Pietro di Bianco, Sam Roberts-Smith and Xiaohan Zhai
Baritones are once again dominating a major singing competition, as a third of the finalists at the prestigious Paris Opera Awards were from our favorite voice range. Pietro di Bianco, Sam Roberts-Smith and Xiaohan Zhai have all advanced to the final round and di Bianco walked away with the top prize for male singers. Soprano Daria Terekhova took the top prize for women.
In fact, all three of the top prizes plus the audience prize went to the low voices. Xiaohan Zhai took second place and Sam Roberts-Smith won both third place and the Special Jury Prize for the best performance. Marina Nachkebiya and Leonie Renaud took second and third place for the women. Di Bianco will receive €5000 ($6300 US) for taking the top prize, Zhai receives €3000 ($3800 US) and Roberts-Smith €1000 ($1250 US) for each of his prizes.
Pietro di Bianco, Michael Hewitt and Michael Scarcelle in the Barihunks Calendar
You can enjoy Pietro di Bianco for the entire month of February in our new Viva, Italia! Barihunks Calendar, which is available by clicking below.
Just days after Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition completely eliminated any low male voices from their finals scheduled in Los Angeles today, the Paris Opera Competition announced that three baritones/bass-baritones have advanced to their finals. Xiaohan Zhai of China, Sam Roberts-Smith of Australia and Pietro Di Bianco of Italy will compete in the Competition's final gala concert on November 19th. After the gala performance, three male and
three female singers will be selected as winners, with a prize of €5000
(US $6750) for 1st place, €3000 (US $4050) for 2nd place and €1000 (US
$1350) for 3rd place. Special prizes for Best Artistic Performance and
Audience Favorite will earn the winners €1000.
Joining the three in the final concert will be Carol Garcia of Spain, Marina Nachkebiya of Georgia, Daria Terekhova of Russia, Yujoong Kim of South Korea, Miriam Zubieta of Spain, Cristian Mogosan of Romania and Sarah Strauss-Zhai of Germany.
Xiaohan Zhai sings Leporello's aria from Don Giovanni:
Xiaohan Zhai was
born in in Kaifeng, China in 1986. He went to France to study at the
l'École Normale de Musique de Paris. In 2011, he took second place at
the Concours de Clés d'Or and a year later finished third at the FLAME
Competition. Last season, he performed Leoporello in Mozart's Don
Giovanni at the Festival Saint-Cere.
Born in 1983, Pietro Di Bianco studied piano at the
Conservatoire Giuseppe Martucci of Salerno, where he graduated in 2004. He
studied chamber music at the Accademia nazionale de Santa Cecilia and won
several national competitions. He was hired as a piano accompanist at the music
conservatories in Salerno and Potenza.
Pietro di Bianco sings Tamerlano's aria:
He then took up singing at the conservatory in Aquila
and graduated in 2009. He worked with the great soprano Renata Scotto at the
opera in Santa Cecilia and with the legendary baritone Renato Bruson in Sienna.
He was a finalist at the 62nd Concours européen Associazione lirica
concertistica Italiana at the Teatro de Como. He is currently honing his skills with the Bulgarian soprano Raina Kabaiwanska.
He recently received critical acclaim for his performance as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra National de Paris in a cast that featured fellow barihunk Damian Pass as Masetto (who was eliminated at Operalia!).
Sam Roberts-Smith sings "Sois immobile" from Rossini's William Tell:
Sam Roberts-Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Music
and Graduate Diploma in Opera from the Western Australian Academy of
Performing Arts in 2008. After completing his studies he relocated to
Sydney and joined Australia’s national company, Opera Australia.
He is
the recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the Joan
Sutherland Society of Sydney Scholarship, the Rosina Raisbeck Award and
winner of the prestigious 2009 Australian Singing Competition. As winner
of the ASC, Sam was asked to perform at both Dame Joan Sutherland and
Richard Bonynge’s 80th Birthday Galas.
In 2010, after performing the
role of Morales in Francesca Zambello’s production of Bizet's Carmen and Yamadori in Puccini's Madama
Butterfly, he was invited to join Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program.
We've now learned that another of our favorite barihunks will be in the Final 50, as well. Italian barihunk Pietro di Bianco, who we introduced to readers back in February, will also be competing to make it into the Final 10, where contestants will perform with a full orchestra in a gala concert in honor of soprano Joan Sutherland. The singers will perform not just for the Grand Jury, but for agents and music professionals from across the globe.
Yu Di and Sam Roberts-Smith
After the performance, three male and three female singers will be selected as winners, with a prize of €5000 (US $6750) for 1st place, €3000 (US $4050) for 2nd place and €1000 (US $1350) for 3rd place. Special prizes for Best Artistic Performance and Audience Favorite will earn the winners €1000. The
competition starts with 50 singers and ends with prizes for three male
and three female singers. Ten singers will perform in a gala finale on
November 19th. Each singer can place two video clips on their profile
and the public can vote for their favorite singers. Make sure to check out the Paris Awards website and cast your vote.
The site is in French, but many pages are translatable to other
languages by clicking on the flags on the top right of the page.
Pietro di Bianco as Leporello in Paris:
Born in 1983, Pietro Di Bianco studied piano at the
Conservatoire Giuseppe Martucci of Salerno, where he graduated in 2004. He
studied chamber music at the Accademia nazionale de Santa Cecilia and won
several national competitions. He was hired as a piano accompanist at the music
conservatories in Salerno and Potenza. He then took up singing at the conservatory in Aquila
and graduated in 2009. He worked with the great soprano Renata Scotto at the
opera in Santa Cecilia and with the legendary baritone Renato Bruson in Sienna.
He was a finalist at the 62nd Concours européen Associazione lirica
concertistica Italiana at the Teatro de Como. He is currently honing his skills with the Bulgarian soprano Raina Kabaiwanska.
He recently received critical acclaim for his performance as Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra National de Paris in a cast that featured fellow barihunk Damian Pass as Masetto.
We were devastated when Aussie barihunk Sam Roberts-Smith announced in 2011 that he was switching to tenor. We recently learned that he's now making the switch back to baritone and will compete in his lower fach at the Paris Opera Awards.
The competition starts with 50 singers and ends with prizes for three male and three female singers. Ten singers will perform in a gala finale on November 19th. Each singer can place two video clips on their profile and the public can vote for their favorite singers.
Make sure to check out the Paris Awards website and cast your vote. The site is in French, but many pages are translatable to other languages by clicking on the flags on the top right of the page.
WE VOTED!!!
Sam Roberts-Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Music
and Graduate Diploma in Opera from the Western Australian Academy of
Performing Arts in 2008. After completing his studies he relocated to
Sydney and joined Australia’s national company, Opera Australia.
He is
the recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the Joan
Sutherland Society of Sydney Scholarship, the Rosina Raisbeck Award and
winner of the prestigious 2009 Australian Singing Competition. As winner
of the ASC, Sam was asked to perform at both Dame Joan Sutherland and
Richard Bonynge’s 80th Birthday Gala’s.
In 2010, after performing the
role of Morales in Francesca Zambello’s production of Bizet's Carmen and Yamadori in Puccini's Madama
Butterfly, he was invited to join Opera Australia’s Young Artist Program.
You can follow the Paris Opera Awards on Facebook.
On January 4th, baritones Dmitry Lavrov and Jonathan Beyer, who has been featured on this site, will attempt to keep the baritone winning streak alive at major competitions at the Paris Opera Awards. Beyer, of course, has become famous for his ability to win major competitions across the globe. This time he'll have to impress judges soprano Martina Arroya, baritone Sherrill Milnes and artistic administrator Daniel Lipton. The trio will select winners from the final ten competitors.
The judges will choose sex laureates, three female singers and three male singers who will receive diplomas. The January 4th Gala Performance ends with the awards and trophies attribution ceremony in the presence of media and press.
Dmitry Lavrov sings "Voyna i Mir" from Prokofiev's War and Peace:
The 10 winners will all perform selections in honor of the late soprano Maria Callas in the presence of the Grand Jury, sponsors, media, press and artists’ agents. The contestants will be accompanied by an orchestra.
The Maria Callas Prize will be awarded to two singers by the Callas Foundation for the best artistic performance.
The Audience Prize will be awarded to one singer by the main sponsor.
To request tickets, please visit the Paris Opera Awards website.
Beyer sings John Adams' "News has a kind of mystery" from Nixon in China:
If you're near Chicago tonight Beyer will be performing at the Presbyterian Church in suburban Orland Park at 7:30 p.m. The first half of the concert will be operatic and musical theater. The second half will be Christmas music. The concert will include guest mezzo-soprano soloist Joanna Wernette. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors. Information: (708) 448-8142.
You can help support young artists like Beyer and Lavrov by purchasing our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar. There are only two weeks left to purchase this stunning collection of 14 of opera's hottest and most talented singers! PURCHASE ONE NOW BY CLICKING ON THE LULU BUTTON:
We've given extensive coverage to the winning streak that barihunks (and baritones) are having in vocal competitions across the globe. If you've ever fantasized about being a judge in one of those competitions you now have your chance.
The Paris Opera Awards, in honor of Maria Callas, are holding an online vocal competition. One of the contestants is Jonathan Beyer, who may have the most amazing winning record of any singer in vocal competitions. We know of at least eighteen competitions where he's taken the top prize.
You can register online to vote and if you register as a premium member you'll be entered into a drawing for a deluxe trip to Paris for two or a brand new car. Once the online voting is complete, the top 100 singers with the highest ranking will compete before a panel of judges. Ten of the top 50, five female and five male, will then be announced will participate in a gala performance.
Jonathan Beyer has selected "Ah, per sempre" from Bellini's I puritani, which was an opera in which Maria Callas had one of her most triumphant successes.
This competition is loaded with sopranos and has very few baritones, so show your support for the low voices and vote at the Paris Opera Awards website.
