Listen to Mariusz Kwiecien's Zurga live from Chicago

Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)

Mariusz Kwiecien, who was one of the inspirations for his site, will open as Zurga at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Sunday, November 19th. He'll be joined by tenor Matthew Polenzani as his friend Nadir, the booming bass Andrea Silvestrelli as Nourabad and soprano Marina Rebeka as Leïla.

Kwiecien last appeared in the role with the Met in January 2016, which also featured Polenzani, as well as German soprano Diana Damrau. 

There will be seven performances running through December 10 and tickets are available online.

However, if you can't make it to Chicago (where it's cold and rainy right now), you can listen to the opening performance of The Pearl Fishers can be heard live on 98.7WFMT beginning at 1:45pm CST/11:45 AM PST/2:45 EST.

Upcoming performances for Kwiecien included Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale at Opera Krakowska in March, the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni in Dallas and London, and Enrico in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in Munich. 

Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchase HERE. In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!

Mariusz Kwiecien and Barihunks in Wall Street Journal

Mariusz Kwiecien in The Met's Pearl Fishers

Barihunks made it into the Wall Street Journal's review of the Metropolitan Opera's Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) starring Mariusz Kwiecien as Zurga, Diana Damrau as Leïla, Nicolas Testé as Nourabad and Matthew Polenzani as Nadir. They wrote:

The Pearl Fishers” contains plenty of spectacle. There are roiling waves and ominous, inky skies, and, briefly, the bared torso of Mr. Kwiecien, a dashing baritone who has been dubbed an “über-barihunk” by the opera blog Barihunks.

You know, when I was 25, nobody asked me take my shirt off,” the singer said, adding that he was relieved to be done with the stress of opening night. “Now I am almost 45, and people ask me to do it.

 Mariusz Kwiecien & Matthew Polenzani sing"Au fond du temple saint":

Before the 2015–16 season, Les Pêcheurs de Perles had only received four performances at the Met. Three of them, in 1916, starred Enrico Caruso and Giuseppe De Luca. The opera will be broadcast to theaters across the country on January 16th and performances run through February 4th. Tickets are available online.

Luca Pisaroni & Mariusz Kwiecien to appear together in benefit concert

Luca Pisaroni & Mariusz Kwiecien

Two of the most acclaimed barihunks in opera will be headlining a benefit concert for Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS on Saturday, February 27, 2016 in New York City. They will be joined by soprano Amanda Majeski and tenor Matthew Polenzani as part of the Michael Palm Series.

The series, which is in its twelfth season, features intimate house concerts starring the biggest names in opera, classical music and jazz, all of whom generously agree to donate their  time and talent in support of Classical Action.

Michael Palm, who died in 1998, was an originator of these private benefit house concerts, hosting several of them himself at his penthouse apartment 37 floors above Loncoln Center.

Tickets and additional information is available online. 

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

Thomas Hampson on two new recordings of interest

We don't review recordings, DVDs or performances, as our goal is simply to promote the barihunks that we love. But there are two new recordings that might be of interest to readers and they both feature Thomas Hampson.

Back in April, we posted about Luca Pisaroni singing Paolo Albiani to Thomas Hampson's portryal of the Doge Simon Boccanegra in Vienna. Also in the cast is fellow barihunk Carlo Colombara as the Genoese nobleman Fiesco. The Decca recording was made from live concert performances in Vienna. If the twists and turns of this family plot aren't complicated enough on stage for you, Pisaroni is Hampson's son-in-law in real life.

At the complete other end of the spectrum is a new crossover album called Great Voices Sing John Denver, featuring some of the biggest names in opera. The album is of interest to our readers that they've included some of the most popular barihunks in the business, including Rod Gilfry, René Pape, Thomas Hampson and Nathan Gunn.

The album also features Plácido Domingo, Daniel Montenegro, Denyce Graves, Patricia Racette, Shenyang, Danielle de Niese and Dolora Zajick, Matthew Polenzani and Placido Domingo, Jr. 89-year-old Milt Okun, who produced all of John Denver’s recordings and won 16 Grammy awards in his career,  produced the CD. We particularly enjoyed Rod Gilfry singing This Old Guitar.

Christian Van Horn's breakout performance as Four Villains

Christian Van Horn in SF Opera's Tales of Hoffmann

Bass-Barihunk Christian Van Horn is about to have a major breakout performance in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann opening on June 5th at the San Francisco Opera. People who have sat through the dress rehearsals tell us that the American singer may steal the show in a star-studded cast that includes Natalie Dessay and Matthew Polenzani.

Van Horn who previously has only sung the minor role of Crespel in Tales of Hoffmann, has been assigned the task of singing the four villains: Lindorf, Coppélius, Miracle, and Dapertutto. Offenbach intended all four roles to be performed by one singers, as they are all various manifestations of evil.

The San Francisco Opera is presenting nine performances of the opera from June 5-July 6. There is still seating available for most performances and tickets can be purchased online. As a bonus, barihunk Hadleigh Adams can be seen in the roles of Luther and Schlemil.

Christian Van Horn sings Non piu andrai from Le Nozze di Figaro

Keep an eye out for Van Horn's new recording of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro recorded under the baton of Theodor Currentzis on Sony Classical.

He can next be seen at the Canadian Opera Company this Fall as Colline in Puccini's La boheme.

A Cute Magic Flute

[Photos of Nathan Gunn]

Mozart's the Magic Flute is a Barihunks favorite because it frequently features in the role of Papageno a young, attractive, lyric barihunk who can wear a pair of tights or some other adorably revealing outfit. One rarely finds the role of Sarastro cast with a barihunk, but the Los Angeles Opera has cast Günther Groissböck in the role. The Los Angeles Opera will alternate two Papageno's, one a Barihunks legend and the other one rapidly becoming a site favorite: Nathan Gunn and Markus Werba.

To top it off, they have cast two of the most gifted young tenors in the world today in the role of Tamino: Matthew Polenzani and Joseph Kaiser. The latter appears in Kenneth Branagh's new film version of the Magic Flute.

But if that's not enough, the role of the Speaker is played by the brilliant lieder singer Matthias Goerne, who some people feel should be featured on this site.

This is definitely a production worth seeing. For more information visit the Los Angeles Opera at www.losangelesopera.com.

This site can be reached at barihunks@gmail.com