We're not sure what they're putting in that luscious Midwest corn, but it apparently it's making people pine for Orff's Carmina Burana. We recently posted about barihunk Dan Kempson singing Orff's masterpiece with the Wichita Symphony. Now we've learned that just up the road in Kansas City, barihunk Michael Kelly will be performing the same piece on the same dates.
As an added bonus, Kelly will be performing with the energetic conductor Nic McGegan. We can't think of a better maestro to lead this lively score. If you can't make it to K.C. for this performance, make sure to buy McGegan's new CD of Handel's Atalanta.
Nic McGegan
Carmina Burana will be performed on Friday, November 16 through Sunday, November 18 and will be paired with Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G major (
“Surprise”). Tenor Mark Molomot and soprano Cynthia Sieden will sing the other roles. Tickets for all three performances are available online.
Actor Clancy O'Connor & Barihunk Michael Kelly will appear together
Fans of Kelly in New York can see him in Tribeca at SongFusion's Fall Gala featuring actor Clancy O'Connor. Kelly will be performing songs by New York composers about gay life in NY from SongFusion's upcoming program NY NOW! Gay Words/Gay Music. Tickets for the gala are available online.
Have you bought your 2013 Barihunks calendar yet? It's time to get into the holiday season and help us support young artist programs. Don't be a scrooge!!! Click on the link below:
There's one thing that we've learned in our five years of existence: Barihunks has a loyal group of ginger lovers. Every time we post a redhead on the site, we seem to get a half-dozen emails touting another "strawberry blond" singer.
A recent email came from a friend and it was about a wonderfully gifted singer who we both had seen many times on stage. It began, "Have you seen William Berger lately? Not sure what's he's done, but he's looking really H-O-T these days."
We're not sure either, but it looks like he's lost a stone or two and adopted a distinctly stylish new look. Whatever he's done, we agree that he looks as great as he sounds. We've seen other singers go through some amazing transformations recently, most notably the very public evolution of Michael Mayes from Bari-Chunk to Bari-Hunk, which remains one of our most visited and inspirational posts.
William Berger sings "Revenge Timotheus Cries" from Handel's Alexander's Feast)
Berger is an amazing talented baritone who sings with an incredible depth of emotion and colors his phrases beautifully. We still remember his performances with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra where he sang Aeneas opposite the great Susan Graham's Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas under maestro Nicholas McGegan. Even though he has no real aria the beauty of his singing was unforgettable.
He was also a successful Papageno for Garsington Opera last year, a role he'll be reprising next year at L'opéra de Toulon.
William Berger sings Mozart's "Abendempfindung"
Berger and McGegan are also releasing a recording of late 18th-century operatic arias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Berger also has a highly-acclaimed new recording out called "Insomnia" and we encourage you to read Berger's own thoughts on this very personal project.
You're more likely to spot a wombat while wandering around Coopracambra National Park than finding a video of Teddy Tahu Rhodes online. For some reason, the Kiwi Barihunk is one of the most underrepresented singers online, which has frustrated his legions of fans for years. He's one of the few big name baritones who doesn't have his own website or blog. It seems like the man we affectionately call "Teddy Bare" prefers his surfboard on a quiet beach to the clutter of the internet.
Now that he's touring in the popular production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific in Australia, videos are finally making their way onto the internet. Here he is singing "Some Enchanted Evening" at the Sydney Opera House.
Teddy Tahu Rhodes sings "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific"
The Tony Award-winning show, which was directed by Bartlett Sher and starred barihunk Paulo Szot at Lincoln Center will be playing for a month in Sydney begging on Thursday, August 9th. About a third of the shows are already either sold out or near capacity. Click HERE for tickets.
The production is part of Opera Australia's aggressive effort to expand their audience. It seems to be paying off, as the Guardian reports that the company's overall funding, including sponsorships, has risen from $A70m to $A100m.
Hadleigh Adams
On the other side of the globe, another Kiwi barihunk has taken San Francisco by storm. Hadleigh Adams, who is part of the 2012 Merola Opera Program, stole the show with his performance of the final scene of Act 2 of Bizet's "La Jolie Fille de Perth" at Merola's Schwabacher Summer Concert.
The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "The evening's standout was Hadleigh Adams, a formidable bass-baritone from New Zealand who in his only appearance on this program deployed a robust, beautiful tone with both flexibility and power."
Adams will return to the stage one more time on August 18 at the Merola Grand Finale where he will perform “Somnus awake! ... Leave me loathsome light … More sweet is that name” from Handel's Semele with Suzanne Rigden and Erin Johnson. A number of other barihunks will be performing in the Finale, including Seth Mease Carico as Don Giovanni and Mustafa, Joseph Lattanzi as Jupiter in Offenbach's Orphée aux Enfers, Gordon Bintner as Leporello and Belcore, and Matthew Scollin in Lully's Alceste. Visit the San Francisco Opera website for ticket information.
One final New Zealand connection will be British conductor Nicholas McGegan, who is conducting the Finale and has led the New Zealand Symphony in the past. His recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto No 24 with Robert Levin with the New Zealand Symphony is a must for any collector.
Samuel Ramey, Marilyn Horne and Sylvia McNair sing "Leave me loathsome light":
San Francisco Bay area residents are in for a treat as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra is once again teaming up barihunk Philip Cutlip with early music conductor extraordinaire Nicholas McGegan. The two have performed together in highly acclaimed performances of Haydn's The Creation, Handel's Messiah, Handel's Atalanta and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Anyone who has heard these two perform together knows it's always a special evening of music making. Cutlip and McGegan are now teaming up for Handel's Alexander Feast with a cast that includes soprano Dominique Labelle and tenor Dann Coakwell. Visit the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra website for additional information.
William Berger sings "Revenge, Timotheus cries" from Alexander's Feast:
Cutlip has been a regular on this site in repertoire ranging from the Handel, Mozart and Donizetti to Britten, Heggie and Philip Glass. We're eagerly looking forward to his Eugene Onegin with the Edmonton Opera in May 2013. His recording of Joseph De Rocher in Heggie's Dead Man Walking will be released on Virgin Classics on April 24th.
Philip Cutlip as Joseph De Rocher
Frequently heard in performances with New York Festival of Song, Cutlip gave the world premiere of American Love Songs
- a set of 10 commissioned pieces for vocal quartet - at the Tisch
Center for the Arts and at the 92nd Street Y; appeared in a program of
commissioned works at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; and also
toured with NYFOS to Louisville for Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen.
