williams as Caronte. Readers may recall that we just featured baroque music's sexiest performer in a production of Handel's Agrippina in Omaha. 

Jérôme Varnier

Next up is Jérôme Varnier as Siroco in Emmanuel Chabrier's L’étoile, which runs from October 4-16. The company then switches to Wagner's Lohengrin with Günther Groissböck as Heinrich der Vogler. They wrap up the 2014 portion of their season with native barihunk Thomas Oliemans as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème.  

Thomas Oliemans

You can click HERE to view their entire season.

Dan Kempson & Matthew Morris together in La bohème

Dan Kempson & Matthew Morris from previous Barihunks calendars

Two of the most popular guys to ever appear in our annual Barihunks Charity Calendar will be appearing together on stage together. Dan Kempson and Matthew Morris will be performing scenes from Puccini's La bohème with the Savannah Symphony at the Lucas Theatre for the Arts on January 31st.

Kempson will perform Marcello and Morris will take on Schaunard. The duo will be joined by Meechot Marrero as Mimi, Amy Shoremount-Obra as Musetta, Cooper Nolan as Rodolfo and Scott Russell as Colline. Tickets range from $16 to $70 and are available online.

Dan Kempson in Sweeney Todd

Upcoming performances for Kempson include a reprisal of his critically acclaimed performance in Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox with the Skylight Music Theater from March 14-30. He then takes on the role of Lieutenant Gordon in Kevin Puts' Silent Night at the Fort Worth Opera Festival. The cast also includes fellow barihunks Morgan Smith and Craig Irvin. Performances are on May 4 and 10 and tickets are available online.

We also suggest you check out Kempson's sound files on his website, which includes one of the most beautiful performances of Johanna from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd that we've ever heard.

Matthew Morris performing in Santa Fe (Photo by Barihunks)

Upcoming performances for Matthew Morris include Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem from February 19-23 with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. On April 10 and 12 he sings the complete role of Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème with the El Paso Opera. Tickets are available online.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek & Matthew Anchel star in "Grease" parody

"Summer Nights" leads Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta and Matthew Anchel & Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

A video resurfaced last week of a bunch of students at the 2013 Music Academy of the West (MAW) in Santa Barbara, California performing a parody of "Summer Loving" from Grease. The video was created and produced by one of the funniest people in all of opera, bass Matthew Anchel. He plays the Olivia Newton-John role of Sandy Olsson, while barihunk Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek cranks up the hotness knob on John Travolta in the Danny Zuko role. The video is actually part of a 24-minute video called "Real Housewives of MAW."

The Music Academy of the West is a well-respected summer music festival for young artists, which has been under the direction of the legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne since 1997.

 Watch the MAW and original version of "Summer Nights":

You can also catch Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek onstage as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème with the Townsend Opera in Modesto, California. The production, which is directed by Mark Streshinsky, will be performed on January 30 and February 1. Also in the cast is barihunk Eric Downs as Colline. Visit their website for ticket and performance information. He recently performed Schaunard with the Kentucky Opera.

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek

In July, Smith-Kotlarek will be returning to Music Academy of the West to sing Dancaïre in Bizet's Carmen. The performance is in honor of Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday.

You should also check out his personal trainer website.

Watch the entire video "Real Housewives of MAW":

Also appearing in the video are barihunk John Brancy, Diana Newman, Claire DeSevigny, Ashley Dannewitz, Julie Adams, Quinto Ott, Mingjie Lei, David Leigh, Emily Siar, John Churchwell, Jonathan MacArthur, Keith Colclough, J. Warren Mitchell, Alex Raszkazoff, Emma McNairy, Sara Couden, John Kapusta, Christina Giuca and Helen Becqué

North Carolina Opera announces barihunky new season

A well-dressed Soloman Howard and an undressed Troy Cook in Poulenc's Les mamelles de Tirésias

North Carolina Opera has announced their new season and it includes some of our favorite singers. Anytime an opera company produces Puccini's La boheme, odds are that at least one of the three baritones will be a barihunk. The company has not announced their Schaunard, but we're thrilled that Troy Cook will appear as Marcello and Soloman Howard as Colline. Cook, you may recall is one of six singers who have appears on this site in the "full monty." Performances are on January 24 & 26, 2014.

Sidney Outlaw

Mozart's Così fan tutte will feature the ridiculously talented and brilliant Sydney Outlaw as Guglielmo. You can see the Brevard, North Carolina native in performances on October 3, 5 & 6, 2013. Fans in New York can catch him on November 4th at Carnegie Hall performing Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht & Mozart Requiem. He'll also be making his debut with the Atlanta Opera next year as Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Their final offering is Antonín Dvorák's magical opera Rusalka. Although this isn't a barihunk vehicle, it does include two rising soprano talents who you won't want to miss: future Wagnerian mega-star Heidi Melton and Joyce El-Khoury. There is one performance scheduled on March 14, 2014.

North Carolina Opera was formed in 2010 from the merger of Capital Opera Raleigh and The Opera Company of North Carolina. Visit their website for tickets and additional cast information.

Introducing Bass-Barihunk Aaron Sorenson

Aaron Sorenson (Photo by Barihunks)

Despite the fact that our homepage includes the definition of a "barihunk" that includes basses, the most common question we get is: "Can a bass be on barihunks?" The answer is a resounding YES and we admittedly love any low voice (even the mezzos!). Aaron Sorenson is a great example of why we'd be fools to not include basses on this site.

We had the pleasure of seeing his artistry live at the Fort Worth Opera as Benoit and Alcindoro in La Boheme, as well as a hilarious turn as the Wigmaker in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. While we were in Fort Worth, we joined photographer Michael Yeshion for a photo shoot with Sorenson, Michael Mayes and Anthony Reed. A few of those shots are previewed here and more will be appearing in our 2014 Barihunks Calendar.

Basses Aaron Sorenson and Anthony Reed (Photo by Michael Yeshion)

The Nebraska native honed his craft at Yale Opera Program and has gone on to sing Masetto in
Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Father Trulove in Stravinky’s The Rake’s Progress at the Wolf Trap Opera, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Tosca, and The
Rake’s Progress with Des Moines Metro Opera.

He'll be returning to the Fort Worth Opera Festival next season as the French General in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night.

We also found this little tidbit on the Wolf Trap Opera blog: “When not singing (opera), Aaron Sorensen can most often be found in the kitchen whipping up something delectable and sinfully delicious. Taught by his grandmothers and mother, he is a foodie at heart and is infamous for his desserts. He is also an avid fan of hiking and the outdoors. It doesn’t happen often, but when time allows Aaron also enjoys watching movies and pointless television. So far, the best movie he has seen this year is, without a doubt, The Muppet Movie!”

If you're a barihunk based in New York, we recommend that you contact Michael Yeshion for your headshots. If you want to be considered for next year's calendar, he can shoot some great photos for you. Any barihunk can submit photos for consideration to the calendar or the website at Barihunks@gmail.com. A photo in a Barihunk tee-shirt increases your chances of inclusion.

Wes Mason launches new website; Ben Affleck Doppelgänger?

Wes Mason (photo by Michael Yeshion)

People often ask us, "Where did you get that photo?" The answer is often on a singer's website, where we've learned one can find a treasure trove of sexy photos. It seems singers (or their website designers) are more inclined to post hot photos that their managers (oh, the boring headshot!).

American barihunk Wes Mason is no exception and he's launching his new website today with some male model-esque photos by New York City-based photographer and actor Michael Yeshion. In another example of the changing face of opera, Mason's new photos look like they were pulled from GQ or Vanity Fair rather than an opera program. Some of our recent posts have talked about fitness and image in opera and how it needs to catch up with other art forms in marketing and appealing to a broader audience. Mason's new website is a perfect example of the marketing aspect of that discussion.

Separated at Birth: Ben Affleck and Wes Mason

We've heard singers like Daniel Okulitch and Nathan Gunn talk eloquently about how opera needs to catch up with movies and television in order to survive. When we looked at Wes Mason's new photos it struck us that he's following that script by channeling a pretty hot Ben Affleck look with the baritone beard and seductive "stare at the camera and look serious" pose. You can visit Mason's new website at www.wesmasonstage.com.

Mason is currently at the Fort Worth Opera as Marcello in La bohème following his performances in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. He'll be making his mainstage debut next year as Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia. Meanwhile, he's getting rave reviews again in Fort Worth, where he became a household name in opera for his stunning portrayal as Cuban dissident and poet, Reinaldo Arenas, in the world premiere of Jorge Martín’s Before Night Falls in 2010.

The esteemed critic Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News dubbed Mason the "vocal standout" in a La bohème cast filled with vocal talent. Performances run through May 3 and tickets and additional cast information is available online. We highly suggest making a trip to Fort Worth if you can get away, as Michael Mayes' riveting performance in Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied will be running through May 11. We'll be there!

Previous engagements for Mason have included Masetto in Don Giovanni with Opera Naples, Moralès in Carmen with the Glimmerglass Festival, Le Dancaire in Carmen with Michigan Opera Theater, Valentine in Faust and both Schaunard and Marcello in La bohème with the Crested Butte Music Festival.

Mason was a finalist in the 2012 Opera Index Competition, Encouragement Award winner in the 2012 Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, Second Place Regional Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2009 and a three-time nominee for the Sarah Tucker Study Grant in 2012, 2010 and 2009.

Michael Mayes stopping traffic in Fort Worth

Michael Mayes makes waiting for the bus tolerable

We say it every year, if you don't have the Fort Worth Opera Festival on your travel itinerary then you missing one of the best festivals in the United States. Although the festivals at Glimmerglass, Spoleto and Santa Fe might be better known, the quality and innovation at Fort Worth Opera is unsurpassed. General Director Darren Woods has created one of the most entertaining festivals in the United States with a mixture of operatic standards and fascinating contemporary works. 

This year's standard fare includes Puccini's La boheme, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment and Puccini's La boheme featuring another of our favorite young barihunks Wes Mason. The contemporary work this year is Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied and it's all the buzz in Fort Worth due a bunch of bus benches featuring barihunk Michael Mayes that are literally stopping traffic.

Mayes will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. Fort Worth Opera often challenges their ticket holders with new works and the productions are often the audience favorites. Last year they featured Mark Adamo's comedy  Lysistrata that had audiences rolling in the aisles and the previous year they offered Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox that became the hottest ticket in town.

If this year's fare is half as great as their ad campaign, they have another hit on their hands. Michael Mayes was one of the stars of Lysistrata and he showed off his comic skills to great effect. But readers of this site will know that his dramatic skills recently prompted composer Jake Heggie to say that Mayes was the definitive Joseph De Rocher in his opera Dead Man Walking.

Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.

Andrew Garland's Buff New Photos, his new CD and his upcoming Schaunard in Seattle

Andrew Garland

We recently posted a teaser about Andrew Garland's new CD "American Portraits," which we're thrilled to report has shot to the top of the Amazon classical music charts. We had the privilege of previewing the recording, so we were pretty certain that he had a hit on his hands.

Accompanied by Donna Loewy on piano, Garland sings four song cycles, Stephen Paulus' "A Heartland Portrait,"  Tom Cipullo's "America1968" (dedicated to Garland and Loewy), Lori Laitmen's "Men with Small Heads" and Jake Heggie's  and "The Moon is a Mirror."

Like tenors Peter Pears and Anthony Rolfe Johnson, who excelled in the music of British composers, Garland has seemed to master the American composers. He has previously performed works by Mark Adamo, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lee Hoiby, Stephen Sondheim and Gian Carlo Menotti. Garland and Loewy previously collaborated on the masterful 2009 CD "American Folk Song Settings."

Order the CD HERE

You can next see Andrew Garland on stage at the Seattle Opera where he's singing Schaunard in a production of Puccini's La boheme with rotating barihunks as Marcello: Keith Phares and Michael Todd Simpson. Performances run from February 23 to March 10 and tickets are selling fast. You can reserve your seats online. We should also mention that the fabulous young tenor Michael Fabiano is alternating Rodolfo with Francesco Demuro.

Oh, and about those pictures. They are from a new photo shoot by the gifted photographer Matt Madison-Clark. By the way, if you're wondering about Garland's fitness regimen, it includes lots of bicycling and workouts at the gym. His colleague Michael Todd Simpson stays fit with a disciplined yoga regimen.