Opera Atelier's gorgeous production of Mozart's Idomeneo opened on April 4th with sexy bass-barihunk Doug Williams as Neptune and barihunk Olivier Laquerre as Arbace.
The cast includes Colin Ainsworth in the title role, Measha Brueggergosman as Elettra, Wallis Giunta as Idamante, Meghan Lindsay as Ilia and Bradley Christensen as the Priest. Additional performances are on April 6, 7, 12 and 13 and tickets are available online.
The opera had a successful premiere in Munich in 1781 just two days after the composer's 25th birthday. However, there was only one other performance of the piece in Mozart's lifetime, a concert version in Vienna in 1786. The lyrical tragedy is considered Mozart’s greatest choral opera and is composed in the baroque tradition of the opera seria. Unfortunately, its style fell out of favor and had a spotty performance history compared to his other works.
Olivier Laquerre as Arbace(photo: Bruce Zinger)
Based on a Homeric myth, the opera follows the return of Idomeneo, the King of Crete, to his Greek Island after the Trojan War. Along with him is his captive Ilia, a Trojan Princess, who is conflicted because she has fallen in love with her captor's son and enemy, Idamante. Meanwhile, in order to save himself from an imminent ship wreck and watery grave, Idomeneo makes a pact with Neptune, the god of the seas, to sacrifice the first person he meets on shore. The sacrifice turns out to be his son, Idamante. Neptune agrees to spare Idamante's life if Idomeneo abdicates his throne to his son and his future wife, Ilia. Only Elettra, whose love for Idamante is unrequited, is left unfulfilled.
We've been meaning to post about Canadian David Diston for at least a year, but his bio for his upcoming bio for the 24-baritone Winterreise-fest was the best motivation to get this done. Regular readers may recall barihunk Zachary Luchetti's hysterical and epic biography that we posted about in 2015 and Diston's is shorter, but every bit as clever.
"David Diston’s rapidly developing artistry is quickly gaining him
recognition as a ‘sonorous baritone’ (Huffpost Alberta) with ‘full-throated
and characterful singing’ (Calgary Herald). Also hailed as 'the best
baritone ever' (Dave's Mom), Mr. Diston recently performed a most
dramatic rendition of Don Giovanni, in his shower. Critically acclaimed
for his coffee consumption abilities, David becomes a bigger fan of
coloratura with each additional cup. Don't miss David in his upcoming
appearances as 'King of the Night' in his living room, and 'passenger'
on the 11:43pm Lakeshore West from Union."
You can hear (and see) Diston live in the Tongue In Cheek Productions performance of twenty-four basses and baritones singing Schubert's Winterreise on Wednesday, September 5, 8pm at Lula Lounge in Toronto. Some of the singers include Jason Howard, Doug MacNaughton, Dion Mazerolle, Alexander Hajek, Cairan Ryan, Aaron Durand, Michael Nyby and Olivier Laquerre. Tickets are available online.
Opera Atelier will open their new season on October 26 with barihunk Douglas Williams making his company debut in the title role of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. The opera will also feature two other singers who have appeared on our site, Olivier Laquerre as Antonio and Stephen Hegedus as Count Almaviva. The remainder of the cast includes Mireille Asselin as Susanna, Peggy Kriha Dye as Countess Almaviva,
Mireille Lebel as Cherubino, Laura Pudwell as Marcellina, Gustav
Andreassen as Bartolo), Christopher Enns as Basilio/Don Curzio, and Grace
Lee as Barbarina.
Opera Atelier’s production of The Marriage of Figaro will be sung in the famous English translation by American playwright Jeremy Sams.
Doug Williams sings "Non più andrai" from Marriage of Figaro:
Stephen Hegedus (photo: David Cooper) and Olivier Laquerre (photo: Bruce Zinger)
Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster. $15 Operatix tickets may be purchased by patrons aged 15-30 in person at the Elgin Theatre Box Office or online with the code OPERATIX. Performances run through November 4th.
Opera Atelier will host a special Operatix Evening on Friday, November 3rd, featuring a post-performance party with the artists for ticket-holders age 30 and under.
Derek Chester and Marco Vassalli from the 2018 Barihunks Photo Book
Our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchaseHERE.
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 thatHERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think!
They only time that Wiard Witholt has appeared on Barihunks was in 2010 when we were trying to figure out who the tallest barihunk was in the world. The Cardiff Singer of the World Competition listed him at 6' 7½" which is a little over 2 meters tall, making him the second tallest after Olivier Laquerre (but the tallest to ever compete at Cardiff).
He's now performing the title role in Czech composer Viktor Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis at the Nederlandse Reisopera from May 4-13 in Amsterdam, Enschede, Apeldoorn, Maastricht and Leiden. The Netherlands Opera presented the world premiere of the opera December
16, 1975, at the Bellevue Centre in Amsterdam. The opera was performed
at Theresienstadt on May 25, 1991, fifty-one years after the initial
rehearsal.The opera has had numerous performances worldwide in recent years, including in Kassel, Long Beach, Hamburg, Linz, Boston, Lyon, Vienna, Dijon and a U.K. tour. Other upcoming performances will be in Madrid with Alejandro Marco-Buhrmester and in Vienna with Matteo Loi.
Wiard Witholt studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the New Opera Academy in Amsterdam, graduating in 2005. In 2008, he made his debut at the Royal Theatre La Monnaie Brussels as Le Berger in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande. In the 2009-10 season, he became a full-time member of the Opera House in Dessau. He created Schemariah, the principal character in Hiob, Erich Zeisl's opera based on the novel by Joseph Roth. Last season he sang the Messanger in the world première of Pascal Dusapin's Penthesilea at the Royal Theatre La Monnaie and Dusapin's Passion at the Sydney Festival 2016.
Viktor Ullman and his librettist Peter Kien wrote Der Kaiser von Atlantis while interned at
the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt (Terezín) around 1943. The
opera received a rehearsal at Theresienstadt in March 1944, but the Nazi
authorities interpreted the work's depiction of the character Kaiser
Overall as a satire on Adolf Hitler and did not allow a performance.
Both of Viktor Ullmann's parents were from families of Jewish descent,
but had converted to Roman Catholicism before his birth. Ullmann
remained active musically at Theresienstadt, where he was a piano
accompanist, organized concerts, wrote critiques of musical events, and
composed, as part of a cultural circle including Karel Ančerl, Rafael
Schachter, Gideon Klein, Hans Krása, and other prominent musicians
imprisoned there. Both the composer and the librettist died in the
Auschwitz concentration camp.
The Netherlands Opera presented the world premiere of the opera December
16, 1975, at the Bellevue Centre in Amsterdam. The opera was performed
at Theresienstadt on May 25, 1991, fifty-one years after the initial
rehearsal.
Olivier Laquerre (Méduse) left, Vasil Garvanliev (Phinèe) center, and Curtis Sullivan (Cyclope) 2nd from rightPhotos on left and right by Bruce Zinger
Opera Atelier has revived their critically acclaimed production of Lully’s Persée with four barihunks in the cast: Olivier Laquerre as Méduse, Vasil Garvanliev as Phinèe, Stephen Hegedus as Protenor/Divinite Infernale and Curtis Sullivan as Cyclope.
The company first staged the production in 2000, which was the opera's first fully staged production since it inaugurated the Royal Opera House at Versailles in 1770 during the wedding celebrations of the future King Louis XVI to Marie Antoinette. Their 2004 revival of Persée was the subject of a documentary.
Stephen Hegedus (right)
The Royal Opera House has invited Opera Atelier to bring Persée back to Versailles for the first time since the 1770 performances. It will be performed on May 23, 24, and 25 after the current run at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto. There are performances tonight, as well as May 2 and 3.
You can also catch Stephen Hegedus performing Bach’s Magnificat and Bruckner’s Te Deum with l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec on May 28.
We've been touting Vasil Garvanliev as one of opera's sexiest up and coming stars for a few years now. He has landed the plum role of Kaspar in Opera Atelier's Der Freischutz, which is an underperformed work in North America. Make sure to check out our previous posts about this Garvanliev.
As with any Opera Atelier production, they have managed to create a sensuous production that manages to bring Weber's often stodgily performed piece to life. Robert Harris in the Toronto Globe & Mail wrote:
The most famous scene in Freischutz is the Wolf’s Glen scene,
where Max receives his doomed, magic bullets, and it’s here that
Atelier’s command of staging worked to full effect. The point of the
Wolf’s Glen scene is to shock and amaze, and the sight of a dozen
seemingly naked bodies, rushing across the stage, waving banners,
writhing in torment, haunting Max (and us) certainly did the trick. But
did so in a way that never overwhelmed the production, instead
heightening its spooky, frightening ambiance.
Curtis Sullivan as Samiel
We received an email a month ago from a singer that said, "Wait until you see Curtis Sullivan's outfit in Freischutz. You and your readers will be quite pleased." Well, we just got the photos and we are indeed quite pleased. Robert Harris wrote:
Curtis Sullivan was a truly malevolent and frightening Samiel, the Devil
figure in the piece, even though he performed his entire role seemingly
in the nude.
Der Freischutz dancers
There are two performances of Der Freischutz left on November 2nd and 3rd. Visit their website for additional performance information or to purchase tickets. On April 6th, the company will reprise their much heralded production of The Magic Flute with two barihunks, Olivier Laquerre and João Fernandes, as well as one of the sexiest tenors that we've ever seen, Aaron Ferguson.
Hot tenor Aaron Ferguson
Don't forget to click on the link in our sidebar to the right and purchase your 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. Once again, all proceeds will go to benefit young artists and young artist training programs. Last year, we donated to the Portland Opera Studio, Seagle Music Colony and bought music for six aspiring singers.
A recent conversation with the head of an American opera company included a lot of questions about marketing. He was a little surprised with the response that no company matches the Canadian baroque specialists Opera Atelier when it comes to creativity, appealing to younger audiences and making opera seem accessible. After all, they've taken operas that are over 300 years old and made them downright sexy and appealing. Best of all, the same high standard that they use in their marketing campaigns translates to the stage, where they produce some of the most visually stunning performances to be seen anywhere.
When we preach about opera companies needing to compete with television and movies, without compromising standards, Opera Atelier is the model.
Making Der Freischütz sexy
The 27-year-old company has done it again for their latest season, which includes Mozart's The Magic Flute and Weber's Der Freischütz. We don't think that we have EVER seen a sexy marketing campaign for Weber's most performed opera before now. What's even more amazing is that four singers who have appeared on Barihunks are in the cast, including Olivier LaQuerre as Kuno, Mike Nyby as Killian/Prince Ottokar, Curtis Sullivan as Samiel and the deliciously sexy Vasil Garvanliev as Kaspar.
Performances of Der Freischützrun from October 27 through November 3.
Jack Rennie as Love with Peggy Kriha Dye as Armide and Curtis Sullivan
as Hatred in The Glimmerglass Festival/Opera Atelier production of
Armide. (Photo Karli Cadel/The Glimmerglass Festival)
Their other production is The Magic Flute, which is an opera that is more often featured on this site. Usually the opera is featured because it stars one of the many adorable Papagenos singing the role today. Opera Atelier features Olivier LaQuerre as the tallest Papageno you'll probably ever see at 6'9" (2.06 metres). His Freischütz castmateCurtis Sullivan reappears as the Speaker along with João Fernandes as Sarastro.
Vasil Garvanliev: The world's sexiest Kaspar?
The Magic Flute will run from April 6-13, 2013. Complete cast information and tickets are available at the Opera Atelier website.
We've been featured and even interviewed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and they've mentioned us a number of times. But they've stepped it up a notch with their "The Sexiest Barihunks in Canada" feature.
The post features four barihunks hot enough to melt the ice caps north of the Yukon: Etienne Dupuis, Phillipe Sly, Phillip Addis and Brett Polegato. The singers are asked about their sexiest features, sexiest roles, workout routine and what they'd sing to woo a lover. It is definitely worth checking out and we appreciate the ongoing love from the CBC, who we adore more than a Molson at a hockey game.
We're pretty sure that limiting it to four singers was more about who they could successfully contact than creating a comprehensive list. We're pretty certain that Canada has the highest per capita ratio of barihunks in the world. We've featured close to two dozen Canadians on this site, including three in last year's calendar: Philip Kalmanovitch, Jonathan Estabrooks and Aaron Agulay. Estabrooks will be reappearing in the 2013 calendar.
Daniel Okulitch in The Last Savage
Two Canadians barihunks are having huge international careers, Daniel Okulitch and John Relyea. Relyea is a regular at the Met and other major opera houses, while Okulitch is a fan favorite in opera houses across the globe. His performance in a loin cloth in Menotti's "The Last Savage" at the Sante Fe Opera still has opera cognoscenti buzzing with delight.
Elliot Madore is on the verge of breaking into the upper tier of singers. He has a redesigned website and has caught the attention of opera general managers everywhere. We recently received emails from opera executives in three countries praising this gifted young artist.
Other Canadians who we've featured include Mike Nyby, Stephen Hegedus, Olivier Laquerre, Tyler Duncan, Riley McMitchell, Peter Barrett, Gordon Bintner, Philip Kalmanovitch, Benjamin Covey and Michael Adair (who co-opted "Barihunk" for his Twitter name).
John Relyea sings "Scintille, diamant" from The Tales of Hoffmann":
There are few singers who photograph better than Vasil Garvanliev, who we discovered while he was singing at Opera Atelier. Of course, Opera Atelier has become famous for their sexy, provocative marketing campaigns that often features models in various states of undress. Even though they use models, they seem to hire singers who could double as models in their ad campaigns. In addition to Garvanliev, we've featured Olivier Laquerre, Curtis Sullivan, Phillip Addis and João Fernandes from the company roster.
Although most of our news is about singing, we couldn't resist telling readers about Garvanliev's new tattoo which he had placed on his arm above the LOVE tattoo that appears on the back of his wrist. The photo below shows the design, the procedure and the final tattoo. We think it's pretty HOT.
The Macedonian barihunk is a young artist at the Glimmerglass Festival this summer, which of course is run by the "Mother of Barihunks," director Francesca Zambello. Future appearances include Caspar in Weber's Der Freischütz with Opera Atelier and Pistola in Verdi's Falstaff with Calgary Opera.
Barihunks Michael Kelly & Douglas Williams (L); Douglas Williams behind tenor Aaron Sheehan (R) - photos by Kathy Wittman
If you like your barihunks like your redwood trees, which is tall and awe-inspiring, then head to the Boston Early Music Festival. The group is performing Charpentier's glorious Orphée with three statuesque barihunks, Michael Kelly at 6'2", Douglas Williams at 6'4" and Olivier Laquerre at 6'7". [By the way, we featured two post on who might be the world's tallest barihunk, which you can read HERE and HERE].
The opera tells the famous story of Orphée who decends into the underworld to rescue his beloved Euridice using his musical charms. La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts a musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV as shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.
There will be two performances of the opera at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall in Boston on Saturday evening, November 26th and Sunday afternoon, November 27th. The Boston Early Music Festival not only features singers who are easy on the eyes, but they produce some of the most wonderful baroque opera to listen to in the world. You can click HERE to watch one of our favorite singers, Jesse Blumberg, perform Polifierno in Agostino Steffani’s opera, Niobe, Regina di Tebe.
Douglas Williams is also part of our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. He's our July feature of "All-American Boys" along with Jonathan Boehr and Christopher Temporelli. You won't want to miss it! Shopping season is officially kicking off tomorrow so order your calendar today by clicking HERE. Please remember that all proceeds are going to benefit young artist programs.
Michael Kelly was supposed to be part of the calendar, but a reprinting error inadvertently left him out. We promise to feature plenty of this gifted young singer in 2012!. You can watch Kelly's recital from the Trinity Wall Street Church, which we featured earlier this year, by clicking HERE.
If you know of a barihunk singing in Handel's Messiah this year, please email us the information at Barihunks@gmail.com.
Few opera companies are better at Baroque opera or sexy opera than Opera Atlelier and they've done it again with Handel's "Acis and Galatea." A number of our favorite posts have come by way of this creative company, including those of Curtis Sullivan, Phillip Addis, Vasil Garvanliev and Olivier Laquerre. Now you can add João Fernandes asPolyphemus to the mix. Check out the guns on that man!
There are two performances of this production left and they are on Saturday, November 6 and Sunday, November 7. You can purchase tickets HERE. Here is the trailer for the opera. You can hear Fernandes sing at the 1:40 mark:
Fernandes has made a career out of singing early Romantic and Baroque opera, including performances of Giove in La Calisto at the Royal Opera House, Claudio in Handel's Agrippina at New York City Opera, Bellone in Rameau's Les Indes Galantes at the Paris Opera) and Don Afonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Seneca in Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea at Lyon Opera).
Our post about the tallest barihunk generated a lot of mail with people speculating about someone who might be taller than Olivier Laquerre. Some of the names sent to us were Thomas Hampson, Paul Whelan, Luca Dall'Amico, Kevin Thompson, Jérôme Varnier, Gregory Gerbrandt and Greer Grimsley. We're pretty confident that none of these singers are taller than Laquerre.
However, the most credible email we received asked about Dutch baritone Wiart Witholt. His website includes the following press tidbit:
Wiard Witholt from the Netherlands has the dubious honour of being the tallest competitor ever in Cardiff Singer. I have no idea how this is known, perhaps somewhere there is the equivalent of a police file kept on everyone, with a photo of each one holding up a number. Anyway Wiard is the tallest at 6' 7½" which I think is 2m, though it is late at night as I type this.
[Gregory Gerbrandt, Greer Grimsley & Kevin Thompson]
After our latest post about Teddy Tahu Rhodes appeared, a reader wrote to ask if he's the tallest barihunk. From what we know, "Teddy Bare" is tied for being the second tallest barihunk along with Michael Todd Simpson. Both are about 6'5" according to our theater sources. The tallest barihunk appears to be Canadian Olivier Laquerre who stands at 6'8" according to our sources.
All of Laquerre's upcoming performances are in Canada. On November 5th and 6th, he appears with the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivieres in a performance of Handel's "Messiah." Then he's with the Symphony Nova Scotia performing Mozart's Requiem on November 11th and 14th. Then it's off for another "Messiah" with the Guelph Chamber Choir on December 18th.
If you know of a taller barihunk, please let us know at barihunks@gmail.com.
[Garvanliev, Laquerre, Sullivan and Addis & the Opera Atelier banner for Figaro]
Toronto's Opera Atelier is known for cutting edge baroque performances, sexy marketing and even sexier singers. The boutique opera company's latest offering is Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" with four certifiable barihunks, Phillip Addis, Curtis Sullivan, Olivier Laquerre and Vasil Garvanliev. All of them have appeared on this site before except for the youngest of three, Garvanliev. The Macedonian singer now resides in Toronto where he is wrapping up his graduate studies at the University of Toronto.
Garvanliev has been a child star in native country since the age of seven singing pop songs. He was a finalist in the Macedonian Eurosong Festival with his own original composition in February 2007. Here is a video of him from Macedonian TV:
You can't miss Canadian barihunk Olivier Laquerre, who stands at 6' 7" as well as being stunningly gorgeous. So far, his career has been centered in Canada where he has performed with the Opera de Quebec, Opera Atelier, numerous orchestras and the CBC.
He has already performed a number of barihunk roles, including Escamillo, Achilla, Papageno, Thaos, and Monteverdi's Ottone and Pluto. He is next scheduled to perform Dido and Aeneas with the Classical Music Consort in Toronto.
