Barihunk sextet in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" touring Italy

Dario Shikhmiri, Rocco Cavalluzzi, Federico Benetti and Paolo Ingrasciotta (l-r)

Our heads almost exploded when we saw the cast list for Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona, as it features a record number of six barihunks and bass-barihunks in one production. Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears are undoubtedly smiling down on this production from heaven. The eye candy cast includes  Zachary Altman as Bottom, Nicholas Masters as Quince, Dario Shikhmiri as Starveling, Rocco Cavalluzzi as Snug, Federico Benetti as Theseus and Paolo Ingrasciotta as Demetrius.

Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters

The final four on that list have not even appeared on Barihunks before. There are only two performances of the show, which runs on October 7 and 9. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Nicholas Masters sings Bottom's aria from A Midsummer Night's Dream:

The production is a co-production with the Teatro Sociale di Como/Aslico, Fondazione Teatro Grande di Brescia and  the Fondazione Teatro Fraschini di Pavia. Most of the cast will perform at the Teatro Municipale Valli di Reggio Emilia on November 18 and 20. There are also performances on November 4 and 6 in Brescia and in Pavia on October 28 and 30, but no cast lists are available or posted. The websites for Zachary Altman and Nicholas Masters show them performing in all of the productions.

Barihunk trio in Garsington Opera season

Roderick Williams (photo: Mark Douet) and Quirijn de Lang (photo: Johan Persson)

The 2016 Garsington Opera is well under way and will be running until July 17. They are presenting Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Mozart’s Idomeneo, Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri and a production of Haydn’s The Creation. which incorporates dance. All three operas feature barihunks! The performances are at the Opera Pavilion on the gorgeous, rolling landscape of the Chiltern Hills, less than an hour from London.

Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, directed by Michael Boyd, features British barihunk Roderick Williams making his role debut and festival debut as Onegin. He'll be joined by Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw asTatyana and Ukrainian tenor Oleksiy Palchykov as Lensky.

Nicholas Masters timelapse video of makeup prep for Idomeneo:

Mozart’s Idomeneo, directed by Tim Albery, features barihunk Nicholas Masters as Neptune, who will be joined by tenor Toby Spence in the title role and Rebecca von Lipinski as Elletra.

Rossini’s L’italiana in Algeri, directed by Olivier award-winner Will Tuckett, will feature Dutch barihunk Quirijn de Lang as Mustafa and Mary Bevan as his long-suffering wife Elvira.

Garsington Opera will also host a number of public screenings of Eugene Onegin in isolated coastal and rural communities, including in Skegness on July 2, Ramsgate from July 25 - 30, Bridgewater on August 20 and Grimsby on September 30.

English National Opera rolling out a season of barihunks

Morgan Pearse and Barnaby Rea

The English National Opera has announced its new season and they have enough barihunks featured to start a small men's chorus.

Lovers of ginger barihunks won't want to miss Rossini's Barber of Seville, which features Aussie Morgan Pearse in the title role and Barnaby Rea as Don Basilio. Andrew Shore returns in this Jonathan Miller production in his signature role of Bartolo, while Kathryn Rudge sings Rosina and the gifted young tenor Eleazor Rodriguez takes on Count Almaviva. There will be ten performances beginning on September 28th.

Ashley Riches, Nicholas Masters and Duncan Rock

Beginning October 16th, ENO will feature a barihunk trio in fourteen performances of Puccini's La bohéme. Duncan Rock, who is easily one of the most popular barihunks on this site, will sing Marcello. He'll be joined by the Colline of Ashley Riches and Nicholas Masters as Schaunard. Zach Borichevsky will sing Rodolfo, Corinne Winters sings Mimi and Rhian Lois sings Musetta. The opera will be directed by Benedict Andrews. Fans of Duncan Rock in the US can catch his American debut in the title role of Don Giovanni, running from May 1-10 with the Boston Lyric Opera.

George von Bergen

ENO Harewood Young Artist George von Bergen will sing Sharpless in Anthony Minghella's award-winning production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The British singer studied at the University of Bristol, the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera Studio in London, before going on to win the Royal Overseas League singing competition. He has performed with the Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Scottish Opera and Garsington Opera, and made his BBC Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with Sir Andrew Davis.

Other operas in the upcoming season include Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Mozart's The Magic Flute, Bellini's Norma, Verdi's The Force of Destiny, Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado, Glass' Akhnaten, Janacek's Jenufa and Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. 

If you can't wait until the new season, you can check out barihunk Leigh Melrose as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, which runs from May 20-June 3. Visit the ENO website for complete cast list and ticket information.

Barihunks star in Atlanta Opera's new season

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.

Backstage photo from "No Tenors Allowed" featuring "Three Barihunks"

Gordon Bintner, Elliot Madore, Bill Eddins (Edmonton Symphony Orchestra Music Director), Philippe Sly

Regular readers may remember our post about the three Canadian barihunks performing the "No Tenors Allowed" concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The trio joined conductor Bill Eddins for a program of from music from Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Macbeth, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Wagner's Tannhäuser.

We were fortunate enough to get a backstage photo of the group after Monday night's concert, which from all accounts, was a huge success. 

Philippe Sly can next be heard on April 2nd with soprano Hélène Guilmette performing excerpts from the Fauré Requiem, Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec under the baton of Jean-Marie Zeitouni. Tickets are available online.

Elliot Madore returns to Pennsylvania where he will again be part of a barihunk trio in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Opera Philadelphia. He'll take on the title role, as Wes Mason sings Masetto and Nicholas Masters sings the Commendatore. Performance run from April 25-May 4. Tickets are available online.

Competitive Beefcake Around the World

Enzo Romano (L), Szymon Komasa (C) & Davide Bartolucci (R)

Finalists were announced 3,500 miles apart in two of the most prestigious vocal competitions in the world. The Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions announced their eight finalists and the grandly named "Cardiff Singer of the World" named their twenty finalists.

Although separated by the Atlantic Ocean and a different approach to reaching a winner, one thing that both competitions have in common is an abundance of barihunk talent.

Nicholas Masters & Philippe Sly

Both Nicholas Masters and Philippe Sly, who we featured earlier on this site, are among the "Elite Eight" who will sing with the amazing Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Lincoln Center on Sunday, March 13. Winners will receive $15,000 each.

HVOROSTOVSKY AT CARDIFF IN 1989

At Cardiff, three singers who are new to this site will compete for the Grand Prize, which in 1989 went to barihunk Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Italian baritone Davide Bartolucci, Polish baritone Szymon Komasa and Uruguayan Enzo Romano will compete between June 12-19 for the coveted title. [Click on their names to read their bios]. Famed baritone Håkan Hagegård will be one of the judges, as will Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Marilyn Horne. In addition to the Grand Prize, Cardiff awards a Lieder Prize and an Audience Favorite Prize.

PAUL WHELAN SINGS CLAGGART'S ARIA FROM BILLY BUDD

Other Cardiff winners who have appeared on Barihunks are Paul Whelan, winner of the 1993 Lieder Prize, Christoper Maltman, winner of the 1997 Lieder Prize, Tommi Hakala, who won the Grand Prize in 2003 and Jacques Imbrailo, who won the Audience Prize in 2007.

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Congratulations to the 40th Annual "George London Award" Winners

Jonathan Beyer: The Philadelphia Flyer of Opera

 Barihunks would like to congratulate to the winners of the 40th Annual George London Awards Competition. Barihunk Jonathan Beyer continued his remarkable and unprecedented winning streak in vocal competitions. The Philadelphia native is going to pass hockey's 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers for having the longest winning streak in the City of Brotherly Love. We think it's about time that Mayor Michael Nutter declares a "Jonathan Beyer Day" in the city, like they do for their sports franchises. You can suggest it at Michael.Nutter@phila.gov.

Ryan McKinny (L) & Edward Parks III (R)

Beyer won one of the six $10,000 awards granted to winners. Two other barihunks were among the winners, Ryan McKinny and Edward Parks III. Other winners included tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Alexander Hajek and soprano Emalie Savoy.

Nicholas Masters

Barihunk Nicholas Masters was granted a $1,000 Encouragement Award

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Nicholas Masters

The Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia continues to churn out barihunks like Beyonce churns out hit songs. Meet Nicholas Masters, an adorable bass who recently performed in Monteverdi's "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" and Puccini's "La Boheme" at Wolf Trap Opera. At AVA he has performed in Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff and Anna Bolena.

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