David Adam Moore returns to Atlanta Opera as Eugene Onegin

David Adam Moore in A Streetcar Named Desire (Photo: David Beloff)

American barihunk David Adam Moore returns to the Atlanta Opera on March 2nd in the title role of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. He previously sang Schubert's Winterreise with the company in a  production designed by GLMMR with costumes by Moore's partner Vita Tzykun.

He last sang the role of Onegin with the Arizona Opera in 2015. The Atlanta cast includes tenor William Burden as Lensky, Raquel González as Tatyana and Megan Marino as Olga. There are additional performances on March 5, 8 and 10 and tickets are available online.

David Adam Moore highlights from Winterreise:

Tchaikovsky based his opera on Alexander Pushkin's s novel, which was written in verse and is considered a classic of Russian literature. The idea of setting the story to music was suggested to the composer by the great Russian mezzo-soprano Yelizaveta Lavrovskaya. Tchaikovsky arranged much of the verse himself into the libretto with help from his friend Konstantin Shilovsky.

Moore will also be making his Teatro Colòn debut in May 2019 singing one of greatest roles,  Stanley Kowalski in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire. 

Watch livestream of Günter Papendell in Barrie Kosky's new La bohème

Günter Papendell (photos courtesy Komische Oper)

You can watch German barihunk and audience favorite Günter Papendell as Marcello in Barrie Kosky's new production of Puccini's La bohème from the Komische Oper Berlin from January 27 through July 26. The livestream can be seen on OperaVision.

Kosky says that the opera is about death and the audience needs to shed a tear, but without sentimentalism. This production looks at how young people look at death. Kosky sees the opera through the daguerreotype, which was invented around the time that the story takes place. 

The remaining cast includes Nadja Mchantaf as Mimì, Gerard Schneider as Rodolfo,Philipp Meierhöfer as Colline, Vera-Lotte Böcker as Musetta, and Dániel Foki as Schaunard.

 Günter Papendell sings Tchaikovsky's "Nur wer die Liebe kennt":

If you want to see Papendell live as Marcello, he is performing the role on January 27 and 28, February 8, March 17, 22 and 30, and June 28 and 29. Tickets are available online, but many dates have limited availability.

Papendell's other roles at the Komische Oper include Doktor Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale, Graf Almaviva in Mozart's Die Hochzeit des Figaro, Fritz Kothner in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Fürst Jeletzki in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame, Sharpless  in Puccini's Madame Butterfly, the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Odysseus in the Monteverdi triptych, Achilla in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, and Pollux in Rameau's Castor et Pollux.  

Barihunks take top prizes at Paris Opera Competition

Ilya Kutyukhin

Russian barihunk Ilya Kutyukhin won the 2019 Paris Opera Competition, taking home both the Claude Dassault First Prize and the Audience Prize. Second Prize went to French barihunk Jérôme Boutillier.

Kutyukhin, a native of Pyatigorsk, Russia, performed Yeletsky’s aria Ya vas lublyu from Tchaikovsky's ,” and Ebben, cosi si narra!...Quando le soglie paterne from Donizetti’s La Favorite” and a duet with Russian-Israeli mezzo-soprano Zlata Khershberg.

Nina Tarandek & Ilya Kutyukhin sing the duet from Così fan tutte:

Kutyukhin is a member of the ensemble at the Bolshoi Theatre, where he has performed Andrey Shchelkalov in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Moralés in Bizet's Carmen, the Novice's Friend in Britten's Billy Budd and Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
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Upcoming roles include Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's Pique Dame at the Vilnius City Opera, the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Bregenzer Festspiele and Guglielmo at the Bolshoi.

Jérôme Boutillier

Upcoming performances for Jérôme Boutillier include Bardi in Godard's Dante at Opéra Saint-Étienne, Le Précepteur Alidor in Massenet's Cendrillon and the duel roles of Le corrégidor and Bridoison in Offenbach's Maître Péronilla.

Third prize at this year's Paris Opera Competition went to French soprano Melissa Petit.

Iurii Samoilov makes US debut in Detroit

Iurii Samoilov (Photo by Maria Shkoda)

Iurii Samoilov made his long overdue American debut on October 13th singing the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. The cast also includes Corinne Winters as Tatyana, Jamez McCorkle as Lensky and Carolyn Sproule as Olga.

There will be additional performances on October 17, 19 and 21 and tickets are available online.

Samoilov first sang the role of Onegin at age 19 in his native Ukraine. 

He will return to his home base at the Oper Franfurt to sing Riccardo in Bellini's I Puritani on December 2.  According to his website, he is also slated to make his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the near future.

Hvorostovsky/Netrebko concert from Moscow's Red Square to be broadcast

When we posted about Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Anna Netrebko's upcoming concert in Moscow's  Red Square last month, we promised that we've have additional broadcast details upon availability. We have particularly good news for you if you're in Europe or Russia, but disappointing news for everyone else.

The June 19th concert will be broadcast live across Russia beginning at 20:30 Moscow time on Russian State TV's cultural channel - RUTV. Audiences in France and Germany can enjoy the performance two hours later on ARTE. Four days later on June 23, the concert will be shown during prime time by Germany's ZDF. SKY Arts will broadcast the performance in the United Kingdom in October 2013, with cinecast details to be announced at a later date. Release in the U.S. is still a possibility, so stay tuned.

Hvorostovsky and Netrebko will sing music from Puccini's Tosca, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Verdi's I vespri siciliani, Verdi's Rigoletto, Verdi's Don Carlo and Verdi's Il trovatore. The singers will be accompanied by conductor Constantine Orbelia and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia.

"Brokeback Onegin" returns to Munich with new cast

Simon Keenlyside (L), Ain Anger (C) and Pavol Breslik in Eugene Onegin

The famous "Brokeback Onegin" is back at the Bayerische Staatsoper with a new cast that includes barihunks Simon Keenlyside as Onegin and Ain Anger as Gremin. Regular readers might recall that the original production, which generated worldwide press attention, featured barihunks Mariusz Kwiecien as Onegin and Gunther Groissboeck as Gremin decked out in a muscle tee shirt. From the photo above, it looks like Anger looks pretty good in the muscle tee shirt, as well.

The "Brokeback Boys" backstage and onstage in Onegin

The production is directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski, who envisions the opera as a story of suppressed homosexuality and a desire to break free from society. The production was inspired by Tchaikovsky's life story, "Brokeback Mountain" and Warlikowski´s own childhood in a suburban working class ghetto in Poland. When it first premiered in 2008, it was greeted by a combination of critical praise and outrage. The production, which was broadcast in Germany today, has become a bit of a cult classic amongst opera aficionados. There is one performance remaining on Wednesday, March 28th.

Watch the trailer from the 2008 production:

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Listen to Jonathan Beyer Live This Wednesday

Jonathan Beyer with Soprano Audrey Luna

Regular readers of this site will know that we've given barihunk Jonathan Beyer a lot of coverage for his uncanny ability to win singing competitions. Now you can hear this talented performer live on Wednesday, August 3rd no matter where you live. Beyer will be performing a recital that is being streamed worldwide.

The recital is part of the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series. Since their inception in 1977, the concerts have been presented free of charge each week before live audiences of 500. More than 1,600 free weekly concerts have been presented in the series over the course of the past 34 years. The series is modeled after chamber music concerts presented by British Myra Hess in London's National Gallery during the German blitz on that city during the Second World War.

 

The concert will be broadcast live on WFMT 98.7 FM in Chicago at 12:15pm CST (6:15 PM London).

 

Beyer's program includes music of Tchaikovsky, Reynaldo Hahn, Ernesto Lecuona, and selections from Copland's Old American Songs.  For more information click HERE.

 

If you're in the Chicago area, you can attend the concert for free at the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St. at Michigan Avenue). 

 

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Peter Mattei as Yeletsky in Queen of Spades

Mattei & Mattila @ The Met

Peter Mattei is at The Met tonight in Tchaikovsky's "Queen of Spades" surrounded by an all-star cast that includes Karita Mattila, Dolora Zajick and Vladimir Galouzine. This has clearly been one of the major successes for the company this year. In addition to tonight's performance, it will be performed on March 21 and 26. Click HERE for tickets and additional information.

Mike Silverman, writing for the Associated Press, said of Mattei's performance:
 

As Prince Yeletsky, Lisa's jilted fiance, Peter Mattei sang his gorgeous Act 2 aria with the silky tone we are accustomed to hearing from this artist.

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Hunkenfest 2010: Kwiecien and Borowitz Together

Lukasz Borowitz & Mariusz Kwiecien

Mariusz "the Hot Pole" Kwiecien is teaming up with the equally hunky conductor Lukasz Borowitz for a concert of Rossini, Mozart, Verdi, Borodin, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky. The concert is slated for November 25 at Smetana Hall in Prague

The 34-year-old conductor studied with Ivan Fischer and has led the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra since 2007. He has not made his U.S. or U.K. debut as of this date. Click HERE to read an interview with Borowitz discussing his collaboration with the internationally acclaimed baritone. 

Click HERE to purchase tickets.

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All things Dmitri

One of the original barihunks on this site was Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who seems to gets sexier with each passing year. His voice remains one of the most beautiful instruments in all of opera and his latest CD, a 25-track masterpiece dedicated to Tchaikovsky songs, is a testament to his artistry.




The "Siberian Hunky," as we like to call him, has also launched a stunning website with sound clips, video and lots of gorgeous photos. The site also contains his full schedule of appearances, as well as quick links to Facebook and YouTube, where one will find dozens of additional video clips.



Hvorostovsky has also been making his mark crossing over into pop. Like Kiri Te Kanawa and Eileen Farrell before him, he is actually quite successful in making the transition. Barihunks fans on the East Coast can check out his pop concert on March 6, at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Hvorostovsky will team up with Russian pop composer Igor Krutoi in an evening of pop tunes written especially for the baritone. Check out the video for a preview.

Opera purists need not fear, because starting on March 20th the silver fox returns to the world of opera in a series of concerts with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. Hvorostovsky will appear with Radvanovsky at Washington’s Kennedy Center, Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, Montreal's Place des Arts, and at Carnegie Hall.

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Press Covers Liam Bonner's Met Debut

[Photo from HGO Studio]


Barihunk Liam Bonner featured in his hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Read the article HERE.

Here is Liam Bonner singing Yeletsky's aria from Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame."



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Jason Hardy Photos From Sexy NYCO Don Giovanni

Recently we posted some pictures from the very sexy and favorably reviewed production of Don Giovanni at New York City Opera. The cast included a veritable feast of barihunks, which included Daniel Okulitch, Kelly Markgraf and Jason Hardy. Daniel Okultich has been a regular on this site in various states of undress, and to a lesser extent so has Kelly Markgraf.

Jason Hardy is fairly new to this site and from the look of these pictures, he's been unfairly neglected. We also took the time to listen to his wonderful CD, which shows that his voice is as gorgeous as his body. We've created a handy link to Amazon if you'd like to enjoy it, as well.


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Dmitri Hvorostovsky Sings Pique Dame in '89 and '03

The passage of time has done little to diminish barihunk Dmitri Hvorostovsky's sexy looks or gorgeous voice. Here he is singing the incredibly beautiful aria from Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades fourteen years apart.

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The Only Onegin as Hot as Hvorostovsky

[Top photo of Onegin at Lyric Opera of Chicago by Dan Rest; bottom photo from Paris Opera from French TV]

I don't know about you, but whenever I see a production of Eugene Onegin with a baritone as hot as Mariusz Kwiecien or Dmitri Hvorostovsky I can't understand at the end why Tatiana doesn't take him back. Take a look at those photos of Mariusz "Hot Pole" Kwiecien and tell me that you wouldn't run out of the palace with him!

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Mariusz Kwiecien - Onegin's aria - Eugene Onegin 2008

Here is the Hot Pole Mariusz Kwiecien singing "Kogda bï zhizn domashnim krugom" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Tatiana has poured out her heart to Onegin in a letter. He in turn tells her that he only loves her as a brother and she is heart broken.

Poor Tatiana!

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Muslim Magomayev dies

One the first singers to appear on Barihunks was Muslim Magomayev who I am sad to report passed away yesterday. Here is the ABC News report:

Singer Muslim Magomaev, a legendary crooner of the Soviet stage, died in Moscow on Saturday (local time) aged 66 after a long illness, his personal website and Russian news agencies reported.

Magomaev, who launched his career with an internship in Milan's famed La Scala opera theatre in 1963 and enjoyed great success in Paris's Olympia theatre, abandoned opera in favour of a more pop repertoire, becoming a legend of the Soviet Union's 1960s generation.

Born in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in 1942, Magomaev sang over 600 Russian and Neapolitan romances, classical arias and pop songs, and was himself author of over 20 songs and film soundtracks.

Named USSR People's Artist in 1973, Magomaev later founded Azerbaijan's state symphonic orchestra and headed it from 1975-1989.

"Muslim's death is one of the worst shocks for me, but his first appearance many years ago was also a shock - happy, sunny and wonderfully emotional, he immediately won over colleagues who admitted he was more talented," friend and fellow singer Lev Leshchenko said.

"Muslim was one and only, he gave people new hopes, and all of our country sang his songs - he was a great singer, a great artist," Mr Leshchenko told the Dni online newspaper.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin offered their condolences to Magomaev's widow, opera singer Tamara Sinyavskaya, with Russia's culture ministry comparing Magomaev to Frank Sinatra and Yves Montand in their statement.

Ninth round matches in Azerbaijan's football championship will begin with a minute of silence honouring Magomaev, website Azerisport.com reported.