Ravenna Festival kicks off with two barihunks (and a hunkentenor)

Luca Dall'Amico

The Ravenna Festival is kicking off on November 8th with a gala concert of music from Mozart and Verdi. The next day they will launch "Trilogia D'Autunno" (Autumn Trilogy) which will feature three of Verdi's most popular operas: La traviata, Il Trovatore and Rigoletto.

Barihunk Luca Dall'Amico will be featured in both Rigoletto as Sparafucile and Ferrando in Il Trovatore. For all of you Hunkentenor fans, Bulent Bezduz will be singing Giorgio Germont in La traviata.

The festival runs through November 18th and tickets are available online.

Daniel Giulianini

Thursday's gala concert will feature a barihunk who is new to us, Daniel Giulianini. The concert is affordable, as well, with tickets only ten Euros (five Euros for those under 26). The program includes the duet "La ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni, Germont's aria "Di Provenza" from La traviata, as well as the Violetta/Germont duet from the same opera.

Monica De Rosa McKay & Daniel Giulianini sing the Germont/Violetta duet:

Daniel Guilianini is a 23-year-old Italian baritone who studied with tenor William Matteuzzi. Guilianini was adopted from a Bulgarian orphanage by Italian parents at the age of six and started singing from a very early age. He attended the Forli Musical Lycée, where he studied classical singing, and for a short while the trombone. He apparently has a special fondness for singing Neapolitan songs.

He has won various regional competitions and in 2008 was runner up in Serata d'Onore, the national young opera singers' competition.

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Ildar Abdrazakov reprises successful Attila

Ildar Abdrazakov in a Met promo photo

We first posted Ildar Abdrazakov as Attila in Verdi's, when he was singing the role in Peru before taking the role to The Met. The post drew an enormous amount of interest and continues to receive a huge number of hits.

The Russian bass in back as the Hun leader in a Pier Luigi Pizzi production at the Teatro dell'Opera Roma under the baton of maestro Riccardo Muti. Also in the cast is fellow barihunk Luca Dall’Amico in the role of Leone. Performances run from May 25 through June 5th.

Luca Dall’Amico with a former Attila, Samuel Ramey

After wrapping up in Rome, Abdrazakov will perform the role in a concert version at the Mikkeli Music Festival under maestro Valery Gergiev. The performance on July 5th at the Mikkeli’s Wooden Church will be only the third performance of the early Verdi masterpiece in Finland.

Ildar Abdrazakov and Claudio Sgura perform “Tardo per gli anni” from Attila:

The San Francisco Opera will also be performing Atilla this summer from June 12-July 1 with a much older Attila than is normally cast in the dramatically intense Ferruccio Furlanetto. The 63-year-old Furlanetto is about 15 years older than Attila was at his death. The cast will include another  great Attila of the past, Samuel Ramey, in the critical but small role of Pope Leo I.

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Early Verdi with Giorgio Caoduro (and some upcoming Attila performances)

Giorgio Caoduro (with Ortrud) and Stefan Kocan

We're huge fans of early Verdi operas at Barihunks, but we don't get nearly enough opportunities to post about them. Recently there have been a number of companies performing Attila, which often features multiple barihunks in the cast. Fortunately, the trend seems to be continuing in 2012.

In May, barihunk Ildar Abdrazakov will take on the title role in Rome in a production by Pier Luigi Pizzi and conducted by Riccardo Muti. Barihunk Luca Dall’Amico will perform the role of Leone. The San Francisco Opera performs it this summer with one of the greatest Attila's ever, Samuel Ramey, in the smaller role of Leone. The great baritone duet will be sung by Ferruccio Furlanetto and Quinn Kelsey, who portray Attila and Ezio respectively. In September, the opera opens in Santiago with barihunk Stefan Kocan in the title role. 

One of the operas that rarely gets performed is La battaglia di Legnano, which has amazing moments of inspiration, Verdian patriotic fervor, a love triangle and some great baritone music (even though the best known piece is the tenor aria "La pia materna mano"). Verdi, in fact, was a baritone and loved writing great roles in that range.

We were thrilled when a reader sent us a video of barihunk Giorgio Caoduro singing the great baritone aria and cabaletta "Se al nuovo di pugnando...Ah scellerate alme d'inferno"" from a recent performance of La battaglia di Legnano at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste.



Caoduro can next be seen at the Opéra de Lyon where he is donning his matadors outfit for Escamillo. He can next be seen in the United States in March 2013 at the Washington National Opera singing Lescaut opposite the Manon Lescaut of Patricia Racette. 

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Italian Barihunk Barber at La Fenice

Mirco Palazzi

Teatro La Fenice in Venice is performing Rossini's comic masterpiece "Il barbiere di Siviglia" with a cast full of Italian barihunks. La Fenice is rotating casts and almost all of the low voice roles are filled by barihunks, including those that we don't generally associate with sexy singers, like Don Basilio and Bartolo. Figaro is being sung by Giorgio Caoduro, who has appeared frequently on this site, and Christian Senn will perform in the alternate cast. Don Basilio will be shared by Mirco Palazzi and Luca Dall'Amico, while Omar Montanari will be one of the Bartolos.

Luca Dall'Amico and Giorgio Caoduro

Tickets can be purchased on the La Fenice website, where you can also find additional cast and performance information. We also recommend that you visit Giorgio Caoduro's website, where you can find some wonderful sound clips, including the Barber's famous "Largo al factotum." Here is Mirco Palazzi singing Don Basilio's aria "La calunnia":



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Luca Dell'Amico: Too sexy for his shirt

Luca Dall'Amico

When we saw this new photo of Italian barihunk Luca Dall'Amico we had to share it with our readers. It's too bad that his voice is suited for roles that rarely show off his physique. Luckily, we previously had the opportunity to show readers his sexy, shirtless Mustafa in Rossini's "L'italiani in algeri." His upcoming schedule is no exception.

He can next be seen this Fall at the Teatro la Fenice as Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's "La Traviata" opposite the Violetta of Patrizia Ciofi and as Don Basilio in Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia," which he has recorded on DVD. Here is the trailer:



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com. If you haven't bought Randal Turner's new CD of American music, here is an easy way to purchase a copy or download your favorite tracks.



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Watch Opera LIVE from the Teatro la Fenice

Luca Dall'Amico

What an amazing time we live in. In the past week we've seen broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House in London (in 3D!!!). Now opera lovers can enjoy live broadcasts from the Teatro la Fenice which begin on March 8th with Puccini's La Boheme. The cast includes Barihunks regular Luca Dall'Amico as Colline. Here is a clip of Dall'Amico from another production singing "Vecchia zimarra."

We recently read that more people saw Domingo in the single telecast from the Met than saw Caruso in his lifetime.  Telecasts and opera at the movie theater have also made opera a richer and more cinematic experience, which is something that we love to promote on Barihunks. The productions from Fenice are all directed by Renzo Cerbo, who is best known for his work in film. We would like to wish the Teatro la Fenice great success in this endeavor.



Future broadcast from the Teatro la Fenice include Lucia di Lammermoor, Das Rheingold, Barber of Seville, Il Trovatore and Le Nozze di Figaro. Check out the More2Screen website for additional information.

Readers Weigh In On "Tallest Barihunk"

Our post about the tallest barihunk generated a lot of mail with people speculating about someone who might be taller than Olivier Laquerre. Some of the names sent to us were Thomas Hampson, Paul Whelan, Luca Dall'Amico, Kevin Thompson, Jérôme Varnier, Gregory Gerbrandt and Greer Grimsley. We're pretty confident that none of these singers are taller than Laquerre.

However, the most credible email we received asked about Dutch baritone Wiart Witholt. His website includes the following press tidbit:

Wiard Witholt from the Netherlands has the dubious honour of being the tallest competitor ever in Cardiff Singer. I have no idea how this is known, perhaps somewhere there is the equivalent of a police file kept on everyone, with a photo of each one holding up a number. Anyway Wiard is the tallest at 6' 7½" which I think is 2m, though it is late at night as I type this. 

 [Gregory Gerbrandt, Greer Grimsley & Kevin Thompson]

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Dall'Amico in Early Verdi

Here is Luca Dall'Amico singing Banquo's aria"Come dal ciel precipita" from Verdi's Macbeth during a concert performance. The Italian barihunk can currently be heard in I Lombardi, another early Verdi opera, at the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, Italy.

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Luca Dall'Amico: A shirtless Mustafa

One doesn't think of Mustafa in Rossini's "L'Italiana in algeri" as a barihunk role. It's usually sung by a bariChunk well into his career and more known for his character acting than his abs and pecs. But when Italian barihunk Luca Dall'Amico is cast in the role one can't blame the director for asking him to sing the role shirtless. The only complication might be that Isabella might decide to stay with Mustafa rather than boarding the ship back home.

And who would blame her?

32-year old Luca Dall’Amico was born in Vicenza, Italy and made his operatic début in 2003 at the Verona Arena. His career has been primarily centered in Spain in Italy. He can next be seen on March 10 in Verona perfoming in Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette."

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