Reader submission: Joa Helgesson

Joa Helgesson

Joa Helgesson, is our latest "reader submission" and he was submitted by a regular attendee at the Göteborgs Opera. He studied voice at the University College of Opera in Stockholm and studied acting at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. After his vocal studies in Stockholm he participated in young artist programs ae the National Opera Studio in London and the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

His roles have included Figaro in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Shaunard in Puccini's La boheme, Bill in Weill's Mahagonny, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Francesco in Verdi's I Masnadieri and Arsamene in Handel's Xerxes.

Helgesson was awarded scholarships from institutions the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, Friends of Vadstena Academy and the Friends of Drottningholm Palace Theatre.

Joa Helgesson sings Largo al factotum:

He is currently performing Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at the Stadttheater in Flensburg, Germany. There are performances running through February 14th. Additional information and tickets are available online. As soon as that run is over, he takes on Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Performances run from February 15th to May 29th.

Grant Doyle To Sing Mozart's Count

It's been two years since we featured the emerging barihunk Grant Doyle. The Australian singer caught our eye singing Demetrius in Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." We were wondering what he's been up to and were delighted to see that he'll be portraying the Count in "Le Nozze di Figaro" at Garsington Opera this summer.

We also noticed that he's set up a YouTube site and he has his first video up and running. Here he is singing the Torreador's song from Carmen:



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Daniel Okulitch Pix From La Scala

Here are the long awaited pictures of Barihunks favorite Daniel Okulitch from the amazing production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Scala. We already posted pictures of über-hunk David Adam Moore, who portrayed Demetrius barefoot, in a sexy tee and his shorts. Unfortunately, Daniel Okulitch was given a few layers of gold lamme.

Okulitch will be headed to New York where he will be making his New York City Opera debut in Don Giovanni.

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FINALLY! Pix of David Adam Moore from La Scala

Many thanks to one of our loyal readers for providing the long-awaited pictures of David Adam Moore from the Robert Carsen/Matthew Bourne production of Britten's "Midsummer Night's Dream" at La Scala. These pictures affirm our suspicion that Moore would be the hottest Demetrius to ever grace the stage.

We're still looking for pictures of Daniel Okulitch as Theseus. Anyone?

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Two Hot Poles

[Top Photo - Mariusz Kwiecien by Marty Sahl, next photo of Kwiecien in Seattle Opera's Marriage; Bottom - Jiroslaw Kitala as Aeneas]

We love Hot Poles at Barihunks and we're lucky to have two of them burning up the opera stages of the world. The bottom photo is Jiroslaw Kitala looking like he just left a toga party to perform in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Chorzów Culture Center.

Once again Seattle Opera has secured house favorite Mariusz Kwiecien to heat up their latest Mozart offering. The original Hot Pole will be singing Count Almaviva (alternating with fellow barihunk Johannes Mannov. BTW, Nicolas Cavallier is singing Figaro and I'd love feedback on whether he belongs on the site). One thing is certain, Kwiecien ALWAYS delivers a riveting performance and he remains one of the best singing actors on the stage today.

Seattle Opera remains one of the leading stages for Barihunks in America and they always put on a good show. Recently, emerging barihunk Thomas Forde was featured on this site in Seattle Opera's production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. If you haven't been, pay them a visit. You can learn more or just enjoy some great media at http://www.seattleopera.org. You can watch Kwiecien in action on the video posted above.

Hopefully, we'll see the other Hot Pole, Jiroslaw Kitala, on their stage in the near future. How about as Don Giovanni and Leporello?

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Red-Headed Ryan de Ryke

My apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days, but my internet service was down. After the Hottest Barihunk competition, I figured it's time to start looking at the barihunk bench. There are a number of major hunks emerging on the operatic scene and I want to shere them with you over the next week.

I recently received an email from someone who heard Ryan de Ryke in recital. They called him "tall, red-headed and someone you can't take your eyes off of." Well that got me googling pretty quick, so you be the judge.

De Ryke has appeared in a number of barihunks standards including Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream and our beloved Monteverdi and Mozart operas, which supply us with numerous barihunk images. He's rapidly establishing himself as an early music specialist and lieder recitalist of note, as witnessed from this beautiful clip of Schubert lieder.

De Ryke studied at the Britten-Pears Institute and his teachers have included Ian Partridge at the Royal Academy of Music and John Shirley-Quirk at the Peabody Conservatory.

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Upcoming Barihunk Jacques Imbrailo

Now that the Hottest Barihunk competition is over it's time to dig through my emails and see what hotties I've missed. South African Jacques Imbrailo seems to have a lot of fans around the globe. He studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music with Ryland Davies and won a number of vocal competitions.

I have a feeling that we're going to see a number of hot pictures of Imbrailo, as he sings a number of barihunk operas including Rape of Lucretia, Carmen, Iphigenie en Tauride, Midsummer Night's Dream and a number of Mozart operas.

He's also scheduled to debut his Billy Budd at the Glyndebourne Festival in the summer of 2010. Let's hope it's shirtless.

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A Midsummer Night's "Dreamy" Cast at La Scala

[Top photo Okulitch in The Fly; center photo, Okulitch in Dead man Walking; Bottom photo by David Gribbin of David Adam Moore]

If you don't have summer travel plans yet, you might want to consider booking a flight to Milan between June 6-17. The Teatro alla Scala will be performing Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with two barihunks, David Adam Moore and Daniel Okulitch. The rest of the cast is pretty impressive as well, with countertenor David Daniels, sopranos Rosemary Joshua and Erin Wall, and Andrew Davis in the pit.

You can visit the La Scala website at www.teatroallascala.org.

For those of you who missed it the first time, I'm reposting the picture of Daniel Okultich from The Fly. It was the most viewed picture on this site over the Christmas holidays, so most of you were being naughty, not nice.

Okulitch can next be seen in Vancouver singing Escamillo in Carmen. For more information, click here: http://www.vancouveropera.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=184&Itemid=15. David Adam Moore is next performing Zurga in The Pearl Fishers at the Seattle Opera. For more information, click here: http://www.seattleopera.org/tickets/2008-2009/fishers/artists.aspx.

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Craig Verm

Craig Verm established his reputation with the Pittsburgh Opera and set hearts aflutter with his shirtless portrayal of the Novice’s Friend in Britten’s Billy Budd [center photo]. That same season he portrayed Mercutio in Gounod’s Romeo & Juliette with the company, who has one of the better eyes for barihunk talent.

After a run of Gordon’s Grapes of Wrath in Pittsburgh, he heads to Italy to sing in two of our favorite operas at Barihunks, Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

We hope to see a lot more of Verm and thank a reader for tipping us off to this up and comer. If you have a barihunk that you'd like to see on the site, email me at barihunks@gmail.com.