Kelly Markgraf and Sasha Cooke (Photo: Brooklyn Academy of Music)
The real-life married couple of mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and barihunk Kelly Markgraf have made Laura Kaminsky's opera "As One" a bit of a calling card since premiering the work at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2014. The couple will perform the work for one night only on August 7th at the Chautauqua Opera. They will be joined by the Fry String Quartet, who premiered the work with them.
Markgraf has performed the work with Opera Colorado and the San Diego Opera, while Sasha Cooke performed it at the Hawaii Opera Theater.
Kaminsky was inspired to write the opera after reading an article in the New York Times in 2008 about a New Jersey marriage in which one of the parties transitioned from male to female, transforming the couple from heterosexual to homosexual.
As One provides insights into both the personal and philosophical questions at the core of how personhood is defined, as well as into the compromised civil and humans rights of transgender individuals in the broader societal framework.
The opera can also be seen at the Cincinnati Opera with Matthew Worth and Amber Fasquelle on July 30th.
Barihunk Jarrett Ott will be taking on the role of Charlie in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers at Opera Memphis on April 1st and 8th. He'll be joined by Cree Carrico as his sister Beatrice and Phyllis Pancella as their mother Madeline Mitchell. The role of Charlie has become a popular vehicle for barihunks, including Keith Phares, Matthew Worth and Jesse Blumberg.
Three Decembers tells the story of a famous stage actress – Madeline Mitchell – and her two adult children: Beatrice and Charlie. Both children resent their mother's long absences on the road and her lack of concern for the tragedies in their lives. Charlie believes his mother is distant because he is gay, even as his partner, Burt, is dying of AIDS. Meanwhile, Beatrice, trapped in an unhappy marriage, feels Madeline resents her enduring affection for their deceased father. As the story unfolds over the decades, long-simmering resentments surface, accusations are hurled, and family secrets revealed, leading ultimately to a hard-won peace and forgiveness for both the living and the dead.
On March 30th, Ott will appear at OUT at the Opera, a preview night for Opera Memphis at Playhouse on the Square from 7-10 PM. The event is intended to connect the opera company with the LGBT community. Tickets for the opera are available online.
Ott next performs Zurga in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers with the North Carolina Opera on April 28th and 30th.
Keith Phares in Three Decembers
A few thousand miles to the west, the Hawaii Opera Theater has assembled the three main cast members from the original 2008 production from the Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera. Barihunk Keith Phares sings Charlie, with Kristin Clayton as his sister Beatrice and the indefatigable Federica von Stade as Madeline.
There are shows remaining on March 29th and 31st, and April 1st. Tickets are available online. Next up is Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann with Wayne Tigges as the Four Villains, who we just posted about as a last minute substitution in Los Angeles.
The NY Festival of Song's program with the Manhattan School of Music which included the world premiere of Richard Danielpour's Five Songs of Remembrance for piano and baritone with barihunk Matthew Worth is now available on YouTube. The songs are written to texts by Whitman and Melville. (The songs begin around 1:19:00)
The remainder of the program includes excerpts from Susan Botti's Mangetsu for soprano and violin, David Ludwig's Our Long War for soprano, violin and piano, Anthony Constantino's When You Are Old, Wang Jie's The Animal Carnival and Therese-Marie Chaix's world premiere of excerpts from Talking Objects.
Matthew Worth can next be seen in Ricky Ian Gordon's Green Sneakers at Opera Birmingham directed by John de los Santos, who directed the riveting West Coast premiere with Jesse Blumberg in San Francisco. The program also features the composer's Orpheus & Euridice with Worth and Talise Trevigne. Performances are on March 11 and 13 at Brock Hall at Samford University in Birmingham. Tickets are available online. Worth then heads to the Fort Worth Opera Festival to sing the title role in the world premiere of David T. Little's JFK. The cast includes fellow barihunk Daniel Okulitch as LBJ. Performances are on April 23, May 1 & 7 and additional information is available online.
Our beloved friends at CBC Classical just came out with a list of the 10 best dressed classical musicians, which you can view online.
Imagine our horror when we noticed that not a single stylishly attired barihunk made the list. We were told by the CBC that Ildar Abdrazakov ALMOST made the list. We certainly don't take issue with any of the ten who did make the final cut, but we thought we'd ask our readers to come up with ten of the best dressed barihunks and took less than an hour to compile this list from social media. We couldn't have compiled a better list than our readers, so here they are with a few thoughts (in no particular order).
In the photo from left to right, clockwise from the top left.
Ildar Abdrazakov - He's known to wear John Varvatos, Giorgio Armani and Diesel, and have his tuxedos made by Ermenegildo Zegna. That's style!
Nathan Gunn - The Toronto Star once wrote that he'd look as comfortable on a "fashion runway as on a musical stage." We agree.
Thomas Hampson - He's set the standard for elegance in the world of opera for years. He looks like the James Bond of opera when he steps onto a recital stage.
Alessio Arduini - He's super hot shirtless, but equally as hot in formal wear. Now that' sexy.
Cameron McPhail - This sexy Canadian showed up in tux in Fashion magazine. If you have to wear clothes in chilly Canada, you might as well as look this good!
Matthew Worth - We've seen him dressed as a soldier, a cowboy, a priest, in a tee shirt and in a tux and he's smoking hot in any outfit.
Leon Košavić first caught our eye when he walked onstage at an international singing competition. We love a guy who can sing in a white tie and tuxedo and no one pulls it off like him.
Peter Brathwaite - There is a reason that he was tapped as one of Dockers® Men of Style and appears on Men's Style Fashion. He look sexy dressed casually or formally (and everything in between).
Krešimir Stražanac - No one looks better with an open tux shirt and his gym-toned body teasing the buttons halfway down his shirt.
Jonathan Beyer - He's currently covering Thomas Hampson as Danilo in Chicago's Merry Widow. He's lost 50 pounds and looks Gold Coast, penthouse sexy in a tuxedo.
If you want to enjoy sexy men (slightly more undressed) for the entire year, then check out our 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar! On sale for just 3 more weeks.
Brenda Harris as Eleanor Iselin (left) and Matthew Worth as Sergeant Raymond Shaw; Leonardo Capalbo as Captain Ben Marco (right)Photos (c) Michal Daniel
Kevin Puts' latest opera The Manchurian Candidate is having its world premiere at the Minnesota Opera on Saturday, March 7th. The cast includes four barihunks who have been featured on this site, led by Matthew Worth in the pivotal role of Sergeant Raymond Shaw. Joining him in the cast are Christopher Job as Senator Thomas Jordan, Christian Zaremba as General Tracy and Andrew Lovato as Young Raymond. Added to the mix is hunkentenor Leonardo Capalbo as Captain Ben Marco.
The Manchurian Candidate is part of Minnesota Opera’s New Works Initiative, a program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an infusion of contemporary works. The opera follows Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning first opera Silent Night, also led by Michael Christie and with a libretto by Mark Campbell, which Minnesota Opera premiered in 2011.
Matthew Worth in rehearsals for The Manchurian Candidate:
The Manchurian Candidate is based on a 1959 novel by Richard Condon, which inspired two film adaptations. In the story, Captain Ben Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw and the rest of their infantry platoon are kidnapped during the Korean War and brainwashed to believe that Shaw saved their lives in combat –for which Congress awards him the Medal of Honor. Years after the war, Marco begins having a recurring nightmare about Shaw murdering two of their men while under observation by Chinese and Soviet officials. When Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon has been suffering the same nightmare, he determines to solve the mystery.
The opera runs from March 7-15 and tickets are available online.
David Adam Moore in Winterreise at the Anchorage Opera
Some of the most popular barihunks in the world will be headlining in a number of performances in the just announced 2015-16 Atlanta Opera season.
David Adam Moore, who is currently performing the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Arizona Opera, will bring his critically-acclaimed semi-staged production of Schubert's Winterreise. The production was designed by GLMMR with costumes by Moore's partner Vita Tzykun.
Eugene Opera runs through February 8th at the Arizona Opera and the cast also features barihunk Nicholas Masters as Prince Gremin. Barihunk Chris Carr takes over the title role for one performance on February 7th. Additional information is availabel online.
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Matthew Worth will take on David T. Little's Soldier Songs, which David Adam Moore had a critical success with in 2008 when it was presented by Beth Morrison Projects in New York. Worth is currently preparing the role of Sergeant Raymond Shaw in the world premiere of Kevin Puts' The Manchurian Candidate at the Minnesota Opera. The opera opens on March 7 and runs through March 15.
Matthew Worth(left)and Theo Hoffman (right)
Soldier Songs is an evening-length multimedia event that combines elements of theater, opera, rock-infused-concert music, and animation to explore the perceptions versus the realities of the Soldier, the exploration of loss and exploitation of innocence, and the difficulty of expressing the truth of war. The libretto was adapted from recorded interviews with veterans of five wars.
Moving into the standard repertory, rising star Theo Hoffman will sing the role of Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème in a cast that also features Trevor Scheunemann and Leah Partridge. The remainder of their season included Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance and Gounod's Romeo & Juliet. Visit their website for additional information.
One
of America's most innovative opera companies, the Fort Worth Opera has
collaborated with the American Lyric Theater to produce an opera based
on President John F. Kennedy's final twelve hours. The opera will star
two of the world's most popular barihunks in the lead roles, as Matthew
Worth takes on JFK and Daniel Okulitch portrays LBJ. Worth shares both
the good looks and New England charm of our 35th President, while
Okulitch matches the Vice President's 6' 4" frame.
Joining them in the cast will be the amazing mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack as Jackie Kennedy, Talise Trevigne as hotel maid Clara
Harris, and the thrilling tenor Sean Panikkar as JFK's secret
service agent and confidant, Henry Rathbone. The opera is being written by composer David T. Little and librettist
Royce Vavrek, who collaborated on the critically acclaimed opera
Dog Days in 2012.
The
opera, which is slated to premiere at the Fort Worth Opera's 2016
season, is the perfect setting, as it's the last place that the
President slept before being gunned down in Dallas. JFK left the Hotel
Texas (now the Fort Worth Hilton) on the rain-soaked morning of November
22, 1963, and spoke to thousands who had waited in the rain to hear him
speak. Those remarks were to be his final public speech.
The American Lyric Theater
and the Collegiate Chorale will produce a workshop of the
opera-in-progress this November, which will bring together the
world-premiere cast together for the first time. On Tuesday, November 25
at 7:00 PM, American Lyric Theater will present InsightALT: JFK at
Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. The InsightALT series provides the
public with the opportunity to look inside the process of creating new
operas at all stages of their development through a combination of
performance and discussion with the creative artists behind these new
works. InsightALT: JFK will feature excerpts from the opera, as well as a discussion, moderated by ALT artistic director Larry Edelson,
between composer David T. Little, librettist Royce
Vavrek, Fort Worth Opera's General Director Darren K. Woods, and the
cast members.
In the 2015 season, the Fort Worth Opera will present David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's Dog Days, along with Verdi's La traviata and Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, starring barihunk Wes Mason in the title role. Daniel Okulitch can next be seen in September with the Milwaukee Symphony singing Mozart's Don Giovanni with André Courville as Masetto and Matthew Rose as Leporello. You can listen to Matthew Worth on a live stream of Bernstein's Candide on WCRB on August 17th from the Tanglewood Festival.
As we mentioned in a previous post, barihunk Matthew Worth will be making his debut with the Washington National Opera as Starbuck in Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick. Worth will take on the role that fellow barihunk Morgan Smith performed in the premiere and which is featured on DVD. That performance was named "Best Opera on DVD" in our "Best of 2013" feature last month.
Matthew Worth
We can't wait to hear the sublimely gifted Worth take on the critical role of Captain Ahab's first mate Starbuck, the family man who tries desperately to dissuade Ahab from his single-minded, suicidal pursuit of Moby-Dick. The role includes more beautiful baritone music from Jake Heggie in the aria "Captain Ahab? I must Speak with you."
Matthew Worth performs Schumann's Dichterliebe (complete):
In anticipation of this major debut, the Connecticut native has launched a new website, which features a generous supply of photos and two videos. You can check out the site HERE.
In addition to two upcoming recitals, he will return to the Pittsburgh Opera in April as title character in Philip Glass' Orphée, a role that he received critical acclaim performing at the Virginia Opera last year. He was joined in that production by fellow barihunk Christopher Temporelli and one of our Barihunks Calendar grantees for 2013, tenor Jonathan Blalock.
The epic performance of Jake Heggie's opera Moby-Dick from the San Francisco Opera is now on DVD and Blueray disc. The release is part of a new partnership between the San Francisco Opera and EuroArts Music International, which will include six operas taped at the historic War Memorial Opera House.
The all-star cast includes barihunk Morgan Smith, Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Lemalu, Talise Trevigne and is conducted by Patrick Summers. Smith plays the critical role of Captain Ahab's first mate Starbuck, the first mate and family man who tries desperately to
dissuade Ahab from his single-minded, suicidal pursuit of
Moby-Dick. The role includes more beautiful baritone music from Jake Heggie in the aria "Captain Ahab? I must Speak with you." You can listen to a recording of the aria with piano on barihunk Randal Turner's site.
Heggie and Gene Scheer brilliantly adapted Herman Melville’s epic tale of a fierce, obsessive whaling-boat captain who descends into madness and puts his crew in mortal danger. The opera is already assured to be part of the operatic standard repertory, with every production receiving critical praise for the work. The opera was originally co-commissioned by the Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia and the Calgary Opera and debuted on April 30, 2010.
The opera is 142 minutes, but the DVD includes and additional hour of extras including interviews with Morgan Smith, Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello,
Jonathan Lemalu, Talise Trevigne, Jake Heggie, Patrick Summers and Gene
Scheer.
The opera will also be presented as part of PBS's Great Performances 40th anniversary season on November 1, 2013 at 9 PM. Check your local listings.
There are two upcoming live performances of the opera. The Fargo-Moorhead Opera will present free scenes from the opera on October 1, 2 and 3, 2013 with tenor David Hamilton, tenor Joshua Kohl, baritone Cory Renbarger and bass Ashraf Sewailam. The highly anticipated East Coast premiere of the opera will take place at the Kennedy Center with the Washington National Opera from February 22 - March 8, 2014. Starbuck will be sung by newlywed barihunk Matthew Worth and Queequeg by fellow barihunk Eric Greene. Tickets go on sale December 4, 2013 to the public and on November 25, 2013 to Kennedy Center members.
We saw a dramatic uptick in traffic to our site yesterday with a sudden interest in posts from 2009 and 2010. We figured out pretty quickly that we must have been featured somewhere only to learn that we were a prominent part of BuzzFeed's "33 Opera Hunks Who Need To Serenade You Right Now." We have to say that they did a remarkable job of picking out 30+ of the steamiest, sexiest and most talented acoustic singing hunks on the planet.
Barihunks included are Matthew Worth, Randal Turner, Zachary Gordin, Ramin Karimloo, Duncan Rock, Philippe Sly, Chris Herbert, Hadleigh Adams, Beltran Iraburu, Tim McDevitt, Douglas Williams, Gordon Bintner, Mariusz Kwiecien, Erwin Schrott, Vasil Garvanliev, Nathan Gunn, David Adam Moore, Adrian Kramer, Matthew Morris, Jerome Vernier, Tom Corbeil, Kelly Markgraf, Jason Hardy, Donovan Singletary, John Brandon and Simon Keenlyside.
Do the math and it comes out to 78% baritones. That seems about right in our eyes.
Congratulations guys! Who says that sexy men don't increase the interest in opera? You got the coveted "WIN" button on BuzzFeed.
Also keep your eye out for a Barihunks feature in a major New York publication coming out this week.
Matthew Worth strikes his Father Flynn pose
2012 (c) Aleutian Calabay for Minnesota Opera
The Minnesota Opera is presenting the world premiere of Douglas J. Cuomo’sopera Doubt, which opens
on January 26th and runs through February 3rd. The libretto was written by playwright John Patrick Shanley, who based it on
his Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning play. The opera was commissioned
by Minnesota Opera in collaboration with the Cincinnati Opera and the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. The opera is part of the opera company’s New Works Initiative, a
landmark program designed to invigorate the operatic repertoire with an
infusion of contemporary works.
Matthew Worth on playing Father Flynn in Doubt:
The premiere of Doubt will feature
Matthew Worth as Father Flynn, who is accused of inappropriate behavior with a young African-American student. Soprano Christine Brewer will sing the role of the school principal Sister Aloysius, who makes the accusations and sets the drama in motion at the Bronx-based Roman Catholic in 1964. The young, idealistic Sister James will be played by Adriana Zabala and the boy's mother by mezzo Denyce Graves. Other than a chorus and a children's chorus, these are the only vocal roles. The opera will be conducted by
Christopher Franklin and directed by Kevin Newbury. Tickets are available online.
Matthew Worth on Mozart and modern American opera:
Matthew Worth returns to the Minnesota Opera after a successful run as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte in the 2011-12 season. After Doubt he'll return to the role of Guglielmo on March 15th with the Boston Lyric Opera. On April 4th and 6th, he returns to Opera Memphis to partake in the Midtown Opera Festival in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. This is his third world premiere, as he created the role of William Shrike in Lowell Liebermann's Miss Lonelyhearts with the Juilliard Opera and the Coachman in Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good at Glimmerglass Opera, which was recorded for Naxos.
Matthew Worth talks about the music of Doubt:
The play Doubt: A Parable
by John Patrick Shanley, won both the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for
Drama and the 2005 Tony Award for Best Play. In 2008, Shanley wrote and
directed the motion picture adaptation of Doubt, starring Meryl
Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis. The film
was nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Adapted
Screenplay nod for Shanley.
American barihunk Matthew Worth, who recently garnered critical acclaim for his Curly in Oklahoma! with Central City Opera, is trading in his cowboy hat for a razor. He'll be opening as Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville at the New Orleans Opera on November 16th. You can listen to him singing the famous Largo al factotum on his website. There are only two performances of the opera, on Friday, November 16 and a matinee on Sunday, November 18. Tickets are available online.
Worth will next appear as Father Brendan Flynn at the Minnesota Opera in the world premiere of Douglas Cuomo's adaptation of "Doubt" starring mezzo Denyce Graves and soprano Christine Brewer. The opera is being directed by the Kevin Newbury, who will be directing another world premiere, Mark Adamo's The Gospel of Mary Magdelene at the San Francisco Opera with barihunk Nathan Gunn next summer. Performances of Doubt run from January 26th to Febraury 3rd. Visit The Minnesota Opera website for additional information. (If you're having impure thoughts about Matthew Worth as a priest, please visit your local parish).
Ramey's legendary Mefistofele
In a bit of luxury casting, one of the original barihunks, Sam Ramey, has been cast as Don Basilio alongside Worth in New Orleans. We love that Ramey is taking on new roles and extending his illustrious career. In January, he'll be singing Timur in Puccini's Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera in the famous Franco Zefferilli production. Visit the Met website for additional cast information and tickets.
Enjoy your favorite barihunks year around with the 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Once again, all proceeds will go to benefit young artists and young artist programs. For the price of lunch you can help keep opera alive and thriving!
Matthew Worth in Virginia Opera's Orphee by Philip Glass
American opera didn't happen until more than 140 years after the first opera, Jacobo Peri's Daphne. William Henry Fry is considered the first American opera composer. He wrote the unperformed Aurelia the Vestal in 1841 followed by Leonora in 1845. Most early American composers are forgotten today. Perhaps the first who are remembered today are Walter Damrosch, Scott Joplin, Louis Gruenberg, Roger Sessions and Victor Herbert.
One composer who is largely forgotten today is Harry Lawrence Freeman, an early African-American composer who supported himself and his own opera company during his lifetime and performed to largely black audiences. In 1893, his opera Epthelia was the first opera performed in the U.S., which was written by an African-American composer.
Louis Gruenberg's "The Emperor Jones" with Nmon Ford:
Before the advent of World War II, a number of prominent American composers emerged whose music endures today, including Marc Blitzstein, Virgil Thomson, George Gershwin, Douglas Moore, Aaron Copland and Gian Carlo Menotti. Perhaps the most enduring works from this period are Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts and Gershwin's Porgy & Bess.
Robert Sims sings "I got plenty o nuttin'" from Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess":
The second half of the 20th Century saw the emergence of some of America's greatest composers ever, including Hugo Weisgall, Dominick Argento, Carlisle Floyd, Samuel Barber, Thomas Pasatieri, Philip Glass, John Adams and Stewart Wallace. In 1955, Carlisle Floyd wrote what many consider America's greatest opera, Susannah, which remains in the standard repertory today.
Samuel Ramey sings "Hear Me, O Lord, I beseech Thee" from Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah":
Long before the composing couple of Mark Adamo and John Corigliano emerged, America was blessed with lifelong companions Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti, who wrote some of the greatest operatic works in history. Barber penned Antony & Cleopatra and Vanessa, the latter with a libretto by Menotti. Antony and Cleopatra was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966 with Leontyne Price and Justino Diaz.
Catherine Malfitano & Richard Cowan sing "Oh take those lips away" from
Barber's "Antony & Cleopatra":
Gian Carlo Menotti wrote the most performed American opera ever written, Amahl and the Night Visitors. His impressive list of operas include The Consul, The Saint of Bleeker Street, Amelia Goes to the Ball, The Old Maid and the Thief, The Telephone and The Last Savage. In 1958, Menotti founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy and then founded its companion festival in Charleston, South Carolina in 1977.
Bryan Elsesser sings "When the air sings of summer" from "The Old Maid and the Thief"
by Gian Carlo Menotti
The 21st century has seen an explosion of interest in living American composers, including Tobias Picker, John Adams, Philip Glass, Jake Heggie, Mark Adamo, Ricky Ian Gordon, Anthony Davis, Steve Mackey, John Corligliano, Daron Hagen and John Harbison. Philip Glass has been successfully writing operas for 35 years, with such major successes as Hydrogen Jukebox, Einstein on the Beach, Kepler, Satyagraha and Appomattox. He has composed over twenty operas.
Father Death Blues from Hydrogen Jukebox:
Although he is far less prolific than Glass, many people consider John Adams an equal to Glass as the greatest living American composer. His masterpiece is considered Nixon in China, which is currently being performed in theaters around the world. His other somewhat less successful opera is The Death of Klinghoffer.
Michael Mayes in Tulsa Opera's "Dead Man Walking"
Perhaps the modern day wunderkind of American opera is Jake Heggie, who has strung together a remarkable number of operas which are entering the standard repertory. His 2000 opera Dead Man Walking is becoming an audience favorite far beyond the U.S. shores. Of course, we love it, because it has become a major vehicles for barihunks who are portraying the convicted killer Joseph De Rocher . His other successes include The End of the Affair, Three Decembers and the recent hit Moby-Dick.
Norman Treigle sings "America the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner":
There is a sudden upsurge of barihunks crossing over from opera to musical theater. We recently featured Tom Corbeil, who has been a critical success in "The Addams Family" musical national tour an Teddy Tahu Rhodes, who is touring in South Pacific in Australia.
The Central City Opera has filled their roster with barihunks for their upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma." Matthew Worth will star as Curly, joined by Curt Olds as Will Parker and Paul LaRosa as Jud. Performances run from June 30th through August 3rd, with two performances in Denver on August 5th and 7th.
Hugh Jackman sings "Oh, what a beautiful mornin'" from Oklahoma:
The company will also be presenting Puccini's "La boheme" and Britten's "Turn of the Screw." The three bohemian baritones are the enviable trio of Troy Cook (who has appeared Full Monty on this site), Ryan Speedo Green and Chris Carr. Visit the Central City Opera website for additional performance and ticket information.
Gregory Gerbrandt
A month later and about 3,200 miles to the south, Gregory Gerbrandt will be taking on Riff in Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" at the Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador. Performances run from July 26-29.
Visit Gerbrandt's website to hear his recent recording of Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.
We've always maintained that the Fort Worth Opera Festival is one of the best opera festivals in the United States. The quality of their productions combined with excellent musicians and singers always makes for great week of music. They also have their fair share of barihunks on the roster, but even we were shocked when we saw barihunks Michael Mayes and Seth Mease Carico show up to a promotional event for Mark Adamo's "Lysistrata" looking like a cross between a Ukranian mezzo-soprano and a Wal-Mart shopper from Nacogdoches, Texas.
The Fort Worth Opera hosted a Tug-of-War between the women and the men to kick-off the opening night of Lysistrata which features Seth Mease Carico as the Spartan General Leonidas and Michael Mayes as the Athenian Kinesias. Mayes and Carico thought that they would lend some muscle to the women's team, but it was to no avail, as the men won all three sets (that mus mean sex for everyone!).
The comic opera is about the battle of the sexes, where the Athenian and Spartan women are tired of their battle happy husbands refusing to lay down their weapons. They band together and refuse to have sex with the men until peace is declared.
Michael Mayes plants a kiss on fellow barihunk Matthew Worth
There are performances of Lysistrata today and on June 3rd. Other remaining performances at the Festival include Jake Heggie's "Three Decembers" with barihunk Matthew Worth on May 26, 31 and June 2nd, Tosca with the amazing and sexy Scarpia of Michael Chioldi on June 2nd and The Marriage of Figaro with barihunks Donovan Singletary as Figaro and Jonathan Beyer as Count Almaviva. Tickets are available on the Fort Worth Opera website.
If you can't make it this year, make sure to add it to your travel plans next year when the Festival performs La Boheme, Daughter of the Regiment, sAriadne auf Naxos and Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied.
It's not often that we feature Tosca and it's not that we don't love the opera. It's just that Scarpia hasn't been the quintessential barihunk role. Fort Worth Opera performed Tosca with the dashing Michael Chioldi in 2005, which brought a whole different tension to the rape scene. For a moment, one wondered, "Well, maybe Scarpia wouldn't be such a bad hook-up." Of course, then Puccini's music said otherwise. Fort Worth is bringing Chioldi back to reprise his successful portrayal of the evil police chief.
But who really caught our eye was Angelotti, who will be sung by the gifted young baritone Tom Forde, who we first discovered as a Santa Fe Apprentice Young Artist and who we featured in our charity calendar. Forde has taken his fitness routine as serious as his singing...and it shows. Forde, who has always had a great face for the stage - expressive, with big features - now has the body to match.
We are kind of wondering if Tosca will dump Mario and run off with Angelotti.
Donovan Singletary
Forde, will have a little of barihunk competition at the Fort Worth Opera Festival, as Donovan Singletary is returning to take on Figaro in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" opposite fellow barihunk Jonathan Beyer, who is singing Count Almaviva. Singletary, a rising vocal talent who excelled in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in New York, also happens to have one of the greatest bodies in opera.
We hate to rewrite Mozart, but if we were the Countess, we'd turn the tables on the philandering Count and run off into the garden with Figaro.
Seth Mease Carico (L) & Michael Mayes (R)
If you haven't hadn't enough beefcake after Tosca and Figaro, make sure to grab a ticket for Mark Adamo's comic, yet racy Lysistrata. Another singer who has recently hit the gym, Michael Mayes, will be performing Kinesias. His new abs went viral on the internet when we posted his picture performing in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" at the Tulsa Opera.
Patrons who last saw Seth Mease Carico in Fort Worth's "Before Night Falls" may not recognize the singer, who has a body and new look that makes him look more like Adam Levine than Leonard Warren. Carico and Mayes are both great singers AND actors, which makes us think that Lysistrata could be the surprise hit of the festival. Few opera companies perform non-standard repertory as well as Fort Worth. Last season, Philip Glass' "Hydrogen Jukebox" played to enthusiastic, sold out houses. In fact, we named it our "Best Opera of 2011" in our annual year end feature.
Matt Worth
Last on the agenda, is Jake Heggie's amazingly moving opera "Three Decembers," which will feature one of our favorite singers, Matthew Worth.
Worth sang the role of Charlie with the Chicago Opera Theater in 2010 to great critical acclaim. Mark Thomas Ketterson wrote in Opera News, "Matthew Worth's warmly youthful baritone is intrinsically appealing, and he shaded Charlie's music with intelligence and great sensitivity."
Jake Heggie talks about his opera:
The Fort Worth Opera Festival should be a stop on any opera lover's travel calendar. This year's festival runs from May 12-June 3 and tickets can be purchased online.
Tenor James Valenti: Minnesota Opera, marketing hot men and not just barihunks
We love the Minnesota Opera for numerous reasons, including their commitment to new works, their innovative programming, their dedication to young artists, their high quality of artistry, their great marketing campaigns (that often feature sexy baritones AND tenors) and, of course, their constant stream of barihunks on their roster.
Next season will mark the 50th anniversary of the Minnesota Opera and the 2012-13 season is once again packed with barihunks. The company will present four operas that are new to their repertory, including the world premiere of the operatic version of "Doubt."
John Relyea (L) & Jason Howard (R)
Opening the season from September 22-30 will be one of Verdi's most underrated works, the biblical epic "Nabucco." The story of oppressed and exiled Jews and the king responsible for most of their troubles will feature Jason Howard in the title role and John Relyea as Zaccharia. We recently featured Relyea in another great early Verdi opera, Attila.
Kyle Ketelsen returns, but without the horns
Donizetti's "Anna Bolena" runs from November 10-18 with Minnesota Opera favorite Kyle Ketelsen as Enrico. Regular readers will recall that Kyle Ketelson stole the show in their 2009 production as a devilishly sexy Mephistopheles in "Faust."
No "Doubt" that Matt Worth is hot
On January 26, 2013, the Minnesota Opera will continue its dedication to new operas by presenting an operatic version of "Doubt" by composer Douglas J. Cuomo. The story, which has been seen on Broadway and made into a movie with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, revolves around scandalous allegations and tensions at a Catholic elementary school.
Matthew Worth was recently featured on this site for his current run in Philip Glass' Orphée at Virginia Opera. He recently sang a successful run as Guglielmo in Mozart's "Così fan tutte" with Minnesota Opera. He'll be making his Fort Worth Opera debut this summer as Charlie in Jake Heggie's "Three Decembers." Performances run from May 13-June 2 and tickets and additional information can be found on the Ft. Worth Opera website.
Other operas next season include Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet" and Puccini's "Turandot." You can call 612-333-6669 or visit their website for tickets and additional cast information. Tickets go on sale on July 23.
We've been big proponents of Philip Glass' operas, so we were thrilled to see that the Virginia Opera will be staging his opera Orphée this month. We've posted about this opera in the past featuring barihunks Eugene Brancoveanu in San Francisco, Philip Cutlip in Portland and Martin Achrainer in Linz, Austria.
Martin Achrainer as Orphée in Linz
Not to be outdone in the barihunk department, the Virginia Opera has cast Matthew Worth in the title role. We've featured Worth in a number of his roles on this site, including a somewhat related role in "Orpheus in the Underworld" at Central City Opera. Virginia Opera fans will also remember him for his 2010 appearance as Don Giovanni, which created a bit of a sensation.
Of course, we think his sexiest role to date is as Tarquinius in Britten's "Rape of Lucretia," but that discussion is for another post.
Christopher Temporelli as seen in the 2012 Barihunks Calendar
We're excited about the Virginia Opera's production because even the small role of the Judge features one of our calendar models, Christopher Temporelli. We should also add that tenor Jonathan Blalock who plays Cégeste is a bit of eye candy himself. We've seen the opera and can certainly recommend it as wonderful theater, but if you need a nudge, then seeing Worth, Temporelli and Blalock on stage together should be sufficient motivation.
Performances run from January 28 through February 12 and will be performed in Norfolk, Richmond and Fairfax, Virginia. For additional cast and performance information visit the Virginia Opera website.
On an unrelated note, it's come to our attention that you can listen to barihunk Luca Pisaroni in "The Enchanted Island" from the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday, January 17th at 8 EST/5 PST by clicking on this LINK.
John Birge at the Minnesota Public Radio recently had Matt Worth on his program and his first question was about the singer's status as a barihunk. Fortunately for Worth, he didn't have to spend the whole interview talking about his looks. Fortunately for listeners, we are treated to him singing "Donna mie, la fate a tanti" from Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte," which Worth is performing at the Minnesota Opera.
You can listen to the broadcast HERE, as well as read an interview with the American singer on the Minnesota Opera's blog. The cast also includes barihunk Daniel Mobbs as Don Alfonso. Performances run through October 2nd and you click HERE for additional cast and performance information.
Loren Maazel took his Castleton Festival west to California from Virginia, where it was met with the same critical acclaim that it received back East. Many of the same singers returned to reprise their roles, but we found a new addition to the barihunk family in Michael Weyandt, who was a sexy Junius. Cal Performance in Berkeley mounted both the "Rape of Lucretia" and "Albert Herring."
Joshua Kosman, the respected and brutally honest reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle, gave "The Rape of Lucretia" a great review, saying this about the trio of barihunks:
Tarquinius was embodied with sonorous menace by baritone Matthew Worth, and bass-baritone Michael Rice brought a gorgeous warmth of tone to the role of Collatinus, Lucretia's ostentatiously virtuous husband. Michael Weyandt did a muscular turn as the ambitious Junius...
We learned during the performance run that Michael Rice plans on making this his final performance on the opera stage. Luckily, we'll still be able to enjoy him on his wonderful OperaNow! podcast, one of the most enjoyable shows about classical music around. We wish him well in his future endeavors. He's one of our favorite people in opera!
Michael Rice Sailing Off Into the Operatic Sunset
"Albert Herring" featured barihunk Adrian Kramer, who stole the show in the critical role of Sid. You can listen to this talented young Canadian at InstantEncore performing songs by Rorem, Barber and Danielpour.
The opera world should be grateful to Loren Maazel, whose Castleton Festival has reintroduced important operas to the repertory as well as talented young singers.
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