Barihunk Jonathan Beyer and Brandon Cedel, who appeared together in our 2011 Charity Calendar, will be together onstage again from April 2-10 at the Pittsburgh Opera in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The cast includes Emily Fons as Rosina and Michele Angelini as Almaviva. Tickets are available online.
They'll join forces again on June 3rd, when the Detroit Symphony presents Richard Strauss' Salome with and all-star cast that includes Lise Lindstrom as Salome, Chris Merritt as Herod and Jane Henschel as Herodias. Tickets are available online.
They'll also join forces in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Castleton Festival with Cedel as Figaro and Beyer as the Count.
Upcoming performances for Cedel include Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Philadelphia, Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Münchner Opernfestspiele, and Leporello at Glyndebourne.
Another barihunk couple, Dan Kempson and Zachary Altman, have also appeared together onstage, including in a recent performance of Puccini's Turandot with the Pacific Symphony. They also performed a Valentine's Day concert with the West Edge Opera in Berkeley.
Canadian barihunk Mike Nyby will be singing Seth in the world premiere of award-winning composer Peter-Anthony Togni's "Isis and Osiris." The new Canadian opera, concludes the 2016 season of Toronto's Opera in Concert program with performances on April 1st and 3rd.
Isis and Osiris, Gods of Egypt is based on the major myth of ancient Egypt, telling their love story in a larger-than-life tale of sibling jealousy, lust for power, fratricide and the quest for immortality. Togni collaborated with Toronto poet Sharon Singer on the piece.
The remainder of the cast includes Lucia Cesaroni as Isis, Michael Barrett as Osiris, Julie Nesrallah as Nepthys, Stuart Graham as Grand Vizier Khamet, Leigh-Ann Allen as Sennefer and Christopher Wattam as Imhotep.
He has been referred to as the original barihunk by some, for leading
the way in sexy portrayals of the low voice repertory. His video of
Boito's Mefistofele
from the San Francisco Opera has become a cult classic with opera
aficionados. He continued his sexy shirtless portrayals as Attila
that were not only sexy, but set the vocal standard to this day.
His amazing vocal
flexibility and range has allowed his to sing roles ranging from Argante
in Handel’s Rinaldo to the title role in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle. His
repertoire includes the florid passages of Handel, the bel canto roles
of Bellini and Donizetti, the great baritone roles of Verdi and Puccini,
great American operas and even many of the great Russian and French
bass roles.
Samuel Ramey sings "Ecco il mondo" from Boito's Mefistofele:
He is still actively performing, although in less demanding roles. On
May 6 and 8, he'll be singing the role of the Old Hebrew with Tulsa
Opera in Saint Saens' Samson et Dalila with Frank Porretta and Dana Beth Miller in the title roles. In recent years he's performed the title role of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle at Opera Omaha, Basilio in The Barber of Seville at New Orleans Opera, Timur in Puccini's Turandot at the Met and Leone in Verdi's Attila at the San Francisco Opera.
If he sang nothing else, he would be famous for his interpretation of Boito’s Mefistofele,which
has included seventy performances in the Robert Carsen production of
the opera specifically created for him. In fact, devilish roles have
dominated his stage performances, including Berlioz's devil in La damnation de Faust; the sinister Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress; and the tour de force of all four villains in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
In 1992 Mr. Ramey sang all of Offenbach’s villains for the Metropolitan
Opera’s opening night, prompting one critic to write, “[It was] the
best interpretation of the four villains I can remember in the last 25
years. This is the stuff of which operatic legends are made.” In 1996, Ramey presented a sold-out concert at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall
titled A Date with the Devil in which he sang fourteen arias
representing the core of this repertoire, and he continues to tour this
program throughout the world.
Samuel Ramey sings "Mentre gonfiarsi l'anima parea" from Attila:
Samuel Ramey holds the distinction of being the most recorded bass in
history. His more than eighty recordings include complete operas,
recordings of arias, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular
crossover albums on every major label. His recordings have garnered
nearly every major award including three Grammy Awards, Gran Prix du
Disc Awards, and “Best of the Year” citations from journals including Stereo Review and Opera News. His exposure on television and video is no less impressive, with video recordings of the Metropolitan Opera’s Carmen, Bluebeard’s Castle, Semiramide, Nabucco, and the compilation “The Met Celebrates Verdi;” San Francisco Opera’s Mefistofele; The Rake’s Progress from the Glyndebourne Festival; Attila from La Scala; and the Salzburg Festival’s Don Giovanni. Ramey is seen frequently on television in appearances with “Live
from the Met” and “Live from Lincoln Center” as well as other
productions taped for PBS.
Following his phenomenal success in opera, concert, and recordings,
Samuel Ramey’s sold-out Carnegie Hall recital in 1987 added a fourth
dimension to his spectacular career. His returns to New York’s Carnegie
Hall for solo recitals in February 1995 and November 1998 were the
culmination of extensive, critically-acclaimed North American tours
which had taken Mr. Ramey from Alaska to Alabama, with appearances on
America's finest vocal series. His European recital career is equally
notable, with sold-out appearances in all the music capitals.
A native of Colby, Kansas, Samuel Ramey was active in music
throughout high school and college. In 1995 he was named “Kansan of the
Year,” and in 1998 the French Ministry of Culture awarded him the rank
of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters.
Barihunk Paulo Szot is returning to Feinstein’s/54 Below for six performances from April 5-9 at 7pm and April 9 at 9:30pm. The Tony-winning star of South Pacific will perform romantic songs of the American Songbook, including Lerner and Loewe, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Burton Lane, the Gershwins and Leonard Bernstein.
Paulo Szot talking about his Feinstein's/54 Below debut in 2013:
Szot just finished a run as Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly at Opéra de Marseille and returns to the opera stage after his run at Feinstein’s/54 in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette at the Palacio das Artes in May. He returns to the Opéra National de Paris next season as Don Alfonso in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.
Our favorite thing about posting Reader Submissions, is that it inevitably prompts more submissions. When we posted Aussie barihunk Adrian Tamburini a reader quickly alerted us to Paull-Anthony Keightley who also has eluded our notice.
Keightley is a recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, which he
attended after completing his undergraduate studies at the Western
Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He was a finalist in the Fremantle Eisteddfod Open Aria competition and
won first place at the North of Perth Eisteddfod. He was awarded the
Royal Schools of Music Club Anniversary scholarship and won the Royal
Over-Seas League Singing Competition. He is the recipient of awards from
the Dame Joan Sutherland Fund and the Australian Music Foundation.
In February, he made his solo debut with the Western Australian Opera as Pinenello in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi. On May 28th, he'll join soprano Claire Condipodero and mezzo-soprano Chelsea Burns at the Fremantle Heritage Festival for a concert of music from composers from Western Australia.
In Australia and America Paull-Anthony’s operatic credits include Frank in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus, Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Baptista in the Australian Premier of Goetz’s The Taming of the Shrew, Fiorello in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and Gloster Heming in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of us All.
Since returning to Australia, Mr. Keightley participated in the WAAPA International Art Song Festival and appeared in productions of Faust, L’elisir d’amore and Les pêcheurs de perles.
Our latest reader submission comes from down under, where someone pointed out that we've somehow missed Adrian Tamburini in our posting of Aussie barihunks. He's been singing the roles of Alcindoro and Benoit in Opera Australia's production of Puccini's La bohème, which will be reprised in Melbourne from May 3-28. Tickets and additional cast information is available online.
From October 28 to November 5, he'll perform The Maestro in Alan Jones' new opera The Eighth Wonder, a piece written ABOUT the Sydney Opera House. The story revolves around the dramatic story
of the creation of one of the world’s most famous buildings and the coming of age of
Australia. The opera will be performed outside of the opera house, with a giants stage built across the 100 metre (328') steps, with giant screens, huge glowing balls of paper,
projections and spectacular lighting effects.
Adrian Tamburini
Other recent engagements for Opera Australia have included Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Zuniga in Bizet's Carmen, Antonio in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Sciarrone in Puccini's Tosca and The Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute. He sang Colline in La bohème for West Australian Opera and also joined an all-star cast in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 for the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Melbourne Opera, has appeared on the TV Christmas special Woolworths Carols in the Domain, and has been a musical director and producer.
Tamburini started his singing career as a chorister with the Victorian Boys Choir at age five and was awarded a scholarship to sing with the St Patrick's Cathedral Choir at age 10. He went on to receive many awards, prizes and scholarships including the Robert Salzer Vocal Scholarship, the Lygon Street Festa Aria Competition, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Competition, the Lythgo Trust Operatic Aria Award, the Melbourne Welsh Male Voice Choir Singer of the Year Competition, the Acclaim Awards Scholarship and was twice a finalist in the German Australian Opera Grant
On September 3rd, he will join the Penrith Symphony Orchestra as a soloist Verdi’s Requiem. Tickets are available online.
Hadleigh Adams(Photo: Scott Wall/San Francisco Opera)
The innovative SF Opera Lab will be presenting their next Pop-Up concert on April Fool's Day with performances by barihunks Hadleigh Adams, Anthony Reed and Brad Walker. All three are alums of the prestigious Merola Opera Program who went on to become Adler Fellows with the San Francisco Opera.
The SF Opera Lab explores innovative programming that celebrates the
power
of the human voice theatrically in intimate spaces beyond the War
Memorial Opera House. They are also intended to be informal and drinks
are allowed at the performance. The concert will be performed at The
Chapel, a converted mortuary that was built in 1914 and has been renovated into a live music venue.
Bass-barihunks Anthony Reed and Brad Walker
The concert is on Friday, April 1st (doors at 8:15pm/show at 9pm) and there will be an after-party with a live DJ. Adams will perform and emcee the concert. Tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door. Seating is limited, so order tickets in advance.
Hadleigh Adams will be performing Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Cincinnati Opera in June. Anthony Reed can be seen this season at the San Francisco Opera in Jenufa, Andrea Chenier, Aida and Madama Butterfly. Brad Walker will be appearing with the San Francisco Opera this season in Carmen, Andrea Chenier and The Makropulos Case.
