New York Observer Profiles Luca Pisaroni; Thoughts on a Kwiecien Replacement

A Leporello who should get the girl: Luca Pisaroni

Zachary Woolfe of the New York Observer has written a wonderful profile of Luca Pisaroni, who is appearing as Leporello opposite Mariusz Kwiecien Peter Mattei in the Met's Don Giovanni. You can read it on the Observer website.

For the legions of fans who were disappointed by Kwiecien's injury and cancellation, Pisaroni is a nice consolation prize as Leporello. Who knows, maybe Leporello will get the girl(s) this time.

Randal Turner: The logical replacement for Kwiecien

By the way, we were hoping that the Met would scoop City Opera and bring in Randal Turner to take over for Kwiecien. He's the only Don who can match Kwiecien's raw sexuality in this role. Turner will be making his New York stage debut in February in Rufus Wainwright's "Prima Donna."

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Mariusz Kwiecien's Enrico

We thought it would be fun to showcase Mariusz Kwiecien's definitive Enrico from "Lucia di Lammermoor" with two different tenors, Piotr Beczala and Giuseppe Filianoti. We'd like to know which tenor you'd prefer to hear opposite Kwiecien, so make sure to vote in our poll. You can leave comments below. (By the way, Barihunks readers voted Don Giovanni as their favorite Mozart opera by one vote over the Marriage of Figaro).

Here he is with Beczala:



Here he is with Filianoti:



Just for fun, here is the famours sextet from "Lucia di Lammermoor" taken from the Metropolitan Opera broadcast with Anna Netrebko, Giuseppe Filianoti, Mariusz Kwiecien, Ildar Abdrazakov, Colin Lee and Micaela Martens.



Subscribe to Barihunks by Email

Email us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Our Top 3 Leaders in the Sexiest Don Giovanni Contest

1. Our current runaway leader in the hottest Don Giovanni contest is Randal Turner, whose portrayal of the role from Teatro Verdi di Pisa is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUkzUq8clZw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoVZ2cY6IKA. Since we don't have photos of Turner from the production in Pisa and the video is dark, we've posted a photo of him in Streetcar. Turner brings an amazing physicality to the role and shows some skin along the way.
2. Mariusz Kwiecien brings a lot of raw sexuality to the role. He is the ultimate seducer on stage. He has earned his nickname of Hot Pole in some photos of him in tight pants during portrayals of Don Giovanni. Check out the picture at http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2007/11/mariusz-kwiecien.html and click to enlarge.
3. Simon Keenlyside set the opera world on fire when he appeared nude at the end of a performance of Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House. You can check out the screen cap at http://barihunks.blogspot.com/2008/11/simon-keenlyside-nude.html.

Voting is still going on, so make sure that you cast your vote.

This site can be contacted at barihunks@gmail.com

Subscribe to Barihunks by Email
___________________________________________________

Barihunk and Hunkentenor together on CD

One of Barihunks most loyal readers sent these pictures of Mariusz Kwiecien who we both have a mad crush on (despite our relationship status!). The pictures reminded me that the grossly underrecoreded Hot Pole sings the duet "Venti scudi" from Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore with the adorable tenor Juan Diego Florez on the latter's new CD.

You can purchase it here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bel-Canto-Spectacular/dp/B0014QNG9G/ref=pd_bxgy_m_h__img_a

Kwiecien Impersonates Hvorostovsky

Mariusz Kwiecien did his best Dmitri Hvorostovsky impersonation in Sante Fe, sporting a mane of white hair much like the one that our beloved Siberian barihunk sports naturally. We think that the Hot Pole will age as well as his fellow barihunk.

Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News wrote:

Mariusz Kwiecien, reprising the role he sang in the 2002 Dallas Opera Figaro, is certainly a virile Almaviva, with a dapper baritone to match. But here's where I part company with Mr. Kent, estimable theater director though he is. Almaviva might be a "mere" count, but surely he would express his randiness more subtly than in these crude gropings of naughty parts.

We'd like to know more about those crude gropings of naughty parts and does anyone have pictures?