Watch Nicolas Courjal's role debut live as four villains in Tales of Hoffmann

Nicolas Courjal as the Four Villains (photos by Alain Hanel)

On January 22nd, the internet opera site Mezzo.tv will feature bass-barihunk Nicolas Courjal making his role debut as the four villains- Lindorf, Coppelius, Miracle and Dapertutto - in Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann).

The live broadcast is from the Opera of Monte-Carlo and features and all-star cast led by Juan Diego Flórez in the title role and Olga Peretyatko as the the four women he's enchanted with. Both singers are also making their role debuts. The broadcast begins at 8 PM Monte Carlo time on Mezzo.tv (2 PM EST/11 AM PST. Click HERE to watch the broadcast.

Nicolas Courjal sings "Elle ne m'aime pas" from Don Carlos: 

The production is being staged by Jean-Louis Grinda and conducted by Jacques Lacombe. There will be additional performances on January 25, 28 and 31.

Upcoming performance for the 44-year-old French singer include the role of Rodolfo in Bellini's La Sonnambla in Lausanne on February 9th and 11th and Phanuel in Massenet's Hérodiade in Marseilles in March with Béatrice Uria-Monzon in the title role.

Alessio Arduini returns to Royal Opera House; Così fan tutte will be broadcast

Alessio Arduini

Italian barihunk Alessio Arduini, who made his made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème, will return to the company from September 22-October 20 as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte. His castmates includes Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi, Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniele Behle as Ferrando, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Don Alfonso and Sabina Puértolas as Despina.

German director Jan Philipp Gloger will make his Royal Opera debut with the new production using librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s alternative title for the opera: "The School for Lovers." Tickets are available online. 

 Alessio Arduini sings 'Hai già vinta la causa!' from Le nozze di Figaro:

The November 12th performance of Così fan tutte will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 6.30pm GMT.

After his run at the Royal Opera House, he heads to New York to perform Marcello in Puccini's La bohème.

Björn Bürger's Figaro is a box office hit at Glyndebourne; Watch live

Björn Bürger as Figaro

The big hit of the Glyndebourne season is barihunk Björn Bürger's Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, which runs through July 17th with limited availability. The cast also includes Taylor Stayton as Almaviva and Danielle de Niese as Rosina. You can check for tickets HERE.

This appears to be one of those career defining moments for a young singer, as crowds and critics have responded enthusiastically. Mark Valencia in What's on Stage wrote, "The handsome young baritone exudes elegant bonhomie and fourth-wall-breaking razzle-dazzle, and he delivers Rossini's tongue-twisters with an eloquence it would be hard to better." Richard Fairman in the Financial Times wrote, "What fun there is comes from a well-chosen cast. At the top of the class is Björn Bürger’s ace Figaro, sung with brilliance, precision and a nonstop cheery grin, as if it is all no effort at all."

If you can't catch it live, you have two chances to watch in remotely. If you're in the UK, you can see it in a theatre in a live broadcast on Tuesday, June 21 at 6:30 PM. You can find screening near you by clicking HERE.

If you live elsewhere, the performance will be streamed live online on the same day HERE.

Next up at Glyndebourne is Mozart's Marriage of Figaro featuring the barihunk duo of Davide Luciano as Figaro and Gyula Orendt as Count Almaviva. It runs from July 3 to August 24.

Watch Barihunk "Passion" from Nürnberg

Krešimir Stražanac (left) and Tareq Nazmi (right)

Three barihunks teamed up for a stunning performance of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245 at the St. Lorenz Church in Nürnberg this week with Concerto Köln and the Bayerischen Rundfunks Choir. The cast also includes three amazing low voices (who also happen to be barihunks!):Tareq Nazmi as Christ, Krešimir Stražanac as Pilate and Andreas Burkhart as Peter.

The performance marked the opening of this year's International Organ Week in Nürnberg and was performed with the choir and soloists as part of the audience.

Fortunately, the performance was saved for posterity and is available for viewing online here.

Written for Good Friday in 1724, the passion was the centerpiece of Bach's year-long cycle of liturgical cantatas. His other passion setting is the more oft-performed St Matthew Passion. Perhaps the biggest joy of the St. John Passion is that, for all the ferocity and sorrow of the Good Friday story, it's a truly optimistic work, anticipating the resurrection with music suffused with light and hope. 

Andreas Burkhart (left), Tareq Nazmi (center) and Krešimir Stražanac (right)

Tareq Nazmi was born in Kuwait and grew up in Munich. He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Edith Wiens and Christian Gerhaher. He won first prize at both the Walter and Charlotte Hamel Foundation prize and the National Song Contest.  Since the 2012-23 season, Tareq Nazmi has been a permanent member of the Bavarian State Opera where he has performed Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, the Speaker in Mozart's Magic Flute, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen and Publio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito.

Krešimir Stražanac (left) and Tareq Nazmi (right)

Stražanac studied at the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. He went on to win the International La Voce Competition of the Bavarian Radio for art song and the International Cantilena Competition in Bayreuth for opera/operetta. In September 2012, he won the International Hugo Wolf Competition in Hugo Wolf's birthplace in Gradec, Slovenia. Since the 2007-2008 season, he's been a member of the ensemble at the Opernhauses Zürich, where he's performed Ping in Turandot, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Fernando in Fidelio, Morales in Carmen and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. In November 2012, he made his debut as Dr. David Livesay in the world premiere of Frank Schwemmer's Die Schatzinsel and in March 2013 in the role of Baron Tusenbach in Péter Eötvös' opera The Three Sisters.

Tareq Nazmi (left) and Krešimir Stražanac (right)

Born in Munich in 1984, the baritone Andreas Burkhart was a chorister with the Tölz Boys Choir, going on to study at the Bavarian Singakademie and from 2005 with Frieder Lang at the Munich Hochschule für Musik und Theater. Winner of a number of prizes, in 2011 he appeared at the Bonn Beethoven Festival in a recital of songs by Poulenc, Liszt, Schumann and Schubert. He is a member of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus.

Barihunk duo in broadcast of Pelléas et Mélisande

Elliot Madore and Markus Eiche

The Bavarian State Opera's free live streams at STAATSOPER.TV continue from Munich on July 4th at 7 PM CET/2 PM EST/11 AM PST with Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.

The cast includes barihunks Elliot Madore as Pelleas and Markus Eiche as Goulaud, as well as soprano Elena Tsallagova as Melisande. Later this year the duo appear together again in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, with Madore as Harlekin and Eiche as the Music Instructor.

Madore has become a regular on live streaming opera, having been featured recently in Don Giovanni, Chabrier's L'étoile Rameau's Les Sauvages.

Markus Eiche studied at the Music Academy of Stuttgart and went on to win the 1998 the International Singing Competition ”Francesco Viñas” in Barcelona. He has become a regular at both the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera. Upcoming roles in Munich include Lescaut in Manon Lescaut, Gunther in Gotterdammerung, Marcello in La boheme and the Count in Le nozze di Figaro.

Elliot Madore, a native of Canada, has been singing primarily in Europe since becoming part of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera. However, he'll be appearing on both US coasts this year, starting on September 12 when he sings Antony Hope in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd at the San Francisco Opera with Gerald Finley and Stephanie Blythe. In December, he'll head east to appear at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Isabel Leonard and David Portillo in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia .

Barihunk lovers should be alerted that from May 8-29, 2016 at the Opernhaus Zürich, Pelléas et Mélisande will be performed with the barihunk trio of Jacques Imbrailo as Pelléas, Kyle Ketelsen as Goulaud and Eric Anttine as the Doctor.

Zachary Gordin in live broadcast of Carmina Burana

Zachary Gordin appears to have found a gym in San Antonio, TX

Barihunk Zachary Gordin is performing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. The performance will be available online on May 17th at 7 PM CST.

The performance will be conducted by Music Director Troy Peters and also features the San Antonio Choral Society, the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio, and several other local choirs. Gordin will be joined by soprano Jamie-Rose Guarrine and tenor Ryland Angel.

If you can attend in person, tickets are available online.

Barihunks in free broadcast of William Tell

Goran Jurić (left) and Günther Groissböck (right)

The Bavarian State Opera continues its popular free live streaming of opera this Saturday, June 28th at 6 PM CET/Noon EST/9 AM PST with their new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (William Tell). The broadcast will be available at STAATSOPER.TV.

The broadcast features two barihunks,  Günther Groissböck as the villain Gesler and Goran Jurić as Walter Furst. Groissböck has been extremely popular on our site, especially the pictures of him in the "Brokeback Onegin," as it's been dubbed by opera bloggers. He can next be seen at the Salzburg Festival as Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Zubin Mehta.

31-year-old Croatian bass-barihunk Goran Jurić has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble since the 2011-12 season. At the Bavarian State Opera he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Il Re in Verdi's Aida, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Banco in Verdi's Macbeth, Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlos and Timur in Puccini's Turandot. He also performs regularly with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

Mariusz Kwiecien returning to Met

Mariusz Kwiecien (Photo: Mikolaj Mikolajczyk)

 On April 17th, Mariusz Kwiecien will return to the Metropolitan Opera in Sandro Sequi’s 1976 production of Bellini's I Puritani. He'll be joined by the sensational tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Arturo, as well as the husband and wife team of soprano Olga Peretyatko and conductor Michele Mariotti.

Mariusz Kwiecien has sung Riccardo with Paris Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Earlier this season, he starred in the title role of the Met’s season-opening new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. A graduate of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, he has sung more than 150 Met performances including five roles in new production premieres: Belcore in last season’s L’Elisir d’Amore, the title character in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 2011, Escamillo in Bizet’s Carmen in 2009, Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 2007, and Dr. Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale in 2006.

Kwiecien made his Met debut as Kuligin in a 1999 revival of Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová and has also starred at the Met in a variety of other roles, most frequently Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte.

Mariusz Kwiecien as the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Katherine Rohrer in Denver

The April 17 opening performance of I Puritani will be broadcast live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on SIRIUS XM Channel 74, as will the performances on April 29 and May 3. The April 17 and 29 performances will also be streamed live on the Met’s website.

The May 3 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

After his Met run, Kwiecien returns to his native Poland to perform Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Krakowska from June 6-10. He returns to the U.S. from September 27-October 29 as the title character in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

"Brokeback Mountain" to be broadcast February 7th

Daniel Okulitch in Brokeback Mountain

In response to our most asked question of the last few week, we're are thrilled to announce that Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain will be broadcast live from Madrid’s Teatro Real on Friday, February 7 at 2 PM EST/11 AM PST.

You can tune in to Medici.TV to watch the production.

Annual "Christmas in Vienna" concert to be broadcast LIVE!!!

Tenor Joel Prieto, Baritone Luca Pisaroni and tenor Pavol Breslik

The annual "Christmas in Vienna" concert will be broadcast live this year with an all-star quartet led by barihunk Luca Pisaroni. He'll be joined by Puerto Rican hunkentenor Joel Prieto, soprano Ursula Langmayr, mezzo Angela Kirschschlager and the famed Vienna Boys Choir.

The broadcast will start on ORF2 at 10:45 PM Vienna time (4:45 EST/1:45 PST) and can be accessed HERE.

Pisaroni will stay in Vienna to perform Beethoven's majestic 9th Symphony under Louis Langrée with hunkentenor Pavol Breslik, Susan Gritton and Serena Malfi. Performances are on December 30 and 31 and tickets are available online.

Time is running out for you to purchase your 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. We'll be announcing our latest grantee soon. Every penny of profit from the sale of these calendars goes to benefit young artists, so get in the holiday spirit and order one below.

Hear the Ryan Opera Center Singers Online

Barihunk Paul La Rosa

Fans of this site know that our dedication to supporting young singers runs deep. We encourage readers to donate to young artist programs and our annual charity calendar benefits young artists. One of the best programs in the country is the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and now you can hear their amazing singers even if you're not anywhere near the Windy City.

The Ryan Opera Center is performing a Rising Stars Concert that will be broadcast in the Chicago area on 98.7 WFMT and streamed online at www.wfmt.com on Sunday, April 1st 4 p.m. CST. If you're in the Chicago area, the concert is on Saturday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m CST at the Ardis Krainik Theatre of the Civic Opera House, but tickets are only available to Lyric Opera donors of $75 and above. You can (and should) donate at the Lyric Opera website.

Members of the 2012 Ryan Opera Center

One of this site's most popular young artists, Paul La Rosa, will be featured in the concert along with fellow baritones and basses Joseph Lim, Paul Scholten, David Govertsen and Evan Boyer. Other singers include sopranos Emily Birsan, Kiri Deonarine, and Jennifer Jakob (sopranos); mezzos Emily Fons and Cecelia Hall; and tenors René Barbera, Bernard Holcomb, and James Kryshak. The singers will be performing works by Adams, Bellini, Berlioz, Bernstein, Bizet, Delibes, Donizetti, Gounod, Mozart, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Rossini, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi.

Participants in the program have performed principal and supporting roles during Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 57th season. They also served as understudies for major and minor roles throughout the season.

Another member of the program is Will Liverman who we recently predicted would win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Unfortunately, the judges disagreed, but he is destined for a major career.

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

"Hot Schrott" & Luca Pisaroni Live TODAY

Erwin Schrott

The opening night performance of Le Nozze di Figaro from the Vienna State Opera can be heard live today by clicking HERE. The broadcast begins at 7 PM in Vienna (1 PM/EST- 10:00 AM/PST).

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

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