Teddy Tahu Rhodes to tour in Jekyll and Hyde

New Zealand's most famous barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes is adding a fifth musical show to his repertoire after successful runs in The King and I, Show Boat and South Pacific, as well as an upcoming appearance singing the title role in Sweeney Todd in Melbourne.

He'll be heading the cast of Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll and Hyde on the upcoming tour of the show with Opera Australia. This is the first professional Australian production since a short-lived run in 1997.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes will be joined by musical theater stars Jemma Rix as Lucy and Lucy Maunder as Emma, his two romantic interests.

Rhodes sings This is the Moment:

Jekyll and Hyde will open in Melbourne in December before moving to Sydney in March 2016. Before the show opens, he'll perform Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust in Adelaide from August 22-29 and in Perth from October 29-November 7. The latter show also includes fellow barihunk Sam Dundas as Valentin. 

Sam Dundas in Julie Taymor's Magic Flute

Sam Dundas as Papageno and Taryn Fiebig as Pamina (right)

One of our favorite singers from Down Under, Sam Dundas, will be rotating the role of Papageno with Luke Gabbedy through January 30th at Opera Australia. The company is bringing back the whimsical, Kabuki-inspired Julie Taymor production of Mozart's The Magic Flute for their 2015 Summer Season.

With English text by J D McClatchy, this production was originally created for the Metropolitan Opera of New York and can be seen on DVD with barihunk Nathan Gunn. During the spoken text, Dundas delivers his lines with an Australian accent to give it a true local feel.

Dundas is in all of the performances except for January 3, 10, 23. Tickets are available online.

Last year he appeared with the company as Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto and Prosdocimo in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia.

Barihunks "Best of 2014"

It's time for our annual year-end wrap up with our "Best of 2014" feature where we highlight our favorite posts. Many of these were actually chosen by our readers, as we closely followed how much traffic each of our posts were receiving.

(L-R top row) Björn Bürger, Malte Roesner, Michael Mofidian (L-R, bottom row) Ivan Oreščanin, Mattia Olivieri and Davide Luciano

BEST NEWCOMERS: There were six singers who we introduced to readers this year that generated amazing traffic to our site. In fact, they were so popular that we decided to lead off our annual tribute with them. German Björn Bürger, German-American Malte Roesner, Scotsman Michael Mofidian, Serbian Ivan Oreščanin, and Italians Mattia Olivieri and Davide Luciano. You can click on their names to read the original posts. This is what the future of opera looks like and sounds like, which seems encouraging.

Previously unpublished photos of Italian barihunk Ernesto Petti

Jens Søndergaard and Saïd Pressley

BEST READER SUBMISSION: Our best posts continue to come from our readers and this year was no exception. Few singers generated more interest than Ernesto Petti on both our blog and in our calendar, where he appears as part of our August feature. Since we couldn't run all of his photos in our calendar, we've added some new photos above.

Honorable mention has to go to Jens Søndergaard and Saïd Pressley, both of whom proved immensely popular with our readers.

Bottom Row - Austin Siebert, George Arvidson, Clay Thompson, Nate Mattingly, Mason Jarboe, Michael Miller

Top Row - Keith Browning, Trevor Martin, Michael Hewitt, Damian Faul

 

(L-R) Sarah Larsen, Michael Todd Simpson, Steven LaBrie, Joseph Lattanzi & Colin Ramsey

BEST GROUP PHOTOS: We love it when we see our tee shirts being modeled by the hottest barihunks in opera, so imagine our glee when we were sent a photo featuring TEN stunning men all gathered together at the Seagle Music Colony in upstate New York. Michael Hewitt ended up being featured in our Viva, Italia! Barihunks Calendar, as well. It turns out that the family names on his mother's side are DiPane and Mazzola.

On the other side of the continent at the Seattle Opera, our tee shirts ended up on four of the cast members in their production of Menotti's The Consul. The opera starred four barihunks, including Michael Todd Simpson as John Sorel, Steven LaBrie as the Police Agent, Joseph Lattanzi as Assan and Colin Ramsey as Mr. Kofner. The four singers showed off their Barihunk tee shirts on the set with soprano Sarah Larsen, who played the secretary. Joseph Lattanzi also appeared in our 2012 calendar.

Bevan Bühler

BEST TWITTER DISCOVERY: Canadian barihunk Bevan Bühler posted the following on Twitter: "My life goal is to be listed on barihunks." Of course, we obliged and he instantly became one of our most viewed posts of the year. The former model and emerging singer clearly caught the eye of many of our readers.

HOTTEST PHOTO: As one might imagine, we get sent a lot of photos and press materials from opera companies and publicists. Most of them are pretty useless and clearly were not sent with our mission in mind. So when an email arrived from the Los Angeles Opera touting their upcoming production of Andrè Previn's Streetcar Named Desire, we were pretty sure that it would be filled with glossy pictures of soprano Renee Fleming. Much to our delight, it included these AMAZING photos of Ryan McKinny, whose voice and body just get more amazing with each passing year. He has become the quintessential barihunk in our view.

Agrippina cast (L-R) Hadleigh Adams, Peabody Southwell, Nathan Medley, Jamie-Rose Guarrine, Jennifer Rivera, Zachary Wilder and Douglas Williams

HOTTEST OPERA CAST: Who would've thought that the sexiest cast in opera this year would be found at Opera Omaha for their production of Handel's Agrippina. The opera featured former model and rising superstar Hadleigh Adams as the emperor Claudio. In the role of Pallante, one of two men that Agrippina pledges to marry, was Doug Williams a rising superstar in the baroque music world, who could easily grace the cover of GQ.

Stéphane Degout and Franco Pomponi

HOTTEST NUDE SCENE: For a dramatically sensible use of nudity, nothing could surpass Stéphane Degout and Franco Pomponi alternating the role of Hamlet in director Olivier Py's production of the Ambroise Thomas opera at La Monnaie in Brussels. Degout also performed the role at Theater an der Wien.

Paul Robeson as photographed by Nickolas Murray

HOTTEST HISTORICAL NUDE: We received a lot of appreciative email from readers who didn't know about the legendary Paul Robeson's nude modeling past. Robeson did some nude modeling for photographer Nickolas Murray, who later went to photograph President Eisenhower, painter Freda Kahlo, actresses Colleen Moore and Greta Garbo, and the Lucky Strike girls. Robeson also posed nude for Italian-American sculptor Antonio Salemme. Born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1898, Robeson made his singing recital and his film debut in 1925. His resonant bass was a major highlight in the London production of "Show Boat" particularly with his powerful rendition of "Ol' Man River." Paul Robeson may have been the original barihunk!

(L-R) Doug Carpenter, Michael Scarcelle & (Jacques) L'Oiseleur Longchamps

BEST CALENDAR MODELS: Perhaps the smartest thing that we did this year was to give our Barihunks Charity Calendar money directly to singers who participated, rather than to organizations. The level of appreciation was enormous and we heard about how the funds paid for lessons, coachings, music, rent and travel to competitions.  

Doug Carpenter walked away with our top prize of $500 for submitting the picture that best exemplified this year's theme "Sexy and Italian." One of our judges was so conflicted about having to choose a winner that she offered up an additional $500 to be split between the runner-ups,  Michael Scarcelle & (Jacques) L'Oiseleur Longchamps. Everyone was a winner.

Dan Kempson

BEST GRAMMY AWARD NOMINEE: Barihunk Dan Kempson received a well-deserved GRAMMY Award nomination for his portrayal of the critical role of Orestes on Darius Milhaud's trilogy L'Orestie d'Eschyle on the Naxos label. The performance, which is up for Best Opera Recording, also features Sidney Outlaw as Apollo, as well as the University of Michigan Choirs and Symphony Orchestra, which amounted to some 350 musicians.

Philippe Sly

BEST NEW CD:  The ridiculously talented Philippe Sly released "In Love’s Minstrels" with accompanist Michael McMahon. They perform English music from the late 19th and early 20th century by Healey Willan, John Ireland, Roger Quilter, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. The CD is available at Amazon, as well as on Spotify.

Pietro di Biano and Matija Meić

BEST COMPETITION WINNERS: 2014 was yet another year where barihunks dominated international singing competitions (so, to all of you naysayers, YES, THEY CAN SING, TOO!). Few performances were more exciting than Barihunks Calendar model Pietro di Bianco winning the prestigious Paris Opera Competition or Matija Meić taking two prizes at the Mirjam Helin Competition, with both becoming overnight sensations.

Cyril Rovery

BEST MEN'S FITNESS MODEL: The European edition of the August 2014 edition of Men's Health magazine featured French barihunk Cyril Rovery in a feature called "Baryton Man." Rovery studied at the Marseilles Conservatoire graduating in 2000. In 1999, he won 1st Prize at the Symphonies d’Automne International Competition in Mâcon and in 2002 he won the Siena International Competition for Singers. He's been a regular at Marseille singing Scarpia in Puccini's Tosca, the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette and Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer poses for Karl Lagerfeld

BEST PROFESSIONAL MODEL SHOOT: When fashion legend Karl Lagerfeld attended a performance of Robert Carsen's production of Rameau’s Platée at the Opéra Comique, he must have been as impressed as us with barihunk Edwin Crossley-Mercer. Crossley-Mercer's Jupiter was styled as a Karl Lagerfeld lookalike with white ponytail and dark glasses and the designer greeted the singer backstage and offered to do a photo shoot of the barihunk, shooting him in a variety of couture.

BEST PHOTO IN DRAG: Barihunk Daniel Okulitch, who has appeared in various states of dress and undress in his career, finally appeared in a dress when he donned this stunning getup as Jove in Francesco Cavalli's La Calisto at the Cincinnati Opera. Okulitch's drag wasn't some German regie concept that was imported to Cincinnati, but an actual part of the plot. Jove, the ruler of the gods, hatches a plan to wend his way into the heart and bedroom of Calisto by donning a Diana-like disguise. But when Jove’s wife Juno, sung by Alexandra Deshorties, catches wind of the scheme, her fury knows no bounds. As many singers know, Cincinnati has one of the best make-up artists on their staff, so Okulitch was in good hands.

BEST MAGAZINE FEATURE: Baritones became the new cover boys this year, as Aubrey Allicock appeared in OUT Magazine, Simon Keenlyside on the cover of Opera News, Ildar Abdrazakov in VANITY FAIR, Morgan Smith in Opera News, and Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek in Bleep magazine. But our favorite feature was the Opera News' Sound Bites article on John Brancy.  The New Jersey native had an exciting year, with major debuts at Oper Frankfurt in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West and the Kennedy Center for a recital dedicated to the 100th anniversary of WWI. This enormously talented and innovative artist is clearly destined for stardom and it was nice to see Opera News take notice.

Emmanuel Franco

BEST SINGER/DANCER: Mexican-American barihunk Emmanuel Franco caught our attention as one of the three baritones competing in the finals of the 50th International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch, Holland. The 30-year-old singer has performed throughout Mexico, the United States and Europe, but he also has a true passion for dancing. While a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he founded a zumba class in a nearby gym. After  graduation, he was certified as zumba instructor before moving to The Netherlands, where he has become a popular instructor (who even sings occasionally during class).

Giorgio Caoduro

BEST ROLE DEBUT: Giorgio Caoduro's role debut as Rigoletto couldn't have come at a better time for Opera Australia. They had just weathered a rough couple of weeks dealing with the Tamar Iveri scandal, a soprano who had referred to gay people as "fecal matter" on her Facebook site. Caoduro's performance at the Joan Sutherland Theatre was a major revelation that allowed people to put the scandal on the back burner. Caoduro had previously performed in the opera as Marullo opposite Placido Domingo's Rigoletto in the movie version. The Opera Australia cast also included two other barihunks, Sam Dundas as Ceprano and Luke Gabbedy as Marullo.

A protester at The Death of Klinghoffer (left) and Aubrey Allicock

BIGGEST SCANDAL: The most talked about action in opera this year happened off the main stage, as John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer at the Met turned out protesters who claimed the opera was anti-Semitic and glorified terrorism. Making his Met debut in that production was upcoming barihunk Aubrey Allicock as the terrorist Mahmoud. He shares critical moments in the opera with fellow barihunk Paulo Szot, who sang the role of the Captain. Regardless of how you felt about the piece, it was great to see a worldwide discussion about an opera. 

Had it not been for The Death of Klinghoffer, we would have listed the BARITONE BLACKOUT at the OPERALIA competition in Los Angeles as our biggest scandal. Despite 11 of the 40 competitors being baritones in the competition, not a single baritone made it to the final round. Many felt that a top prize winner should have come from the talented field of low voices that included Igor Bakan, Aleksey Bogdanov, Alexandre Duhamel, Dan Kempson, Alexey Lavrov, Alex Lawrence, Shea Owens, Damien Pass, Pavel Shmulevich, Anatoli Sivko and Ivan Thirion.

(L-R) Philippe Sly, Elliot Madore & Gordon Bintner

BEST TENOR BLACKOUT: We couldn't feel too bad about the Barihunk Blackout at Operalia because 1,360 miles north of Los Angeles in Edmonton, Alberta, their Symphony was presenting a "No Tenors Allowed" concert. The program featured Canadian barihunks Gordon Bintner, Elliot Madore, and Philippe Sly, who joined forces with conductor Bill Eddins for a program of from music from Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Macbeth, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Wagner's Tannhäuser.

Charles Castronovo (left) and Erwin Schrott (right)

BEST BARIHUNK/HUNKENTENOR BATTLE: We all know that there is tremendous competition between baritones and tenors, but it reached new heights when barihunk Erwin Schrott went after hunkentenor Charles Castronovo's soul. The social media regular wrote on Twitter, "Dear Faust @CharlieTenor, meet me @ Laeiszhalle, Hamburg tonite 7:00 PM. Don't forget: bring soul! Tschüs! Méphy x"

Castronovo was singing Faust opposite Schrott's Méphistophélès in Gounod's opera in Baden-Baden, and the duo were joined by fellow barihunk Jacque Imbrailo, who was Valentin.

BEST PERSONAL STORY: Speaking of souls, it's rare for an artist to bare his or her soul in an interview, but that's just what Hadleigh Adams did in an interview with San Francisco's leading LGBT paper, the Bay Area Reporter. He minced no words in talking about what it was like to be effeminate, not to fit in with the other boys, having a friend commit suicide and facing challenges with family. We also had the privilege of hearing him turn this very personal story into an evening of song, which we think would be a hit on the recital circuit. Adams just wrapped up his second year at the prestigious San Francisco Opera Center Adler Fellows‎ and is surely destined for a great career in opera. It's one thing to grow as an artist, but Hadleigh Adams has shown us how amazing it is to watch someone grow as a human being.

Duncan Rock

BEST ANNOUNCEMENT: In our opera travels, we frequently get asked why certain European singers haven't appeared in the U.S. Topping that list is Duncan Rock (now that Edwin Crossley-Mercer has sung in America). So imagine the excitement surrounding the highly-anticipated U.S. stage debut of British Barihunk sensation Duncan Rock, which will occur not far from another rock, Plymouth Rock. The Boston Lyric Opera has snagged the charismatic fan favorite to portray the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni next season. Performances will run from May 1-10, 2015. His gender bending performance in Don Giovanni: The Opera at London's famous nightclub Heaven was a huge sensation.

Kelly Markgraf and Sasha Cooke

Dan Kempson

BEST NEW OPERA: The world premiere of Laura Kaminsky's opera "As One," which explores the revelatory and redemptive journey of a transgender individual, opened on September 4th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the real-life married couple of mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and barihunk Kelly Markgraf. The opera was a critical success and will be reprised at Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University in April 2015 with Markgraf and again at West Edge Opera in July/August 2015 with Dan Kempson. who will be joined by the Friction String Quartet at the Oakland Metro Opera House.

Kaminsky was inspired to write the opera after reading an article in the New York Times in 2008 about a New Jersey marriage in which one of the parties transitioned from male to female, transforming the couple from heterosexual to homosexual.

Finally, we have to close with our favorite email of the year, which came from a reader in Michigan back in May. "Dear Barihunks, I was pleasantly surprised when I came upon your website. It is surprisingly intelligent and well-written. I have learned about singers that were heretofore unknown to me and you have exposed me to much new music. I've also learned about opera competitions and smaller companies that I would not have read about elsewhere. For this I am eternally grateful, but frankly, I'd much prefer more pictures and less text."

Lastly, if you enjoyed Barihunks this year and if you like supporting young artists, please order your Charity Calendar today, so that we can keep up our tradition if assisting the hottest young talent in opera. Our calendar features 19 of the most amazing singers, who also happen to be easy on the eyes. Order NOW by clicking below. Thank you for your support.

Giorgio Caoduro making role debut as Rigoletto

Giorgio Caoduro and Emma Matthews

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Opera Australia with the entire music world focused on the Tamar Iveri scandal. Hopefully, that episode is in the dustbin of history. So we figured it's time for some good news out of the company and that would be the role debut of Rigoletto with barihunk Giorgio Caoduro at the Joan Sutherland Theatre.

It's not his first time performing the opera, as he appeared in the movie version of the opera, but as Marullo opposite Placido Domingo's Rigoletto. Performances kick off tonight and Caoduro will perform the role nine times between today and July 19th, when he turns the role over to fellow barihunk José Carbó, who performs the role from July 23-August 24 (Warwick Fyfe performs one night, as well).

The cast also includes two other barihunks, Sam Dundas as Ceprano and Luke Gabbedy as Marullo. Gilda will be taken on by house favorite Emma Matthews, who recently updated her Facebook page to show artist support for the LGBT community after the Tamar Iveri episode. A classy act if there ever was one.

Tickets for all performances are available online.

Sam Dundas

After his run as Rigoletto, Caoduro returns to his native Italy to portray Sulpice in Donizetti's La fille du régiment at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo in the famed Franco Zeffirelli production. Performances run from September 17-24.

BARIHUNKS “BEST OF 2013”

It's time for for annual feature highlighting the best of the year on Barihunks. This is our most popular post every year and we spent weeks combing through the archives to present you the "BEST OF 2013"!!!

Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek and Zachary Gordin

1.     Hottest photos - Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek & Zachary Gordin: We can't even begin to tell you the chatter that these two photographs created. They are both featured in our 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar and have instantly become fan favorites. For any of you doubters out there, these guys not only look hot, but they can sing! Christiaan Smith-Kotlarek recently wrapped up a run as Schaunard in La Bohème with Kentucky Opera and will be part of the Virginia Opera young artist program in 2014. Gordin is a popular singer and coach with San Francisco Bay Area audiences. He was a huge hit at the Olympic Music Festival in Washington last year singing Hahn and Schumann. He's been asked back this year to perform "Arias and Arguments: From Love to Loss in Four Acts."

Xavier Edgardo & Doug Carpenter

2.     Most Popular Barihunks: Doug Carpenter and Xavier Edgardo: It's almost impossible to gauge who the most popular barihunks are on the site. If you go purely by hits, any singer who showed a lot of skin onstage (especially if they went the full monty!), will generate a disproportionate amount of traffic. If we look at comments, emails and who we get asked about the most, then Puerto Rico's Xavier Edgardo and America's Doug Carpenter lead the pack. Edgardo, who was a standout as a young artist and choral performer in Puerto Rico is headed to San Francisco next year to further hone his talents. Carpenter won the prestigious Lotte Lenya Competition this year, which you can enjoy in its entirety HERE.

Romain Dayez

3.     Hottest Newcomer –  Romain Dayez: We introduced readers to this 24-year-old Belgian singer back in February and he's proved as fascinating as he is sexy. Although much of his early career was focused on oratorios and baroque repertoire, he is constantly involved in innovative new programming, including performances with the Parisian rappers Milk Coffee & Sugar. He is currently the director of the ALLIAGE Art Project. His most recent show with Alliage was "De Profundis" featuring the music of Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt and Solange Labbe. We tried to get him in the calendar this year, but couldn't get a Hi-Res photo. Keep your fingers crossed for 2015!

Evan Hughes

4.     Best Reader Submission – Evan Hughes: California native Evan Hughes came to our attention as a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist  program. He was a regional winner and a national Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the grand prize in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. A champion of contemporary music, he has performed Elliott Carter’s Syringa with the Met Chamber Ensemble at Zankel Hall and Tanglewood under James Levine, premiered Carter’s Three Explorations at Alice Tully Hall with the Axiom Ensemble and Jeffrey Milarsky and performed Carter’s On Conversing with Paradise as part of a festival of cultural exchange entitled Ascending Dragon in Los Angeles, Hanoi and in other parts of Vietnam.

Morgan Smith

5.      Best opera on DVD – Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick, San Francisco Opera & Morgan Smith: Composer Jake Heggie keeps turning out great operas and the San Francisco Opera captured an incredible performance of his latest piece, Moby-Dick. The all-star cast includes barihunk Morgan Smith, Jay Hunter Morris, Stephen Costello, Jonathan Lemalu, Talise Trevigne and is conducted by Patrick Summers. Smith plays the critical role of Captain Ahab's first mate Starbuck, the first mate and family man who tries desperately to dissuade Ahab from his single-minded, suicidal pursuit of Moby-Dick. The role includes more beautiful baritone music from Jake Heggie in the aria "Captain Ahab? I must Speak with you." Few, if any, composers have written for more baritone leads than Jake Heggie. For that, we are eternally grateful.

Duncan Rock, Curtis Sullivan and Kyle Ketelsen

6.     Best Live Performances - Duncan Rock (Rape of Lucretia – Glyndebourne); Curtis Sullivan (Abduction - Opera Atelier); Kyle Ketelsen (Faust -Méphistophélès): There were some amazingly hot performances from barihunks this year, but these three stood out for vocalism, characterization and critical acclaim. Financial Times music critic Andrew Clark, commented, "Musically and physically Duncan Rock’s Tarquinius has an imposing muscularity." Curtis Sullivan brought a sexiness to the role of Pasha Selim in the Opera Atelier's Abduction from the Seraglio which made us wonder why Konstanze wanted to be rescued. Kyle Ketelsen was the ultimate sexy, bad boy with his shirtless portrayal of Méphistophélès in Gounod's Faust in Zurich.

Left photo: Wes Mason, Michael Mayes, John Boehr & Anthony Reed. Right Photo: Jonathan Estabrooks, Philip Kalmanovitch, Cairan Ryan, Andrey Andreychik, & Pierre Rancourt

7.     Best group photos - Barihunks lunch in Ft. Worth; The "5 Barihunks" at "Jeunes ambassadeurs lyriques": Some group photos are serious, some not so serious. As our regular readers know, we occasionally host a Barihunks Lunch when a number of singers are in one location at any given time. The gatherings in Ft. Worth are always raucous and entertaining, especially when Michael Mayes and Wes Mason are at the table. Mason kept the group entertained with some amazing impesonations, while Michael Mayes was...well, he was Michael Mayes, as intense and entertaining off-stage and on-stage. (And you gotta love those Barihunk tee shirts!). Jonathan Estabrooks gathered five barihunks at the recent "Jeunes ambassadeurs lyriques" benefit gala. We can't think of a better way to warm up on a cold Canadian evening. 

Top: Muhammad Ali and Soloman Howard; Bottom: Emile Griffith and Aubrey Allicock

8.     Hottest Opera singer playing an Athlete– Soloman Howard as Muhammad Ali; Aubrey Allicock as boxer Emile Griffith: There were two sexy barihunks portraying boxers this summer, continuing the trend of librettos being based on contemporary subject from the news. These are usually dubbed CNN Operas, but perhaps the term ESPN Opera should be coined, as there are at least two operas in the works about baseball. Bass-Barihunk Soloman Howard portrayed Muhammad Ali in the world premiere of composer D.J. Sparr's "Approaching Ali" at the Washington National Opera and drew rave reviews for his portrayal. Aubrey Allicock took on the story of the lesser known boxer Emile Griffith in Tereence Blanchard' s Champion at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. The bisexual boxer who killed boxer Benny Paret in a 1962 title match, died five weeks after the premier of the opera.

9.     Hottest Athlete playing an opera singer Justin Tucker: Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has some major accomplishments under his belt for only being 23 years old. He has a Super Bowl ring and while playing for the University of Texas in 2011, he kicked the game winning field goal against arch rival Texas A&M University as the clock expired. Tucker hasn't just made a name for himself with his legs, he also has a serious set of pipes. A music major at the University of Texas, Tucker claims he can sing opera in seven different languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Latin and Russian). He showed off his Italian skills recently by singing "Deh vieni alla finestra" from Mozart's Don Giovanni for Dr. Pepper's "1 of a Kind" web campaign, which debuted on YouTube.

10.  Best barihunks on Twitter – Luca Pisaroni & James Newby: We discovered James Newby via some Twitter messages going back and forth between friends suggesting one should be on Barihunks. 20-year-old James Newby then tweeted, "...this accolade could complete me as a human being!" We checked out Newby, who is in his second year of study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London and figured that we'd complete him as a human being. His tweets also led us to discover his barbershop quartet Short, Back and Sides singing "To Russia With (Gay) Love.” The video is intended to show the worldwide support for LGBT Russians from people across the globe.

      Luca Pisaroni is a big star with a big presence on Twitter. He regularly posts updates about the cities he's visiting, the music he's performing, concerts with his father-in-law Thomas Hampson, and adventures with his dogs Lenny and Tristan. His wife Cate Pisaroni is also worth following. She is clearly his biggest fan and adds great content and commentary. In the age of self-marketing on the internet, this duo is the best.

11.  Best Barihunk Feature – Approval Matrix NY Magazine & Buzzfeed feature: In the Summer, Barihunks made the NY Magazine's "Approval Matrix" for the week of August 19th. The site landed in the HIGHBROW and BRILLIANT quadrant! We were joined by a pretty illustrious group that includes Orson Welles' rediscovered film "Too Much Johnson," PBS' "Judy & Gwen" all-female co-anchor team, Hanya Yanagihara's novel "The People in the Trees," Jeff Bezos, new owner of the Washington Post, Alissa Quart's "Republic of Outsiders" and Sophie Fontanel's "French spinster by choice."

      We weren't completely sure what "highbrow" really meant, but Virginia Woolf said, "There can be no two opinions as to what a highbrow is. He is the man or woman of thoroughbred intelligence who rides his mind at a gallop across country in pursuit of an idea." We'll take it.

Barihunk Xavier Edgardo and the Urban Dictionary

12.  Biggest Barihunk news – Urban Dictionary: August was a pretty heady month for us, as we also were entered into the Urban Dictionary.  

      BARIHUNK DEFINITION: A handsome or pretty baritone. Especially, but not exclusively,  one who removes his shirt for the sake of opera.  EXAMPLE: I'm going to the Marriage of Figaro because I like the opera but also to see the barihunks on display.

Sam Dundas: Yes, he sings in the shower

13.  Hottest Barihunk Singing in the Shower – Sam Dundas: We generally reserve our "skin shots" to pictures from productions, but when we saw this photo of Sam Dundas by Herald Sun photographer Craig Borrow we knew that we had to post it for readers. Dundas is one of the biggest talents from "Down Under" and he recently won the coveted $42,000 Lady Fairfax New York Scholarship. The prize allowed Dundas to come to the United States for six weeks of work on the opera skills of his choice. He has a busy year ahead with Opera Australia where he will be singing Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Prosdocimo in Rossini's The Turk in Italy (in swim trunks!), Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto, Belcore in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, and Dr Malatesta in Donizetti's Don Pasquale.

Gregory Jebaily

Vasil Garvanliev

14.  Best Selfies – Gregory Jebaily and Vasil Garvanliev: We discovered South Carolina native Gregory Jebaily on the Operaticus Facebook site, where singers talk about keeping their voices and bodies in shape. They also tend to post lots of pictures and watching Gregory Jebaily transform into an "Echt-Barihunk" has been a joy. Jebaily made his operatic debut as Wagner in Dayton Opera’s April 2010 production of Gonoud’s Faust. He returned the next year as a Dayton Opera Artist in Residence and performed the role of Hortensius in Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment. For the past two years he's also been a studio artist with Kentucky Opera where he sang Dancaïro in Carmen and Hermann in Enemies: a love story by Ben Moore.

      Vasil Garvanliev takes the hottest selfies in the world. PERIOD. This Macedonian-Canadian singer has mastered the artform like no on else. We were so impressed with his work that he's appeared regularly on our Facebook sidebar and Twitter images. His calendar photos this year were highly original and slightly provocative. We can see why the visually conscientious Opera Atelier has made him a permanent member of their roster. Next season he'll be performing in their production of Lully's Persee, which will also be performed at Versailles, France.

15.  Best Underwear Shots – Christopher Burchett (Soldier Songs), Lauri Vasar (Il Prigoniero): Directors seem to love getting barihunks to strip down to their scivvies and we're not complaining! Two of the hottest performance in a pair of briefs this year came from Lauri Vasar as the Prisoner in Dallapiccola's Il Prigioniero at Opéra de Lyon and Christopher Burchett in David T. Little's Soldier Songs in New York City. We'll let the pictures do the talking.

Andrew Garland (left) and William Berger (right)

16.  Best Solo CD's – Andrew Garland and William Berger: If you love gingers, you can't find two barihunks who are hotter and who sing better than these two guys. Andrew Garland is a favorite of ours and his release on GPR Records entitled "American Portraits" is destined to be become a classic among American art song recitals. The CD features music by Stephen Paulus, Jake Heggie, Lori Laitman and Tom Cipullo. William Berger's new release is so new that we haven't even featured it on the site yet, but Hommage à Trois with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the brilliant conductor Nicholas McGegan is one of the most delightful releases that we've heard in years. The recording pays hommage to three of the 18th century’s finest composers,  Mozart, Haydn, and Cimarosa and also features acclaimed soprano Carolyn Sampson in the duets. Berger was featured on the site for his amazing BariChunk to BariHunk transformation.

Kathryn Bates Williams and Jesse Blumberg in Green Sneakers

17.  Best Barihunk Solo Show – Green Sneakers at the Ft. Mason Center in San Francisco: We're huge fans of "Black Box Opera," where the intensity of a performance is immediate and close up. Ricky Ian Gordon is one of the busiest and most popular composers in all of opera today, but his works were not performed in San Francisco until January of this year. With help from a Barihunks Charity Calendar grant, Jesse Blumberg, the Del Sol Quartet and the talented young director John de los Santos put on a show for the ages. Audience members were in tears at the end of Gordon's most personal composition. The entire cast will reprise the performance with Opera Piccola of San Antonio on May 10 & 11 as part of a double bill with Gordon's Orpheus and Euridice.

Jud Arhur in a model shot and as Fafner

18.  Best Nude Scene – Jud Arthur as Fafner: Director Neil Armfield's Der Ring des Nibelungen at Opera Australia was quite the buzz even before it opened. Of course, our readers were buzzing about barihunk Jud Arthur's surprising entry from his cave as the mortally wounded Fafner, splattered with blood and completely naked. In the scene, Fafner, stripped bare, warns Siegfried of the Ring's power.

      Jud Arthur was born in New Zealand, worked as a farmer in Mosgiel, and then began a career as a professional rugby player. He's been one of the most popular regulars at Opera Australia for a decade now and also moonlights as a professional model.

19.  Best Ad Campaign – Glory Denied, Fort Worth Opera Festival: The ad campaign for Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied was literally stopping traffic this year. The innovative company, which brilliantly combines standard repertory with new works, created quite the buzz with these bus benches featuring barihunk Michael Mayes. Mayes portrayed Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. Fort Worth Opera often challenges their ticket holders with new works and the productions are often the audience favorites. This year they will present Daniel Crozier & Peter M. Krask's With Blood, With Ink and Kevin Puts' Silent Night with David T. Little and Royce Vavrek's JFK slated for the following season. Also, the aforementioned John de los Santos will direct Bizet's Pearl Fishers, part of their standard repertory along with Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.

Ryan McKinny backstage and onstage in Flying Dutchman

20.  Hottest Wagnerian – Ryan McKinny: When did Wagner become so sexy? Between Jud Arthur's naked Fafner and Ryan McKinny's smoking hot, leather clad Dutchman at the Glimmerglass Festival, we're beginning to see a trend that we really like. The Glimmerglass production was directed by the Queen Mother of barihunks, Francesca Zambello, and also featured the amazing soprano Melody Moore as Senta. All we can say is "ho-jo-to-ho-ho-jo-to-ho-ho-jo-to-ho."

21.  Best “Breakout” performance – Erik E. Larsen pants busting: Our post about Erik E. Larsen landed us in hot water with Facebook, who removed the post after a complaint from an offended reader (yes, Victorian England still exists!). We try to keep it (relatively) tasteful on Barihunks, but what do you expect us to do when someone tweets this photo with the caption "Hulked out of my pants" and hashtags it #Barihunks?  That's what Erik E. Larson (@unamplified) did on Twitter, so why not share it with our readers? Larsen is finishing his second year of study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and performed in their recent production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. He is also a member of the Madison Opera chorus. We hope to see (ahem) lots more of Erik Larsen (ahem, ahem). However, if he keeps tweeting about his love of "fried cream cheese" he may end up on BariChunks.

Steven Labrie and Peter Brathwaite

22.  Best Barihunk Supermodels – Steven Labrie MAC and Peter Brathwaite “Dockers”: Barihunk Steven LaBrie probably never guessed that he'd have something in common with drag icon RuPaul, but they are now both models for M∙A∙C Cosmetics. In July, the New York City-based company posted a notice that they were looking for a "classically trained male opera singer that has a young, hip, edgy appearance...Theatrical flair encouraged. Acting ability a plus." Labrie was chosen out of a slew of finalists and is now seen in ad campaigns and at promotional appearances for M∙A∙C.

      If that model in the Dockers ad looks familiar, it might be because you've seen him on a London opera stage, on the cover an Amore CD or even in the Barihunks calendar. Peter Brathwaite was chosen as a brand ambassador for the pants company Dockers. He was named one of four "Men of Style" in their new campaign.  The Dockers' "Men of Style" campaign showcases some of the most influential men in the world of style and their stories.

Separated at Birth: Ben Affleck and Wes Mason

23.  Best Doppelganger – Wes Mason/Ben Affleck: When we looked at Wes Mason's new photos by Barihunk's official photographer Michael Yeshion, it struck us that he was channeling a pretty serious Ben Affleck look with the baritone beard and seductive "stare at the camera and look serious" pose. You can visit Mason's new website at www.wesmasonstage.com.

Erik Anstine in the Alps (nice tee shirt!)

24.  Hottest tee shirt model – Erik Anstine in the Alps: Let's face it, we've seen some sexy photos of baritones in their BARIHUNK tee shirts, but there is something about these pictures of Erik Anstine sleeveless up in the Swiss Alps that made us want to strap on our boots and hit the slopes. Anstine is currently on the roster of the Zurich Opera, where he performed Masetto in their new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni with fellow barihunk Peter Mattei in the title role and Wagner in Gounod's Faust alongside fellow barihunks Elliot Madore and Kyle Ketelson. Next season he can also be seen alongside the great mezzo Cecilia Bartoli in a Christof Loy production of Handel's Alcina.  Check out the entire 2013/2014 season at the Opernhaus Zürich website.

Morgan Pearse

25.  Best Barihunk Crack – Morgan Pearse “Imeneo”: What better way to wrap up our year end feature than with a shot of a rear end? Barihunk Morgan Pearse showed a little crack in his performance of the title role of Handel's Imeneo with the London Handel Festival. Pearse is the Royal College of Music’s inaugural Joan Sutherland Scholar studying with Russell Smythe. He was recently awarded top prize in the Singers Section of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition.

If you love barihunks, make sure to purchase our 2014 Charity Calendar. Every penny of profit goes to benefit young artists. Buy yours today!