Ryan McKinny returns to Los Angeles as Stanley Kowalski

Ryan McKinny

If there was any doubt left that Ryan McKinny has emerged as a major talent it was erased with the announcement that he'll sing Stanley Kowalski opposite megastar Renée Fleming in Andrè Previn's Streetcar Named Desire at the Los Angeles Opera. It also cements his budding reputation as a major barihunk, adding the notoriously sexy Stanley to his growing list of barihunk roles that includes Hercules, Escamillo and Jochanaan.

McKinny truly emerged last summer as the Dutchman in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Glimmerglass Festival under the direction of Francesca Zambello. McKinny's Dutchman was the sexiest portrayal of that role in operatic history and it worked masterfully. Regular readers know that we consider Zambello the "Queen Mother" of barihunks for her early and enthusiastic concept of casting baritones as not just villains and angry fathers, but as genuine sex symbols.

Ryan McKinny as the Dutchman

Streetcar Named Desire is being performed in a semi-staged concert production under the baton of Patrick Summers. The cast also includes the riveting tenor Anthony Dean Griffey as Blanche’s guileless suitor Mitch and the wonderful soprano Stacey Tappan as Stella. Performances are on May 18, 21 and 24 and tickets are available online.

It's nice to see Ryan McKinny return to the LA Opera, as it's the company that provided him many opportunities early in his career. He debuted there in 2008 as Montano in Verdis's Otello, and subsequently appeared as the Servant in Ullmann's The Broken Jug, Dr. Grenvil in Verdi's La Traviata, Don Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville and Leone in Handel's Tamerlano.

He can currently be seen in two productions at the Houston Grand Opera. He's currenlty singing Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold, also conducted by Patrick Summers, which runs from April 11-26 and then he switches to Escamillo in Bizet's  Carmen from April-May 10. McKinny is a former participant with the Houston Grand Opera Studio. (We should also mention that you don't want to miss Stefan Margita as Loge in Rheingold. His is the definitive performance!).

Aussie Morgan Pearse headed to Houston's Opera Studio

Morgan Pearse

We'll been following the career of the talented Aussie barihunk Morgan Pearse since 2011 when  a reader heard him perform in the Australia Singing Competition. His nascent career has been on a steady upswing since that day.

He completed his undergraduate training at he Sydney Conservatorium of Music and then headed to London where he completed a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music as the inaugural Dame Joan Sutherland scholar. We also covered him when he won the gold medal in the Royal Over-Seas League music competition and the Wigmore Hall final of the Young Classical Artists Trust.

We've just learned that he's coming to the United States as one of the studio artists with the Houston Grand Opera. We can only imagine his artistic growth working with Patrick Summers and others in one of the best young artist training programs in the world. Previous young artists have included bel canto specialist Joyce Di Donato and fellow barihunk Ryan McKinney, who has become one of the world's preeminent Wagnerians.

Morgan Pearse sings the Catalog Aria from Don Giovanni:

Pearse is slated to sing Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute, Yamadori  in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Anthony in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

Last year, Morgan performed the title role in Britten's Owen Wingrave for Sydney Chamber Opera, and as bass soloist in Handel's Messiah for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. We had some good-natured fun with his "crack" performance in Handel's Imeneo with the London Handel Festival.

Houston Grand Opera’s Opera Studio was co-founded in 1977 by composer Carlisle Floyd. Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 and is regarded as one of the major companies in the world. It has hosted the world premieres of the operas John Adams' Nixon in China, Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk  and Rachel Portman's The Little Prince.

Big Name Barihunks to Perform at Richard Tucker Gala

Erwin Schrott

Baritones and barihunks will play a major role at the 37th annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation gala on November 11th at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Barihunks Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Erwin Schrott and Ildar Abdrazakov will all have major roles at the gala. They will be joined by two other outstanding baritones - Gerald Finley and Quinn Kelsey. Other singers this year include mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, tenor Marcello Giordani, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Stephen Costello, mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, tenor Giuseppe Filianoti, tenor Marcello Giordani, soprano Ailyn Pérez and soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska.

Conductor Patrick Summers, Artistic and Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, will be joined by members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society. They will be performing music by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mascagni, Handel, and Wagner.

The gala will be recorded for delayed national broadcast in the United States as part of PBS’s Emmy Award-winning “Live From Lincoln Center” series on Thursday, December 13th. Hosted by five-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald, the telecast will feature mini-documentaries in addition to the musical performance.

Tickets are available at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation website or at the Lincoln Center website.

Low Voices Clean Up at McCollum Vocal Competition

Low voices ruled the day at the 23rd annual McCollum Competition fro Young Singers in Houston. Among the eight finalists, two baritones, a soprano and a bass were named winners in the final round of voting at the Wortham Center in Houston.

 Guest judge mezzo Federica von Stade, Houston Grand Opera General Director Anthony Freud and  Music Director Patrick Summers selected the winners of the competition following their performances in the Concert of Arias. 

Mark Diamond

First place went to baritone Mark Diamond, who performed "Hai già vinta la causa" from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and "Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen" from Korngold's Die tote Stadt.

Thomas Florio

Second place went to baritone Thomas Florio, who performed "Within this frail crucible of light" from Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and "Papagena! Papagena!" from Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Adam Lau

The audience cast their ballots at intermission for the Audience Choice Award, selecting bass Adam Lau, who performed "When my cue comes, call me" from Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream and "La calunnia" from Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Barihunks would like to congratulate these gifted young singers.

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