Richard Rittelmann & Julie Adams team up for "Stop Bullying" fundraiser

Richard Rittelmann & Julie Adams

Barihunk Richard Rittelmann and rising soprano star Julie Adams are teaming up for a campaign fundraiser to "Stop Bullying in Schools" sponsored by the Golden Gate Opera. The concert will be at Servino Ristorante in Tiburon, which has spectacular view across the bay to San Francisco.

The duo will perform selections from Puccini's La bohème, Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Dvorak's Rusalka, Korngold's Die Todte Stadt, Wagner's Tannhauser, Bernstein's West Side Story and others.

The Hungarian-French baritone recently presented Julie Adams with the Richard Rittelman Award at the James Toland Vocal Competition in Oakland, which provided the soprano with an all-expense paid trip to perform at the new cultural center “L’Espace du Theiy” in Provence, France. Adams, who was a Metropolitan Opera Auditions winner, also took away the top prize at the James Toland Competition.

You can donate to the Stop Bullying campaign or purchase tickets online.

Richard Rittelmann in Golden Gate Opera's 20th Anniversary Concert

Richard Rittelmann, another hot barihunk in bed

The Golden Gate Opera, which is based just north of San Francisco in Marin County, will be celebrating the Diwali Festival of Light with a concert on Sunday, October 30. It will feature barihunk Richard Rittelmann, soprano Shawnette Sulker and mezzo-soprano Alexandra Jerinic. The concert celebrates the 20th anniversary of the company. The trio will sing music from Léo Delibes' Lakmé.

The reception begins at 3 PM and the concert an hour later. Tickets and information is available online. 

The company will also be presenting the West Coast Premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Boy Who Grew Too Fast, which was canceled last year due to a staff emergency. Keep an eye on our site for times and dates. Proceeds from  the opera will used to bring the anti-bullying message to the Marin County Schools. Rittelmann will perform the role of Dr. Schrink, who helps the boy. 

Our new 10th Anniversary Barihunks in Bed calendar is now on sale and it's our hottest one ever. Click on the Lulu button now to secure your copy.

Barihunk duo in Nice Côte d’Azur's Barber of Seville

Richard Rittelmann (left) and Mattia Olivieri (right)

Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur's production of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia will feature the barihunk duo of Mattia Olivieri as Figaro and Richard Rittelmann as Fiorello. Also in the cast is Rossini specialist Daniele Zanfardino as Almaviva, Georgian mezzo Ketevan Kemoklidze as Rosina and Marco Vinco as Basilio. Performances will run from February 24-March 1 and tickets are available online.

Rittelmann who was part of our Barihunks Charity Calendar shoot in France this year, has also launched a new website (which includes a picture of him in his Barihunk t-shirt!). Upcoming performances include the Fauré Requiem in six French cities between March 16-29, Johann Strauss' Der Zigeunerbaron in Turin, Berlioz's Les Troyens in concert with Honorary Barihunk Joyce Di Donato and tenor Bryan Hymel (which will be recorded by Warner Classics) and Puccini's La bohème with San Francisco's Golden Gate Opera in May.

Upcoming performances include Marcello in Puccini's La bohème in São Paulo and Ping in Puccini's Turandot at the Bregenz Festival this summer.

Richard Rittelmanm mixes sexy and scary as Punch

Richard Rittelmann (left photo © Armin Bardel) as Punch and out of makeup (right)

Barihunk Richard Rittelmann just took on the role of Punch opposite the Judy of Manuela Leonhartsberger in Harrison Birdwhistle's "Punch & Judy" at the Neue Oper Wien. The opera was a huge hit with the public and the critics. The performances marked the 80th birthday of the composer.

The Neue Oper Wien production will be performed again on October 14th at the Armel Opera Festival in Hungary and broadcast on "ARTE live-web." We will provide additional information closer to the performance date.

Richard Rittelmann (photo © Armin Bardel)

Harrison Birtwistle and his librettist Stephen Pruslin created a stylized tragedy full of grotesque moments, the music of which is just as capable of portraying a monstrous being as it is of portraying love. Their work opens up a positively other-worldly realm, full of fairground illusions and insane twists.

To this day, the opera has retained its polarizing effect. Just a few minutes into the action, Punch brutally murders his own child and Judy—and as the plot progresses, he ends up killing almost everyone else he encounters. Only Pretty Polly, whom he practically worships, is allowed by him to live. But eventually, Punch is overcome by horrible nightmares and the music begins to change in character.