Jarrett Ott will be making his debut at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and returning to the title character in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, which he first sang with the Dayton Opera. Performances are on April 28 and May 2, 4, and 6 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and tickets and cast information is available online.
Rossini's opera premiered on February 20, 1816 with the title "Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione (The useless precaution)." The famous overture was actually recycled from two of his earlier operas, Aureliano in Palmira and Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra and contains none of the thematic material from the opera.
The opera was first performed in the United States on May 3, 1819 in English at the Park Theatre in New York and was the first opera ever to be performed in Italian in New York, when it was performed at the Park Theater on November 29, 1825.
The famous "Largo al factotum" is one of the most difficult baritone arias to perform and has become an audience favorite, largely due to it's tongue twisting patter. The aria has been frequently used in cartoons, including by Michigan J. Frog in One Froggy Evening, as well as in Rhapsody Rabbit, Long-Haired Hare, You Ought To Be In Pictures, Notes To You and Back Alley Oproar.
Jarrett Ott will join the Ensemble of Staatsoper Stuttgart beginning in 2018-2019.
Mattia Olivieri & Edwin Crossley-Mercer at Berlin AIDS Gala
On November 5th, barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin's 22nd Grand Opera Gala in support of the AIDS Foundation. The event also features fellow barihunks Andrea Mastroni and Mattia Olivieri, as well as soprano Patrizia Ciofi, tenor Gregory Kunde and a host of other operatic luminaries.
Of course, we had to post our favorite barihunks for your viewing pleasure. If you speak German, you will enjoy the humorous introductions by legendary bandleader and singer Max Raabe.
Edwin Crossley-Mercer sings Mozart's "Madamina il catalogo è questo delle bello"
Michael Spyres & Edwin Crossley-Mercer sing Bizet's "Au fond du temple saint":
Mattia Olivieri sings Rossini's "Largo al factotum della città!":
Crossley-Mercer is so popular with our readers that we asked him to appear in our upcoming 2017 "Barihunks in Bed" calendar, which he graciously agreed to do. We hired a photographer in France to take a photo and made him our December feature, since his stunning prematurely gray hair evoked a perfect wintry night. You can purchase a copy ONLINE.
David Pershall who recently performed Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème and Lord Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda at the Metropolitan Opera, has won one of the top prizes at the 2016 George London Foundation Competition. Also taking away top honors was fellow barihunk Steven LaBrie, who just wrapped up a performance of Ginastera's Estancia with the New York City Ballet. He will tour with the Ballet to Paris in July performing the same program.
Other top winners included soprano Antonina Chehovska, tenor A.J. Glueckert, soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and soprano Claudia Rosenthal. Winners receeived $10,000 each Other baritones and basses taking encouragement prizes included Colin Ramsey, Justin Austin, Jared Bybee, Michael Sumuel and John Viscardi. Encouragement Prize winners received $1,000 each.
Pershall performed Starbuck's aria from Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick.
Steven LaBrie sings Largo al factotum from the Barber of Seville:
Pershal has previously won 1st Prize in the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal
Competition, 1st Prize in the New Jersey Verismo Competition, 1st Prize
in the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, 1st Prize in the
Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, 1st Prize in
the Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, 1st Prize in the Hugo Kauder
Competition for Voice, the Presser Music Foundation Award, and the
Thomas Stewart Award for Vocal Excellence.
LaBrie won the 2013 Encouragement Award at the George London Foundation Competition, second places in both the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition and the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition as well as the Judges Award with the Opera Index Competition. In 2010, he was an encouragement award winner in Washington, DC, for the Metropolitan Opera National Council.
David Pershall performs Starbuck's aria in 2012:
Pershall can next be seen in Puccini's Manon Lescaut at the Vienna State Opera. Roucher in Giordano's Andrea Chenier at the San Francisco Opera and Albert in Massenett's Werther at The Met.
LaBrie can next be seen singing the title role in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Lyric Opera Baltimore on March 11 and 13.
Perhall is a graduate of the Merola Opera program at San Francisco Opera and the
Virginia Opera Resident Artist program. He holds a Bachelor of Music
from Baylor University, as well as a Master of Music and an Artist
Diploma from Yale School of Music.
Steven LaBrie is a recent graduate of The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
We love that Vittorio Prato is proudly sporting his Barihunk t-shirt on his website's photo gallery. Few singers look better than the hunky Italian in or out of a t-shirt! Fans will be thrilled to know that he'll be back again this year in our annual charity calendar.
On September 2nd and 6th, he'll be appearing as Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at Opera di Firenze. The cast includes Laura Verrecchia as Rosina, Alessio Verna as Don Basilio and Filippo Adami as Almaviva. You can listen to his Largo al factotum on his YouTube page. Tickets are available online.
Vittorio Prato backstage and at the gym
In November, he heads to the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich to sing Dandini in Rossini's La Cenerentola, which will be directed by the great mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender. The cast includes Arthur Espiritu as Don Ramiro, Jasmina Sakr as Clorinda, Dorothea Spilger as Tisbe and Diana Haller as Angelina.
In December, he returns to Italy where he'll sing Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna with Fabrizio Paesano singing Nemorino. Tickets are available online.
Edward Parks, Bongani Justice Kubheka & Tobias Greenhalgh
Three baritones, including two barihunks familiar to readers of this site have advanced the finals of Plácido Domingo's Operalia Competition, which is being held in London this year. Edward Parks and Tobias Greenhalgh, both of the U.S., have been featured on our site before. South African Bongani Justice Kubheka is new to our site.
Edward Parks and Tobias Greenhalgh have both opted to sing Rossini'sLargo al factotum from Il barbiere di Siviglia, while Bongani Justice Kubheka has chosen to sing La calunnia from the same opera.
Other finalists include tenor
Julien Behr (France); soprano Andrea Carroll (USA); soprano Lise
Davidsen (Norway); tenor Ioan Hotea
(Romania); soprano Kiandra Howarth (Australia); soprano Noluvuyiso Mpofu (South Africa);
soprano Hyesang Park (South Korea); and
tenor Darren Pene Pati (New Zealand). In addition to vying for the
competition’s main prizes, Carroll, Hotea, Howawrth, Park and Pati will
also compete for Operalia’s Zarzuela prize.
Sunday evening's Gala concert will feature Plácido Domingo conducting the orchestra of
the Royal Opera House. Operalia will award two $30,000 first prizes, two $20,000 second prizes,
and two $10,000 third prizes, with one male and one female singer
receiving prizes in each category. In addition, one man and woman will
each receive a $15,000 Birgit Nilsson prize for his or her performance
of an aria by Richard Strauss or Richard Wagner. One male and one female singer
will also be awarded the $10,000 Zarzuela prize, which is meant to encourage singers to work in the art form. There is also an Audience Prize.
Past
Operalia winners have included Ainhoa Arteta, Nina Stemme, Brian Asawa,
José Cura, Elizabeth Futral, Eric Owens, Erwin Schrott, Joyce DiDonato,
Rolando Villazon, Joseph Calleja, Susanna Phillips, Ailyn Perez, Olga
Peretyatko and Sonya Yoncheva.
Check out barihunk John Brancy and mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta performing Dorabella and Guglielmo's seduction duet from Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte in Neumarkt, Germany. The two singers are participating in the International Meistersinger Akademie with coaches like sopranos Edith Wiens and Ann Murray, as well as pianist Malcolm Martineau. Also in the program is barihunk Tobias Greenhalgh.
If the two seem particularly cozy in this video it's because they are dating off-stage, so John's seduction skills as Guglielmo must be pretty convincing.
Here is Brancy performing Largo al factotum from Rossini's Barber of Seville, filmed at a final dress performance for a concert that was broadcast throughout Germany.
The International Meistersinger Akademie is a great opportunity for young singers to work with amazing coaches, but it is also a destination for European agents, promoters, opera directors and festival managers. These networking opportunities often provide a launching pad for young singers embarking on a European career.
If you're in the Kansas City area on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, you can hear emerging barihunk Chris Carr for free. He'll be performing a masterclass with world-renowned mezzo Joyce DiDonato and the Kansas City Symphony at 7 p.m.
DiDonato recently won a Grammy for best classical vocal solo for her album “Diva Divo.” She will give her first Kauffman Center performance at 8 p.m. March 23-24
and at 2 p.m. March 25 with the Kansas
City Symphony.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/03/17/3493204/songs-link-womens-passion.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/03/17/3493204/songs-link-womens-passion.html#storylink=cpy
The masterclass features three Kansas City-area vocal students, including University of Missouri/Kansas City student Chris Carr, who studies with famed tenor Vinson Cole. Carr was a Lyric Opera of Kansas City Artist Apprentice in the 2011–12 season.
Carr will perform "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Barber of Seville.
Listen to Chris Carr performing the Tanzlied from Korngold's
Die Tote Stadt at a Des Moines Opera masterclass:
Here's a more recent recording of Chris Carr singing Largo al factotum:
The event is free, but register HERE to ensure seating.
Dmitri Vargin studied choral direction in his native city Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and singing at the State Academy of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, with William Workman. In Hamburg he had the chance to participate in master classes with artists such as Kurt Moll and Franz Grundheber. He also appeared in numerous productions performing Junius in The Rape of Lucretia, Peter in Hänsel und Gretel, Marcello in La Bohème, Pappacoda in Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's dream.
During his last year at the Academy, he appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf performing Silvio in I Pagliacci and has been invited to join the company. At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, he has sung Marcello in La Bohème, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and in the new productions - Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Valentin in Faust, Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, and the title part in Eugene Onegin.
He also appeared at the Erfurt Opera as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, at the Hamburgische Staatsoper as Tusenbach in Tri Sestri by Peter Eötvös, and performed Mahler's 8th Symphony with Maestro Lorin Maazel.
Following his debut at Bolshoi Theatre Moscow as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, he has been re-invited to perform Marcello in La Bohème and Lopakhin in Fenelon's The Cherry Orchard. He also made his South American debut performing the title part in Eugene Onegin (Montevideo).
Upcoming engagements include both Brétigny in Manon and Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte (Düsseldorf), and Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne Festival), among others. Dmitri Vargin has been granted by the DAAD and awarded with German Federal Cultural Prize (2004), the Masefield Scholarship by the Alfred Töpfer Foundation (2005), and he has been actively involved, with the Yehudi Menuhin "Live Music Now" program, in projects bringing music to people unable to attend regular concerts.
There are only two weeks left to order your 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. All proceeds will go to benefit the Portland Opera Studio and the Seagle Music Colony, two of the best young artist training programs in America. You can help out dozens of young artists by purchasing your calendar today. ClickHERE and have your calendar before the new year.
Spanish barihunk Borja Quiza was recommended to us our favorite way - by a fellow barihunk. In 2009, he won the "Opera Actual" prize as best lyric singer and a year later won the "Premio Lirico Teatro Campoamor de Oviedo" as best zarzuela singer. His claim to fame in his young career has been playing the title role in Carlos Saura's filmed production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni."
In a short period of time he has established a successful career throughout Spain, singing in Valencia, Bilbao, La Coruna, Arriaga, Madrid, Barcelona and Oviedo. He has performed many of the great leading baritone roles, including Figaro in "Il Barbiere de Siviglia," the Count in "Le Nozze di Figaro," Guglielmo in "Cosi fan tutte," Don Giovanni, Papageno in "Die Zauberflote," Marcello in "La Boheme" and Zuniga in Pearl Fishers. He has also made his mark as a rapidly emerging star in zarzuela. His upcoming schedule includes mostly Mozart and Rossini.
We look forward to seeing more of this gifted young singer in the future. If you know of someone who should be featured on this site, please let us know at Barihunks@gmail.com.
Korean born barihunk Tae Joong Yang first came to international attention after performing in the Neue Stimmen competition in Germany. He is another one of our reader submissions from Germany.
Yang resides in Germany, but is a member of the ensemble at the Vienna State Opera in Austria. Yang continued his studies in Germany with Siegfried Lorenz at the Berlin University of the Arts. He has performed in throughout Europe and the Far East. In 2007, he won first prize in Plácido Domingo’s famous OPERALIA competition in Paris.
He made his critically acclaimed debut with the Vienna State Opera as Figaro in Rossini's "Barber of Seville. " As a member of the ensemble he has also performed Schaunard (La Bohème), Christian (Un ballo in maschera), Masetto (Don Giovanni), Silvio (Pagliacci), Marullo (Rigoletto), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore) und Alessio (La sonnambula).
His video of "Largo al factotum" has received almost 200,000 hits on YouTube.
Lunahan: Jordan Shanhan & Audrey Luna (photo by Greg James)
We've featured many opera couples on this site, from barihunk couples like Zach Altman and Dan Kempson, to superstar couples like Erwin Schrott/Anna Netrebko and Teddy Tahu Rhodes/Isabel Leonard. So let us introduce two fast rising stars who have also tied the knot, Tebaldi International Voice Competition winner Audrey Luna and Jordan Shanahan, who has been featured on this site before.
The original Barihunk couple: Dan Kempson (L) & Zach Altman (R)
The couple is singing Rosina and Figaro in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in a collaboration between Mississippi Opera and Opera Memphis. They begin in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, April 9th and then head to Delta State University in Cleveland on Tuesday, April 12th. The production then wraps up in Memphis with performances on April 16 and 17.
You can hear Shanahan sing the famous "Largo al factotum" at his website.
Since all of the star couples have nicknames, we're suggesting "Lunahan" for opera's new love couple.
Perhaps the only downside of a site dedicated to baritones is that we sometimes need to find an excuse to showcase other great singers. We love Peter Mattei and we've featured him often on this site. He is certainly a great Onegin and Billy Budd, but we usually don't think of him as a Rossini specialist. So when we rewatched these 2006 clips of him with two of the greatest Rossini singers of our time, Joyce di Donato and Juan Diego Florez, we had to post them. From his solo Largo to his work duets and ensemble work, Mattei shows why he remains one of the most sought after baritones in the world while revealing his penchant for comedy. Met fans will recognize some of these clips from the Live from the Met telecasts. Beginning March 11, Mattei will be performing in Tchaikovksy's "Queen of Spades" at the Metropolitan Opera. Visit their website for additional cast and performance information.
It's a great way to start a 3-day weekend. When you're done with these clips, we suggest that you check out Joyce DiDonato's Yankee Diva blog, which is one of the best in all of opera.
