Barihunk quartet (and hunkentenor) in Zurich's Il viaggio Reims

Roberto Lorenzi (left) & Scott Conner (right)

The Zürich Opera's new production of Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims features a bit of skin as well as quartet of barihunks and an American hunkentenor.  The low voices include Nahuel Di Pierro as Lord Sidney, Scott Conner as Don Profondo, Pavol Kubàn as Don Alvaro and Roberto Lorenzi as Don Prudenzio. They join hunkentenor Spencer Lang as Don Luigino. The show opened on December 6th, but has seven more performances through January 9th.

Pavol Kubàn in Viaggio (left)

Spencer Lang in Viaggio (left)

We featured Scott Conner after he won the Loren Zachary Competition (using a shirtless photo!), Nahuel Di Pierro was in a Don Giovanni post, and Kubàn was a reader submission two years ago. Roberto Lorenzi is the newcomer to this site. 

Lorenzi studied at the Luigi Boccherini Institute of Musical Studies.He has been a prize winner at the Titta Ruffo and Riccardo Zandonai competitions, and took first prize in 2011 at AsLiCo’s 62nd annual competition, where he was awarded the role of Don Basilio Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia in Lombardy. He is a member of the Zurich International Opera Studio and debuted on the main stage as Priore in Bellini's La straniera alongside Edita Gruberova. In Zürich, he's appeared in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Il matrimonio segreto, La fanciulla del West and Rigoletto. 

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Tom Forde in Madison's Sweeney Todd

Tom Forde in Tosca (left)

Tom Forde has been doing a little bit of everything lately. The last time we posted about him, he was taking time off from his ensemble work at the Zurich Opera to play the 7-11 clerk Omar in a Doritos commercial. He's also been mixing in a lot of musical theater work, singing in The Addams Family and Les Misérables.

This season, he'll be at the Madison Opera in both musical theater and opera. First up he'll portray the evil Judge Turpin in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which runs from February 6-8 at the Capitol Theater. He'll return in April to sing Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Tickets for both shows are available online. 

If you want to learn more about Tom Forde, you can read an interview with him online from the Madison Opera blog.

Kyle Ketelsen's sexy and scene stealing turn as Méphistophélès

Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès

We recently reported on the performance of Gounod's Faust at the Zurich Opera that opened on November 3rd and runs through December 11th. The sexy cast cast is led by barihunks Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès, Elliot Madore as Valentin and Erik Anstine as Wagner, as well as hunkentenor Pavol Breslik as Faust.

The production with stage design by Ben Baur and costumes by Karin Jud is not to be missed and promises to be one of the big hits in Europe this year. Although the big news was rightfully tenor Pavol Breslik's debut as Faust, the scene stealer was undoubtedly Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès with his bad boy sexiness that mortals find simply irrestible (as attested to by these photos!).

Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès

The reviewer Alessandro Anghinoni remarked in Place de l'Opera that although Kyle Ketelsen certainly has "earned his place among barihunks...he has more than muscles. He can combine fine colors and accents in the voice and uses language and form to add plenty of character to his role. His "Rondo du Veau d'Or" and serenade were highlights of the evening."

Ketelsen's next appearance in the United States mirrors the Faust performance in that it also includes one of the sexiest casts in opera. He'll be appearing at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia from February 9-28. The cast also stars barihunk Nathan Gunn as the Barber, hunkentenor Alek Shrader as Almaviva and the stunning Isabel Leonard as Rosina. Tickets and additional information are available online. 

Barihunk trio in Zurich Faust (and a hunkentenor!)

Kyle Ketelsen, Jose van Dam and Pavol Breslik

We're not sure if the devil made 'em do it, but the Zurich Opera has cast four of the hottest men in opera in one production of Jan Philipp Gloger’s new production of Gounod's Faust. The hotter-than-hell cast is led by barihunks Kyle Ketelsen as Méphistophélès, Elliot Madore as Valentin and Erik Anstine as Wagner. They will be joined by hunkentenor Pavol Breslik as Faust.

The premiere is on November 3rd and runs through December 11th.

Elliot Madore & Erik Anstine

Madore and Anstine are both members of the Opernhaus Zürich ensemble. Madore will also be seen in revivals of Mozart's Così fan tutte as Guglielmo and Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème. On April 25, 2014, he returns to the U.S. in the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia, a role that he will reprise in June at the Glyndebourne Festival. Anstine can be seen in upcoming performances of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Handel's Alcina.

We also recommend that you LIKE Elliot Madore's Facebook fan page where you can follow the career of this rising superstar.

Elliot Madore makes U.K. debut at Glyndebourne

Elliot Madore (Photo: Kristin Hoebermann)

Out in the Sussex countryside away from the commotion of the Summer Olympics, the Glyndebourne festival is about to present it's sixth and final production of the season. On August 4th, the company will open the Ravel double-bill of L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges. Ravel’s two one-act operas will reunite director Laurent Pelly and conductor Kazushi Ono, who made their Glyndebourne debuts in 2008 with Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel.

Canadian barihunk Elliot Madore will make his U.K. and Glyndebourne debut as Ramiro in L’heure espagnole and as The Cat/Grandfather Clock in L’enfant et les sortilèges'. There are nine performances running through August 25th and the opera will be screened in theatres throughout the U.K. on Sunday, August 19th for those who didn't get their tuxedos pressed in time.

 The 1987 production from Glyndebourne with barihunk Francois LeRoux:

The former Lindemann Young Artist participant has also joined the ensemble of Opernhaus Zürich for the 2012-13 season. The company has cast him in a new production of Peter Eötvös’s 'Three Sisters', and revivals of 'Pagliacci' (Silvio), 'Un ballo in maschera' (Silvano), and 'La scala di seta' (Germano).

Readers of this site will recall that Madore created a sensation when he stepped in for Daniel Okulitch as Don Giovanni with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He also appeared as Lysander at The Met in their Baroque pastiche The Enchanged Island.

Other operas that are still running at Glyndebourne include La bohème, Le nozze di Figaro and Purcell's The Fairy Queen. Visit their website for tickets and additional performance information.