New Jordan Shanahan Photos from Dead Man Walking (and audio)

We recently posted about Jordan Shanahan portraying Joseph de Roucher in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" at Union Avenue Opera in Missouri. All that was missing were the Barihunks=worthy photographs, so here they are:

Jordan Shanahan

Jordan Shanahan as Joseph de Roucher

Jordan Shanahan as Joseph de Roucher (We know what you're thinking)

You can listen to Jordan Shanahan singing the Confession Scene from "Dead Man Walking" here (not from the recent production):



If you're a barihunk or know one who is worthy of our 2012 charity calendar, you can submit High Res photos and a brief bio to Barihunks@gmail.com

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Jordan Shanahan: In Opera News & In The Shower

The new issue of Opera News has features on barihunks Simon Keenlyside and Paulo Szot, so we almost missed Jordan Shananan. Luckily, one of our readers reminded us about this young barihunk whose career is taking off in a big way. Fortunately, we also found this video of him taking a shower and singing (what else?) Don Giovanni.

Here is Brian Kallow's feature on Shananan from Opera News:

[Photographed in New York by Dario Acosta, © Dario Acosta 2010]


By Brian Kellow, Opera News

Jordan Shanahan has a natural gift: he instinctively knows how to let the music breathe, and he never pushes himself, musically or dramatically. Yet his warm lyric baritone always has a delicate edge that stays with you. Singing Yeletsky's aria at the 2008 Gerda Lissner competition, he was a model of musical precision, economy and refinement.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Shanahan was trained as a trombonist and began studying voice as a way of improving his breath control. "I don't need as much breath to sing," he says. "What you need is a more focused, sustained, but lesser pressure. It was learning how to roll the dial back a bit." He got work in the chorus of Hawaii Opera Theatre before his teacher, Robert McFarland, secured a scholarship for him at Temple University. "I jumped in head first," recalls Shanahan. "I got to do Silvio in Pagliacci, Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor. I decided this was a lot more fun than being in the pit as a trombone player." Eventually, he made his way to Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center. He's racked up a number of major competition wins, including the Lissner, the Licia Albanese–Puccini Foundation and the George London Foundation. After he sang in the semifinals of the National Council Auditions, the Met offered him a spot as second cover for Nathan Gunn in Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy. "It was a great opportunity to come into the house with almost no pressure," says Shanahan. "I didn't have a single stage rehearsal. I got to see the process and work with people at the highest level, and it sort of humanized the business for me."

Though he misses the climate and openness of the people in Hawaii, he admits that "growing up there, nothing seemed real. I never got to see any of these people in person. I would listen to the Met on Saturday and watch PBS, but opera singers were like movie stars."

At thirty-two, Shanahan has a repertory that ranges from Posa in Don Carlo to Joe in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking to covering Gerald Finley in Doctor Atomic at the Met. In June 2008, Shanahan married soprano Audrey Luna. Chicago is their home base, but this month he's back at the Met, as Horatio in Ambroise Thomas's Hamlet. "It's by far the biggest thing I have ever done," he says. "Stylistically, I don't know that my personality is a 100-percent fit with the French style. I think I'm much more Verdian than the even keel that the French asks for. Actually, people have never known what to make of my voice. In this age of specialists — 'I'm a Rossini singer,' 'I'm a Mozart singer' — people don't run the gamut as much as they used to. I think there's some value to being a generalist."

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Merola Concerts Tonight and Sunday (and Birthday Greetings to Jordan Shanahan)

Phillipe Sly & Mark Diamond

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area don't miss tonight's Schwabacher Summer Concert featuring the latest class of participants. The concert will feature works by great  Italian composers, as well as a little Tchaikovsky. The concert will feature scenes from "Don Carlo," "I Capuleti e i Montecchi " "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Rigoletto" and "Eugene Onegin." The scenes concert will be directed by renowned stage director Peter Kazaras, who currently serves as Seattle Opera's Artistic Advisor and Principal Artistic Instructor of the Young Artist Development Program, and was recently appointed Director of Opera and Music Theater at UCLA.

Two Merola participants are of particular interest to us this year, as they have already created a buzz in the opera world for their amazing singing talent and barihunk good looks: Phillipe Sly and Mark Diamond. Both singers have also won major vocal competitions, with Diamond taking first place at the Eleanor McCollum Competition at the Houston Grand Opera and Sly winning the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions Competition.

Mark Diamond

Diamond has already been scooped up by the Houston Grand Opera and he'll be joining their esteemed young artist program after Merola. Houston has engaged him to perform Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Marchese d’Obigny in La Traviata. He will be studying the roles of Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and Rodrigue in Don Carlos. You can hear his sound clips HERE.

Phillipe Sly in performance

We've featured Phillip Sly prominently on this site since he first came to our attention. You can hear his sound clips HERE. A little trivia about Sly: he originally started out as a countertenor (like fellow barihunk Zachary Gordin). Here is Sly singing Schubert's Der Erlkönig, which we've previously posted, but we can't get enough of.



Both singers will appear in the Merola performances of Rossini's "Barber of Seville" this year. Diamond as Figaro and Sly as Bartolo. Performance are on August 4, 5, 6 and 7 and tickets can be purchased HERE. For those who can't make tonight's concert, there will be a FREE version of the concert at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Park on Sunday, July 24th at 2 PM.

Birthday boy: Jordan Shanahan

We'd also like to wish Jordan Shanahan a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Shanahan and his wife soprano Luna recently won the Barihunks "Favorite Opera Couple" poll. We've been trying to find a video of the popular couple singing together and we promise to post one when it becomes available.

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Dead Man Walking Closes in Tulsa, Opens in Dresden

Michael Mayes (L) & John Packard (R) as Joseph de Rocher

Michael Mayes created quite a stir when we posted pictures of him on Barihunks as Joseph de Rocher in the Tulsa Opera production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. We followed it up with a post about his dramatic weight loss and workout routine that got him his "prison gym" body, which also generated intense interest. Mayes received rave reviews for his intense performance and became the talk of the opera world overnight even though he was performing in a city that is hardly considered an opera capital of the world. Such is the power of the internet.

Philip Cutlip (top) and Daniel Okulitch (bottom)

Heggie's opera has quickly become a mainstay of the operatic standard repertory, something that rarely happens this soon after a work's debut. The opera premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 2000 with an all-star cast led by John Packard as Joseph de Rocher, Frederick von Stade an his mother, Susan Graham as Sister Helen Prejean and Jay Hunter Morris as Father Grenville.

Mel Ulrich (L) & Teddy Tahu Rhodes (R)

Some of the hottest barihunks in the world have taken on the role of Joseph de Rocher including Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Mel Ulrich, Daniel Okulitch, Jordan Shanahan, Marcus DeLoach and Philip Cutlip.

Here is a promo piece from the Dresden Opera in German:

Dead Man Walking - Semperoper Dresden from Theater-TV on Vimeo.

Just over 5,000 miles from Tulsa, as the curtain comes down on the final performance of Dead Man Walking, another production is running at the Semperoper in Dresden with John Packard returning as the convicted killer. Remaining performance are on March 4, 9, 18 and 23 with Antigone Papoulkas as Sister Helen Prejean. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online. 

In related casting news about barihunks who played Joseph de Rocher, read our recent post about Daniel Okulitch, who is reprising Willy Wonka in Atlanta, a role that he created. Philip Cutlip opens two weeks from today as Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at New York City Opera in a cast that includes fellow barihunk Rod Gilfry. Michael Mayes heads to the Ft. Worth Opera Festival to perform in Mark Adamo's Lysistrata, Jordan Shanahan will be performing in La boheme with the Green Mountain Cultural Festival, Marcus DeLoach will be performing in Of Mice and Men with the Utah Opera and Teddy Tahu Rhodes will be taking his famous Don Giovanni to Bordeaux opposite the Leporello of fellow barihunk Kostas Smoriginas

And we leave you with Jordan Shanahan:

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Jordan Shanahan in Dead Man Walking

Elise Quagliata as Sister Helen Prejean Jordan Shanahan as Joseph De Rocher

Jordan Shanahan, who won our favorite opera couple poll along with his wife Audrey Luna, will be peforming Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking" with the Union Avenue Opera in Missouri. The opera is the modern-day story of Sister Helen Prejean and her journey as she undertakes the role of spiritual advisor to Joseph De Rocher, an inmate on Louisiana's death row. 

Performances will take place August 19, 20, 26, and 27 at 8:00 p.m. The real-life Sister Helen Prejean will be attending the opening night performance on August 19th. Tickets for the dinner are $250.00 per person. Additional information is available HERE.

Don't forget to listen to "Mr. Barihunks" on the Texapolitan Opera Roadshow. 

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Featured Barihunks dominate St. Gallen's Don Giovanni

Thomas Oliemans

A loyal reader who is catching some opera in Switzerland next week alerted us to the Don Giovanni in St. Gallen, which features four singers who have appeared on this site. Of course, there are two casts, so one won't find them all on stage at once. Performances will be running throughout the remainder of the calendar year, so there is plenty of time to make your travel plans and catch both casts.

Rotating as the title character are Danish barihunk Palle Knudsen and Dutch barihunk Thomas Oliemans, who was first brought to our attention by the very same reader. Oliemans released a recording of Schubert's Schwanengesang in 2011 with Malcolm Martineau that is not to be missed.

Matt Boehler sings Leporello's Catalog aria:

Alternating as Leporello are Swedish baritone Gabriel Suovanen, who is new to this site, and American Matt Boehler, who we featured when he made his New York City Opera debut as the Hotel Manager in Thomas Ades’ Powder Her Face. Boehler is now part of the regular ensemble at St. Gallen. Upcoming performances include Daland in Wagner's Der fliegende Hollander, Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto and Der Pfarrer in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen.

Jordan Shanahan, as seen in the Barihunks charity calendar

Alternating as Masetto are American baritones Jordan Shanahan and David Maze. Shanahan, you may recall was featured in our Barihunks calendar in photos taken from Jake Heggies' Dead Man Walking. Shanahan is also part of the ensemble at St. Gallen where he will be featured as Harlekin in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, Marullo in Verdi's Rigoletto, Harasta in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen and Fritz in Korngold's Die tote Stadt.

Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani

For those of you who like a little tenor eye candy, as well, check out the Don Ottavio of Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani. If the owners of the Hunkentenors site ever decide to resurrect their site, Giustiniani should be their next post. The guy can sing, too.

Jordan Shanahan Interview

The blog ClevelandClassical.com has an interview with emerging barihunk Jordan Shanahan, who was recently featured on our site singing in the shower.

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Introducing Another Opera Couple: Lunahan

Lunahan: Jordan Shanhan & Audrey Luna (photo by Greg James)

We've featured many opera couples on this site, from barihunk couples like Zach Altman and Dan Kempson, to superstar couples like Erwin Schrott/Anna Netrebko and Teddy Tahu Rhodes/Isabel Leonard. So let us introduce two fast rising stars who have also tied the knot, Tebaldi International Voice Competition winner Audrey Luna and Jordan Shanahan, who has been featured on this site before.

The original Barihunk couple: Dan Kempson (L) & Zach Altman (R)

The couple is singing Rosina and Figaro in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in a collaboration between Mississippi Opera and Opera Memphis. They begin in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday, April 9th and then head to Delta State University in Cleveland on Tuesday, April 12th. The production then wraps up in Memphis with performances on April 16 and 17.

You can hear Shanahan sing the famous "Largo al factotum" at his website.

Since all of the star couples have nicknames, we're suggesting "Lunahan" for opera's new love couple.

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Who is your favorite opera couple?

We love seeing our reader responses to our poll questions. Not only is it fun, but it helps inform us what is of interest to you. It's been fun watching the current race to see who your favorite opera couple is in the world. As of today, three couples are leading the pack, so make sure to vote.

Dan Kempson & Zach Altman

 

Anna Netrebko & Erwin Schrott

Jordan Shanhan & Audrey Luna

Jordan Shanahan showers while singing some Mozart:

Support Young Artists with the 2012 Barihunks Calendar

Actual Cover of Barihunks 2012 Calendar

People visit Barihunks for a variety of reasons, mostly to see some hot baritones showing off their vocal and physical gifts. However, the emails that matter most to us are the ones where we've learned that we've made a difference in a young artist's life. We often hear about singers being cast after someone saw and/or heard them on the site. Our favorite email of all-time was this, "Thanks to your site, my mom thinks I'm a big star in opera. Best of all, she doesn't complain about the all the money she's spent on my career anymore."

We strive to keep this site positive and about promoting both opera and careers. If you've written a bitchy post, you've probably noticed that it's been removed. We believe singers work too hard and make too many sacrifices to be attacked on a blog. Many singers know that we frequently show up to support them live in theaters throughout the world.

The most frequent request that we receive is for a Barihunks calendar and we've finally relented and put one together for 2012. We've collected lots of beautiful photos from the 33 of the hottest men in opera for your enjoyment. Many of the singers took the time to have exclusive photos taken just for the calendar.


Consistent with our desire to support young artists, all proceeds from the Barihunks 2012 calendar will go to support either young artist programs or young artists directly.  The only hitch is we haven't decided who will be the beneficiary. We'd like to hear from you. If you know of a training program that deserves our support, please write us at Barihunks@gmail.com and let us know why in 100 words or less. Click on the calendar image to the right to purchase a calendar now.

Wes Mason

Singers featured in our calendar include Aaron Agulay, Zach Altman, Dan Kempson, Jonathan Beyer, Brandon Cedel, Christopher Herbert, Christopher Temporelli, Craig Verm, David Adam Moore, David Krohn, Douglas Carpenter, Douglas Williams, Erik Anstine, Justin Hopkins, Jonathan Boehr, Jonathan Estabrooks, Michael Mayes, Michael Rice, Jordan Shanahan, Joseph Lattanzi, Matthew Trevino, Matthew Morris, Michael Kelly, Milos Galaz, Nick Parker-Pendree, Peter Brathwaite, Philip Kalmanovitch, Randal Turner, Remo Tobiaz, Seth Carico, Tom Forde, Wes Mason and Zachary Gordin. If you see any of these singers on a program, please buy a ticket and support their artistry.

Michael Mayes: Texapolitan Opera Show

We'd also like to thank all of the artists, agents, photographers and opera companies who graciously granted us rights to the images. In appreciation of the photographers, we are going to feature them and their sites throughout the year. Please support them, as well. Here are the photographers who contributed their work: Ellen Appel, J. David Levy, Bryan Estabrooks, Dirty Sugar Photography,  Chris Macke, Rozarii Lynch, Pierre-Etienne Bergeron, Gabriel Henningson, Taren Frazier, Kathy Whitman, Leah Brizard, Ron T. Ennis, Chris Miles, Moses Jones, Bill McClaren, Geoff Silver, Chisolm Photography, Nacho Guerrero and Ron Lindsay.

This calendar will make a great holiday gift!

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Photos from Dead Man Walking: Michael Mayes in Glory Denied

Philip Kalmanovitch and Etienne Dupuis are all smiles as opening night arrives

On February 24h, we mentioned the upcoming performance of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking in Montreal, Boston and Eugene, Oregon. We have rehearsal photos from two of those productions, as the much-anticipated opening night in Montreal is upon us.

Etienne Dupuis

Etienne Dupuis is a great example of how much opera is catching up to TV and movies with realistic casting. He hired two personal trainers to get in shape for the role of Joseph De Rocher, which has become a dream role for barihunks. Some of the hottest barihunks in the world have taken on the role of Joseph de Rocher including Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Mel Ulrich, Daniel Okulitch, Jordan Shanahan, Marcus DeLoach and Philip Cutlip. The performance in Montreal also includes Philip Kalmanovitch as a police officer. Many of you will remember him from last year's calendar and probably wouldn't mind being frisked by him.

Performances at Opera de Montreal run from tonight through March16th and tickets are available online.

Etienne Dupuis as Joseph De Rocher in Montreal

Dead Man Walking will open on opposite coasts on March 15th at the Eugene Opera and the Boston Opera Collaborative. If you ever get the chance to see the stage animal Michael Mayes perform this role, don't miss it. His workout photo from Tulsa, as he was preparing for the role a year ago, have rocketed into our ten most visited posts of all-time.

The opera will be performed at the Eugene Opera on March 15 and 17 and tickets are available online.

If you don't have time to schedule a trip to Oregon, there are still six weeks left to get to the Fort Worth Opera Festival where Mayes will portray Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, America’s longest-held prisoner of war. The opera by Tom Cipullo looks back on Thompson's years as a captive in Vietnam and features Mayes in the title role. If you've not been to this festival, we highly recommend adding it to your agenda, as it's one of the most innovative and entertaining festivals in America. Other operas this year include Puccini's La boheme, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment. Wes Mason, another of our favorite young barihunks, will be appearing as Marcello in La boheme.

Tickets and additional information about the Fort Worth Opera Festival are available on their website.

Michael Mayes getting in character in Eugene

Performances of Dead Man Walking with the Boston Opera Collaborative will run daily from March 15-18 with tickets available online.

David Adam Moore to reprise sexy Stanley Kowalski

David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski (Photo @dabva)

The Teatro Colón has announced its 2019 season, which will include barihunk David Adam Moore as Stanley Kowalski in Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, in what will be the South American premiere of the opera. Moore has had great success with the role at both the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Virginia Opera.

The opera is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tennessee Williams and has become a showcase for barihunks, including Gregory Gerbrandt, Dan Kempson, Rod Gilfry, Ryan McKinny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Jordan Shanahan.

A Streetcar Named Desire was premiered at the San Francisco Opera in 1998 with Rod Gilfry as Stanley and its become one of the most popular contemporary American operas in the repertory. It has gone on to see performances in New Orleans, Kentucky, Carnegie Hall in New York San Diego, Washington D.C., San Francisco (Merola Opera), Cleveland, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Honolulu and Virginia Opera. It had it European premiere in Strasbourg in 2001 and its U.K. premiere in 2003, with subsequent performances throughout Europe and in Tokyo.

The Teatro Colón cast will also include Sarah Jane McMahon, Eric Fennell, and Victoria Livengood. Performances run from May 7-14, 2019

Keenlyside's Sexy ads for Met's "The Tempest"

Simon Keenlyside

If there was ever any doubt that sedxy men in opera are finally being recognized for having the same marketing potential as their female counterparts, it was firmly dispelled with the arrival of the new Metropolitan Opera 2012-13. In the past, one could count on Anna Netrebko, Kiri Te Kanawa or Elīna Garanča gracing the cover. Barihunk Simon Keenlyside graces the cover with a full body tattoo and have exposed torso. The British singer, who turns 53 on August 3rd, looks as stunning as singers half his age.

Composer Thomas Adès will conduct and Robert Lepage will direct the Met premiere of this modern masterpiece. Keenlyside will sing the role of Prospero, the banished Duke of Milan who practices his otherworldly arts. The entire cast could be out of Hollywood central casting. It includes Isabel Leonard as Prospero’s daughter, Miranda, Toby Spence as his brother Antonio and Audrey Luna as the spirit Ariel.

The cast also has other barihunk connections, as Leonard is the wife of barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Luna is the wife of barihunk Jordan Shanahan.

If you can't make it to New York City, you can watch the performance in the Met's Live in HD broadcast of Saturday, November 10, 2012.

Kyle Ketelsen to star in Carmen

Other barihunks performing at the Met his Fall include Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Un Ballo in Maschera and Don Carlo, Mariusz Kwiecien in L'Elisir d'Amore, Peter Mattei in Parsifal, Guido Loconsolo in Giolio Cesare, Kyle Ketelsen and Teddy Tahu Rhodes in Carmen, Nathan Gunn in Le Comte Ory, Ildar Abdrazakov and Erwin Schrott in Don Giovanni and John Relyea in Faust.

Visit the Met's website for additional performance and cast information.

Zachary Gordin: Killer Body in Killer Role

The Dayton Opera has announced that über-barihunk Zachary Gordin is replacing John Arnold in their production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. The role of the accused killer Joseph de Rocher should be a natural fit for the gym toned singer, who is required to sing an aria while doing pushups. This is Gordin's role debut and first appearance with the Dayton Opera. Singing the critical role of Sister Helen Prejean will be mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin.  

Performances are on February 27 and March 1st. Their season continues with another barihunk, Matthew Worth, in the oft-shirtless role of Zurga in Bizet's Pearl Fishers. There will be two performances on April 17 and 19. Additional information and tickets for both operas are available online.

Dead Man Walking at the Mälmo Opera with Samuel Jarrick (left) and Rasmus Mononen (far right)

Dead Man Walking, has quickly entered the standard repertory since its San Francisco premiere in 2000. Amazingly, this was Heggie's first opera and it has become a star vehicle for baritones and especially barihunks. The role of Joseph De Rocher has been sung by numerous barihunks, including Michael Mayes, Philip Cutlip, Etienne Dupuis, Jordan Shanahan, Samuel Jarrick, Daniel Okulitch, Mel Ulrich. Thomas Gunther, John Arnold, David Adam Moore, Marcus DeLoach.

Michael Mayes: Rockabilly Cowboy or Flexin' Texan?

Michael Mayes rehearses “Die Fledermaus” with the Opera on the James

Michael Mayes was not only one of our most popular singers featured in last  year's calendar, but he became an inspiration for other singers after he appeared in our "BariChunk to BariHunk" feature. The Texas baritone lost fifty pounds and buffed up to play the role of Joseph de Rocher in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking." The post has become one of our ten most visited posts of all-time.

Chris Carr's transformation was inspired by Michael Mayes

His workout routine consisted mostly of a fierce dedication to the Spartacus workout program. While at the Des Moines Opera earlier this year, he inspired countless singers, especially fellow baritone Chris Carr, who went through an amazing transformation.

Mayes also started a Facebook site called Operaticus where singers can go and post their progress with the Spartacus workout, ask questions or post workout tips.

Michael Mayes using a rock for his workout when there were no barbells

Mayes is curently preparing to open as Gabriel Eisenstein in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus with Opera on the James in  Lynchburg, Virginia. The cast also includes fellow barihunk and 2012 calendar model Jordan Shanahan as Dr. Falke. There is one performance on Sunday, November 11th. Tickets are available online.

A recent feature article on Mayes in the Lynchburg Burg newspaper referred to Mayes as the "Rockabilly Cowboy" (or as we'll call him, Rockabilly Baritone). However, he's also been dubbed the "Flexin' Texan." We want readers to decide which is the best nickname for Mayes. You can vote in the sidebar to the right.

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Movie deals with man's obsession with Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and beautiful men (kind of like us!)

We always thought that no one could possibly like Mozart's Don Giovanni more than those of us involved with Barihunks. After all, the opera has given us more sexy photos than humanly imaginable, with Leporello, Masetto and the Don often cast with stunningly handsome men in various states of undress.

Then along cam the documentary movie “Naked Opera,” which tells the story of Marc Rollinger, an obsessed opera fan who travels around the world to see productions of Don Giovanni. His goal is to find the perfect production of the Mozart classic. His travels take him to Venice, Vienna, and Berlin and the movie features clips from Joseph Losey's classic film starring Ruggero Raimondi, José van Dam, Edda Moser and Kiri Te Kanawa.

Rollinger's travels are a way to escape his mundane existence and he enhances the experience by surrounding himself with gorgeous young men. He lavishes them with great food, expensive champagne and luxury hotel suites.

You'll have a tough time finding a viewing of the movie, as it has seen very limited release. It did manage to win the Heiner-Carow-Award during this years Berlinale. The DVD is available for purchase in Europe, but not in the US. You can order a copy HERE.

If you're like Rollinger and pining for the next great production of Don Giovanni, you may want to head to St. Gallen, Switzerland where a trio of barihunks who have appeared on this site are performing; Palle Knudsen as Don Giovanni, Jordan Shanahan as Masetto and Matt Boehler as Leporello. Performances run through December 30th.

Dead Man Walking opens in Des Moines; More productions ahead

David Adam Moore in Dead Man Walking

David Adam Moore in Dead Man Walking

Jake Heggie's masterpiece, Dead Man Walking, has quickly entered the standard repertory since its San Francisco premiere in 2000. Amazingly, this was Heggie's first opera and it has become a star vehicle for baritones and especially barihunks. The role not only requires a ripped physique, but one of the arias is sung while doing pushups. John Packard was the original Joseph De Rocher, the convicted killer who is the center of the opera.

The Australian premiere was in 2002 at the State Opera of South Australia with Teddy Tahu Rhodes, which was nominated for six Helpmann Awards, winning for "Best Set Design" and "Best Male in an Operatic Performance." The Canadian premiere occurred on January 2006 at the Calgary Opera with Daniel Okulitch. The European premiere was given in May 2006 at the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany with Mel Ulrich.

John Arnold as Joseph De Rocher

Our site has been filled with a veritable Who's Who of barihunks singing Joseph De Rocher, including veritable Who's Who of barihunks including Michael Mayes, Philip Cutlip, Etienne Dupuis, Jordan Shanahan, Thomas Gunther, John Arnold, Marcus DeLoach.

David Adam Moore in Dead Man Walking

David Adam Moore in Dead Man Walking

Next up is David Adam Moore who opened up in the show tonight at the Des Moines Metro Opera. The cast also includes one of our most inspirational stories, Kasey Yeargain, as one of the prison guards. You may remember Yeargain for his Bari-Chunk to Bari-Hunk transformation. Speaking of BariChunks, Kyle Albertson the creator of our brilliant and entertaining sister site is also in the cast as the prison warden George Benton.

There are four remaining performances on July 6, 8, 11 and 19. Tickets are available online.

Central City Opera ad for Dead Man Walking

Michael Mayes as Joseph De Rocher

One of the definitive performers in the role of Joseph De Rocher is Michael Mayes, whose intense and riveting performance has to be experienced live. It is a performance that few will ever forget. He opens in the role on July 5 at the Central City Opera outside of Denver, Colorado. There will be eight performances through July 25. Tickets are available online.

If you can't catch these performances head East to see John Arnold. He sang the role in Boston to great acclaim and will reprise the role with the Dayton Opera in Ohio on February 27 and March 1 next year. Tickets are available online.

The 2012-13 Met Season: A Barihunk View

We weren't going to post about the new Metropolitan Opera season, because we figured everyone has already written about it. We received a couple of emails asking us why we hadn't posted about it, but we still thought that there were better stories. Then we got this email, "I don't want to read about the Met season in the Times, which always leads with the predictable '[fill in soprano name] to open new Met season.' Why aren't you guys letting us know which barihunks are being cast? I've discovered Kyle Ketelsen because of your site and jumped online to buy tickets for his Leporello."

How can we resist that plea?

Mariusz Kwiecien in the Met's Don Giovanni this season

Mariusz Kwiecien does a little strip tease in Elisir:

On September 24, Mariusz Kwiecien will open the season in Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore" opposite Anna Netrebko. The performance will be broadcast live in HD on October 13.

Simon Keenlyside (left) as Prospero menaces Ian Bostridge's Caliban in The Tempest.
Image © 2004 Royal Opera House of Covent Garden

Simon Keenleyside (Prospero) and Christopher Lemmings (Caliban) in a scene from Act 1 of 'The Tempest' recorded at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden:

Undoubtedly, one of the hot tickets will be Simon Keenlyside portraying Prospero in Thomas Adès' "The Tempest." By the way, the entire cast is a bit of eye candy, with Audrey Luna (who is married to barihunk Jordan Shanahan) as Ariel, Isabel Leonard (who is married to barihunk Teddy Tahu Rhodes) and tenor hunks Alek Shrader, William Burden and Toby Spence. The opera will be broadcast in HD on November 10.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky: Sexy onstage and off

Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Eri Tu from Un Ballo in Maschera:

The ageless and man on seamless legato, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, will open Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" on November 8 as Anckarström opposite Karita Mattila. The opera will be broadcast in HD on December  8.

Peter Mattei

Wagner gets into the barihunk act, as well, when Parsifal opens on February 15, 2013 with the amazing René Pape as Gurnemanz and Peter Mattei as Amfortas. The Live in HD broadcast will be on March 2, 2013.

Guido Loconsolo

On April 4, 2013, the Met goes baroque with Handel's "Giulio Cesare" with Guido Loconsolo as Achilla and countertenor David Daniels in the title role. The Live in HD broadcast will be on April 27, 2013.

Here is Guido Loconsolo singing the catalogue aria from Don Giovanni:

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