Jérôme Varnier and Edwin Crossley-Mercer in updated William Tell

Edwin Crossley-Mercer (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

Rossini's opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell) has regrettably become best known for its overture, parts of which became the Lone Ranger theme, but it is also a highly entertaining opera with great music for all the key characters.

The Theater an der Wien just wrapped up an updated version of the opera with barihunks Jérôme Varnier as Melchtal and Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Walter Fürst.

Torsten Fischer’s production about the Swiss marksman who shot his people to freedom keeps the story relevant to today by making us think about the universal abuses of power. Melcthal stands on a massive steel floor that descends on the masses, while Walter Fürst dons the robe of the dictator portending an endless cycle of oppression. 

Jérôme Varnier (Photo: Herwig Prammer)

The run of Guillaume Tell wrapped up on October 27th, but the Theater an der Wien continues with Handel's Teseo and Weber's Euryanthe with Andrew Foster-Williams.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer can next be heard in Mozart's Requiem at the Opéra de Toulon on November 9th and then singing Schubert's Winterreise at the Nantes Festival on November 28th.

Jérôme Varnier will appear in Thomas' Hamlet at the Opéra Comique in Paris opening on December 17th.

Nicolas Courjal in live cinecast of William Tell

Nicolas Courjal rehearsing William Tell (left)

Opera fans in the U.K. will be able to check out barihunk Nicolas Courjal as the evil Gesler in Rossini's William Tell live from the Royal Opera House in London on July 5th. The all-star cast also features Gerald Finley as Tell, John Osborn as Arnold and Malin Byström as Mathilde. The production is directed by Italian  Damiano Michieletto, who is making his debut with the company.

Guillaume Tell had its premiere in 1829, when Gioachino Rossini was 37. He wouldn't write another opera in the remaining 39 years of his life. Rossini's letters suggest he knew Guillaume Tell would be his farewell to opera – an idea that seems to be confirmed by the magnificent music he was inspired to produce. The score – harmonically daring and fiercely difficult for the singers – has an opulent architectural grandeur, heightened with vivid evocations of the soaring Swiss landscape and an incisive dramatic interpretation of Schiller's heroic play.

Christian Van Horn sings Gesler with the Netherlands Opera:

The opera contains many great musical pieces, including Tell's Act III aria "Sois immobile," Mathilde's Act II aria "Sombre foret" and the Act II trio "Quand l'Helvétie est un champ de supplices."

You can see the opera live from June 29-July 17. Tickets and additional information is available online. Locate a cinema showing a performance HERE.

Barihunks in free broadcast of William Tell

Goran Jurić (left) and Günther Groissböck (right)

The Bavarian State Opera continues its popular free live streaming of opera this Saturday, June 28th at 6 PM CET/Noon EST/9 AM PST with their new production of Rossini's Guillaume Tell (William Tell). The broadcast will be available at STAATSOPER.TV.

The broadcast features two barihunks,  Günther Groissböck as the villain Gesler and Goran Jurić as Walter Furst. Groissböck has been extremely popular on our site, especially the pictures of him in the "Brokeback Onegin," as it's been dubbed by opera bloggers. He can next be seen at the Salzburg Festival as Baron Ochs in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Zubin Mehta.

31-year-old Croatian bass-barihunk Goran Jurić has been a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble since the 2011-12 season. At the Bavarian State Opera he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Don Fernando in Beethoven's Fidelio, Biterolf in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Il Re in Verdi's Aida, Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Banco in Verdi's Macbeth, Il Frate in Verdi's Don Carlos and Timur in Puccini's Turandot. He also performs regularly with the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.