Barihunks Craig Verm and Michael Adams alternate Guglielmo in Seattle

Craig Verm (as Billy Budd) and Michael Adams

Barihunks Craig Verm and Michael Adams will alternate the role of Guglielmo in Jonathan Miller’s production of Mozart's Così fan tutte at the Seattle Opera. They'll be joined by Kevin Burdette as Don Alfonso and Laura Tatulescu as Despina for all performances, while Ginger Costa-Jackson and Hanna Hipp will alternate as Dorabella, Marina Costa-Jackson and Marjukka Tepponen alternate as Fiordiligi, and Tuomas Katajala and Ben Bliss alternate as Ferrando. 

Verm will perform on January 13, 17, 24 and 27, while Adams will perform on January 14, 20 and 26. Tickets are available online. 

After the run, Verm will stay with the Seattle Opera to perform Claudio in Mozart's Beatrice & Benedict, which runs from February 24-March 10. 

Michael Adams will open tomorrow as the Pilot in Rachel Portman's The Little Prince at the Washington National Opera, which runs from December 14-17. Tickets and additional cast information is available online. The opera is directed by Francesca Zambello.

Derek Chester and Marco Vassalli in the 2018 Barihunks Calendar/Photo Book

ONLY 18 DAYS LEFT TO ORDER our 2018 Barihunks Calendar, which includes 20 of opera's sexiest men is now available for purchase HERE. In response to reader demand, we've also added a Barihunks Photo Book this year, which includes additional photos that don't appear in the calendar. You can purchase that HERE. The New Year is approaching faster than you think.

Alessio Arduini returns to Royal Opera House; Così fan tutte will be broadcast

Alessio Arduini

Italian barihunk Alessio Arduini, who made his made his Royal Opera debut in 2013 as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème, will return to the company from September 22-October 20 as Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte. His castmates includes Corinne Winters as Fiordiligi, Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniele Behle as Ferrando, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Don Alfonso and Sabina Puértolas as Despina.

German director Jan Philipp Gloger will make his Royal Opera debut with the new production using librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s alternative title for the opera: "The School for Lovers." Tickets are available online. 

 Alessio Arduini sings 'Hai già vinta la causa!' from Le nozze di Figaro:

The November 12th performance of Così fan tutte will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 6.30pm GMT.

After his run at the Royal Opera House, he heads to New York to perform Marcello in Puccini's La bohème.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer to premiere song cycle in Ohio

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

French barihunk Edwin Crossley‐Mercer and American pianist Jason Paul Peterson will premiere a new work by composer Michael Linton as part of their recital at Baldwin Wallace University's Gamble Auditorium on Tuesday, May 24.

"Mute Love" ("Silentium Amoris") is the first of the seventeen‐movement Wilde Songs to be publicly presented. Earlier, the duo premiered Linton's Carmina Catulli at Carnegie Hall in New York, which are based on settings of poems by the Roman poet Catullus. . You can read our previous posts about Carmina Catulli HERE.

A resident of Paris and Berlin, Crossley‐Mercer's repertory ranges from the Baroque through contemporary music. He has performed opera, oratorio, and recitals in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Glyndebourne, Munich, Amsterdam, Nashville, Los Angeles, Strasbourg, New York, Moscow, Dubai and, most recently, in Dallas as Lescaut in Manon by Jules Massenet.

The prize-­‐winning composer Michael Linton has served on the music faculty of Middle Tennessee State University for over two decades where he teaches music theory and history.

The recital is part of Baldwin Wallace's internationally acclaimed bi‐annual "Art Song Festival," a week-­‐long program of recitals and master classes begun in 1985. The festival is also presenting recitals and master classes by mezzo-­‐soprano Susan Graham, tenor Eduardo Valdes and pianist Bradley Moore. Additional information is available online. 

In January, Crossley-Mercer returns to the Opéra national de Paris to rotate the role of Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte with fellow barihunk Philippe Sly. 

Introducing Serbian barihunk Ipca Ramanovic

Ipca Ramanovic in Cosi fan tutte (left - photo by Florian Merdes)

Our recent post about two sexy productions of Mozart's Così fan tutte in Florence and Weisbaden prompted a reader to point out that Ipca Ramanovic is performing Guglielmo in Heidelberg. The cast also included James Homann as Figaro, Wilfried Staber as Dr Bartolo, Irina Simmes as Countess Almaviva, Rinnat Moriah as Susannah and Carolyn Frank as Marcellina. Performances run from November 6th through May 16th.

The 32-year-old Serbian studied at the Music Academy in Belgrade and Novi Sad, where he was also a member of the Opera Studio.

At the Opera School he performed in Carmen, John Cage's Europeras, Leporello in Don Giovanni, the Father in Hänsel und Gretel, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. In 2007, he made his debut in Bielefeld in Carl Millöcker’s Gasparone. He joined the Opera Studio at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2010, where he sung Masetto in Don Giovanni, Farfarello in The Love for Three Oranges, Djuro in Die rote Zora, and Schaunard in La bohème. He joined the ensemble of Theater Heidelberg in 2013.

Upcoming performances in Heidelberg include a concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra that includes Brahms' Four Serious Songs, Opus 121 and Marcello in La bohème next summer.

MAKE SURE TO ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CALENDAR BEFORE THE HOLIDAY RUSH; 18 OF THE WORLD'S HOTTEST SINGER FROM 9 COUNTRIES.

 

Craig Irvin's shirtless Zurga at Utah Opera

Craig Irvin and soprano Andrea Carroll

Pictures have finally shown up of barihunk Craig Irvin, who has been singing shirtless in the Utah Opera production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, which has its final performance today. Now we hope that some audio shows up, so that we can hear his thrilling voice sing Zurga's "L'orage s'est calmé." 

If you missed him Utah, you can catch him from February 21-March 1 with the Lyric Opera Kansas City where he reprises his portrayal of Lieutenant Hortsmayer in Kevin Puts' Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night. Irvin practically own the role, having sung it at the Cincinnati Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival and at the world premiere with the Minnesota Opera. In Kansas City, he'll be reunited with fellow barihunk Liam Bonner, who reprises his performance of Lieutenant Audebert from the initial production.

Craig Irvin and soprano Andrea Carroll

On March 14, Utah Opera will stage their next complete opera with another barihunk, when David Adam Moore takes on Guglielmo on Mozart's Così fan tutte. Performances will run from March 14-22.

In March, Craig Irvin moves into lighter fare, as he sings the Pirate King in the Pensacola Opera production of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance. Tickets are available online.