Canadian Mike Nyby will be making his role debut as the evil police chief Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca with Opera Ithaca. Nyby will be replacing fellow barihunk Zachary James, who had to withdraw for personal reasons. Nyby has previously performed with the company as Demetrio in Kristin Hevner Wyatt's Il Sogno and as Falke in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus.
Jake Stamatis (Photo: Joshua Bernard)
The cast also includes barihunk Jake Stamatis as Angelotti, Megan Nielsen as Floria Tosca and Paola Buffagni as Mario Cavaradossi. The semi-staged production will be performed at the Community School of Music & Arts in Ithaca on February 16th and at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn on February 18th. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
This is Nyby's fourth Puccini role, have previously performed Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi and both Schaunard and Marcello in La bohème. This is a homecoming of sorts for Nyby, who graduated from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Music.
Franco Cerri taking some time off at Puccini Festival
Italian barihunk Franco Cerri is at the Festival Pucciniano at the composer's home base of Torre del Lago, where is singing in Tosca, La Rondine and La bohème. We had to share his latest picture from the beach, which made us wonder if both Tosca and Mimi chose the wrong guy.
Franco Cerri sings Scarpia's Te Deum from Tosca:
He sings Marcello in La bohème, Crébillon in La Rondine and Sciarrone in Tosca. He is working on Scarpia for a future performance and you can enjoy a preview in the video. If we were Tosca, we'd put down the knife and take our chances on the police chief!
Today we're honoring one of the most heralded singers in all of opera. He also happens to be one of the most popular and enduring barihunks in the world. He has kept both his voice and his matinee idol good looks in tact at the age of 57. In fact, he's survived long enough to perform with his fellow barihunk and son-in-law Luca Pisaroni.
Hampson has performed a broad range of music, from Handel and Gluck to contemporary operas. In between, he's managed to sing all of the major leading Mozart roles, while also establishing himself as a Verdi and Wagner singer of the highest order. Last season, he created the role of Rick Rescorla in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’s Heart of a Soldier at the San Francisco Opera. He's currently performing Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler" at the Zurich Opera.
Beyond maintaining his status as one of the most sought after singers in the world, he is equally in demand as a lieder singer. His commitment to the artform prompted him to create Hampsong in 2003, which is dedicated to the worldwide understanding of the art of song. Last year he hosted and co-produced "Song of America," a 13-part radio series that explores the history of American culture through song. Below you can listen to Hampson talk about the art of song on WNYC.
We asked fellow barihunk and vlogger Jonathan Estabrooks to submit a video tribute to Hampson, since the young Canadian embodies much of what Hampson has brought to opera and lieder.
We also received a message from Krassen Karagiozov, who said:
"I wish you a continuos success on the operatic and concert stages worldwide for many more years to come. I wish you a lot of health and a lot of happiness in your personal life. I'm big admirer of your talent and career and I hope I have the privilege to meet you one day in person."
Have a fantastic celebration among family and friends!
Krassen Karagiozov
"I would like to wish you a happy birthday in Bulgarian since I'm Bulgarian:
Chestit Rojden Den i za mnogo godini! Nazdrave!!!
The entire Barihunks family would like to wish Thomas Hampson a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thank him for bringing us decades of great music (and looking great doing it!).
Fans in the United States can next see him as Scarpia in Tosca at the Santa Fe Opera.
At Barihunks, we find baritones to be sexy and seductive, like Douglas Williams. Could a face like this be a villain?
The beautiful, funny and gifted mezzo-soprano Kate Jackman penned a list of the "Top 10 Worst Opera Villains" for the wonderful blog Operagasm. Of course any list about villains will invariably include some baritones, as many composers consider it the perfect voice for devils, killers, rapists and evil husbands. In fact, six of her ten villains are baritones or basses. (For the record, we think the baritone voice is sexy, sultry, seductive and virile).
Falk Struckmann as Kaspar in Vienna
Her baritone and bass villains include Kaspar from Der Freischutz, of whom she writes:
I get it. You don’t want to go to hell. Understandable.
But tricking some poor, love-sick sap into shooting his beloved Agathe, just so you can get three more miserable years on Earth seems excessive. And how did that plan work out for you? She’s alive, everyone else is happy, and you are burning in a fiery pit for all eternity. Good game.
Barihunk Kyle Ketelsen as Nick Shadow in London
Nick Shadow from The Rake's Progress:
The Shadow Master. The Puppeteer. You pull the strings of poor, feckless Tom. You give him money, loose women, a bearded wife (that’s right, BEARDED), and a magic bread maker, and in doing so make him penniless, loveless, hopeless, and eventually lifeless (as in DEAD). You evoke ruin, disaster, and shame from the second you appear until the instant you sink back into the depths of Hades. You, sir, are a scoundrel.
Barihunk Marco Vratogna as Iago with Carlo Ventre as Otello in Frankfurt
Iago from Otello:
Much like the same-named, cartoon parrot in Disney’s Aladdin, you perch on Otello’s shoulder and spew deceit.
I get that you hate Otello and want him to suffer, but was it really worth going through this whole elaborate plan? Couldn’t you just off the guy and be done with it? And, honestly, what did Desdemona ever do to you? Why does she have to be collateral damage? You had to know that you were not going to walk away from this without facing the consequences.
But you didn’t care, did you? You are just a hateful little worm, aren’t you?
Stephen Costello as Faust) with barihunk Greer Grimsley asMéphistophélès in San Diego
Mephistopheles from Faust:
ATTENTION TENORS: OMG DO NOT ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THE DEVIL!
Really, just don’t even talk to him. It’s not worth it and you will regret it in the long haul.
Take the story of Faust as a cautionary tale: He’s old; he has a lot of regrets. Suddenly, Mephistopheles appears and promises to make him young and virile in exchange for his soul. Stupid Faust agrees, and four acts later he is being dragged down into perdition.
Mephistopheles is just about as bad and scary as they come. Watch the Church Scene in the middle of the night and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Lado Ataneli as Barnaba and Violeta Urmana as Gioconda in the stunning Pizzi production
Barnaba from La Gioconda:
Gentlemen, take note. When a lady tells you she is not interested in your advances, you should: a) Move on. Fish in the sea blah blah blah
OR
b) Attempt to woo her with the standard flattery, flowers, dinner, etc. She may eventually develop romantic feelings for you.
When a lady tells you she is not interested, you should NOT:
a) Denounce her blind, elderly mother as a witch in front of the entire town.
b) Drown said elderly mother in the Venetian canals.
Your lady will not love you for it and may just stab herself in the gut to get away from you.
And her #1 evil villain is, of course, Scarpia (who we have actually found to be quite sexy in some productions, which adds a whole different element to the seduction scene):
María José Siri as Tosca and Claudio Sgura as Scarpia at the Savonlinna Festival
Scarpia from Tosca Congratulations, Scarpia. You are the nastiest of the nasty characters in Opera.
Nobody likes you. Everyone was happy to see you die.
Why?
Well, let’s recap: You arrested a painter and had him tortured where his lover, a singer, could hear his screams. You then attempted to seduce the singer, like she’d be in any kind of mood for nookie when her lover is being tortured in the next room… and she could hear
his screams. You made her promise to give herself to you in exchange for his life, and then had him executed anyway.
Seriously, dude. If anyone deserved to get stabbed in the chest by a vengeful soprano, it’s you.
Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com. We LOVE hearing from you!
We've always liked the idea of a Scarpia that is so hot that the audience might for a moment think that Tosca would surrender her body and selfishly send Mario to the firing squad an act early. With Luke Scott as Scarpia in the current Connecticut Lyric Opera production of Puccini's "Tosca" we could certainly image that scenario.
Luke Scott is another one of our reader submissions that we asked you to submit and what a find. He received his Bachelor and Graduate degrees in voice performance from The Hartt School of Music and went on to train at the Chautauqua Institution, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Martina Arroyo Foundation, and Voice Experience Foundation.
He has sung Mozart’s Count In "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the Dicapo Theater, Peter in Humperdinck's "Hansel und Gretel" with Opera Theater of Connecticut, the title role in Puccini's "Gianni Schicci" with Connecticut Lyric Opera and even crossed over to play Daddy Warbucks in Annie and Emile de Becce in South Pacific.
There are three performance of Tosca remaining with the Connecticut Lyric Opera on May 15, 20 and 21. Please check their website for addition cast information, performance times and venues.
Good guys we love: Chris Herbert & Erwin Schrott
We also have a soft spot for baritones who do good in the world like Chris Herbert and his work with "Sing for Hope" and Erwin Schrott and his humanitarian relief concerts. Luke Scott is another one of those wonderful singers who gives back to the community. He is a member of the Archipelago Project, an international ensemble performing music and educating about the arts around the world.
We've been asked to also wish Luke a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! (May 8th for those who are curious).
[Photo of Greer Grimsley as Orestes from www.greergrimsley.com]
Wow, Greer Grimsley's speaking voice is as sexy as his singing voice and as dominating as his stage presence! Here he is being interviewed by Keli Dailey on the Sign On San Diego blog, which is part of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Keli asks him about Facebook and Barihunks.
