Barihunks featured in simultaneous productions of Florencia en el Amazonas

Nmon Ford and Steven LaBrie

Two production of Daniel Catán's exotic opera Florencia en el Amazonas are happening almost simultaneously in two very different parts of the United States. Both productions will feature barihunks, with the Madison Opera featuring Nmon Ford and Florida Grand Opera starring Steven LaBrie as Riolobo.

Florida Grand Opera will present five performances between April 28-May 5. Tickets and additional cast information is available online. The Madison Opera will present two performances on April 27 and 29, with tickets and additional cast information available online.

The role of Riolobo has become a popular barihunk vehicle, with such notables as Nathan Gunn, Gabriel Preisser, Shannon De Vine, Luis Alejandro Orozco, Norman Garrett, José Carbó, Joseph Lattanzi and Keith Miller all taking on the role of the ship's mate, who is the focus of the magical realism of the piece. 

Andrew Garland sings Riolobo's Invocation from Florencia:

The two-act opera Florencia en al Amazonas is set on the steamboat El Dorado in 1910, where the famous opera singer Florencia is traveling down the Amazon to perform in Manaus. Florencia desires to encounter her lost love, a butterfly hunter who entered the jungle and never returned. The dramas aboard the steamboat weave love, conflict, loss, a violent storm, and ultimately a cholera epidemic that keeps the passengers quarantined and Florencia’s dream apparently dashed.

In 1996, Florencia en al Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major American opera house. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, and was subsequently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera. Daniel Catán died in 2011 at age 62, shortly after the premiere of his last opera, Il Postino, based on the popular Italian film. At the time of his death, he was at work on a new piece, Meet John Doe, inspired by Frank Capra’s classic film of the same title.

Luis Alejandro Orozco takes on Figaro in Syracuse

Luis Alejandro Orozco (photo on left by EMMA)

Barihunk Luis Alejandro Orozco returns to the Syracuse Opera to sing the title role Rossini's The Barber of Seville, which closes their 40th anniversary season. He sang the role of El Payador in their 2014 production of Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires, a signature role that he was highly acclaimed for in Lexington, Naples, Florida and Miami.

He'll be joined in Syracuse by the amazing Almaviva of Javier Abreu, Lindsay Russell as Rosina, Marc Webster as Don Basilio, Steven Condy as Dr. Bartolo, Kathleen Roland-Silverstein as Berta and Angky Budiardjono as Fiorello.

Performances are on Friday, April 17 and Sunday, April 19 at the Crouse Hinds Theater at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center. Next season, he'll perform Riolobo in Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas with the Arizona Opera. 

Keith Miller's sexy Riolobo in Florencia en al Amazonas

Keith Miller as Riolobo

Keith Miller just wrapped up a 3-performance run as Riolobo in Daniel Catán's Florencia en al Amazonas with the Nashville Opera. We had to share this amazing picture of the bodybuilding barihunk, who become a regular in our annual calendar.

Back in August, director John Hoomes told us this about the production:

"As opposed to some productions of the work, our production with focus more of the magic-realistic, sensual, fever-dream aspects of the piece, with extensive dreamlike immersive HD video, and a living, writhing, singing river...As Riolobo, [Keith Miller] will sing the role of the steersman of the steamship, and he will also appear as a manifestation of a mystic Amazon River god.  His river god costume will be inspired by the male costumes from Trinidad Carnival."

In 1996, Florencia en al Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major American opera house. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, and was subsequently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera. Daniel Catán died in 2011 at age 62, shortly after the premiere of his last opera, Il Postino, based on the popular Italian film. At the time of his death, he was at work on a new piece, Meet John Doe, inspired by Frank Capra’s classic film of the same title.

The two-act opera Florencia en al Amazonas is set on the steamboat El Dorado in 1910, where the famous opera singer Florencia is traveling down the Amazon to perform in Manaus. Florencia desires to encounter her lost love, a butterfly hunter who entered the jungle and never returned. The dramas aboard the steamboat weave love, conflict, loss, a violent storm, and ultimately a cholera epidemic that keeps the passengers quarantined and Florencia’s dream apparently dashed.

Keith Miller in sexy production of Florencia en el Amazonas

Traditional Trinidal Carnival costume (left) and Keith Miller (right)

Keith Miller, who is our Mr. November in the 2014 Barihunks calendar, will be showing off his amazing physique as Riolobo in a new production of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas at the Nashville Opera.

The opera will be directed by John Hoomes, who we asked about the production. He told us:

"As opposed to some productions of the work, our production with focus more of the magic-realistic, sensual, fever-dream aspects of the piece, with extensive dreamlike immersive HD video, and a living, writhing, singing river...As Riolobo, [Keith Miller] will sing the role of the steersman of the steamship, and he will also appear as a manifestation of a mystic Amazon River god.  His river god costume will be inspired by the male costumes from Trinidad Carnival."

Hoomes suggested that we do an online search to see what the Trinidad Carnival costumes look like and were we ever pleasantly surprised. We can't imagine a singer in all of opera who would look better in a Carnival costume.

In 1996, Florencia en al Amazonas was the first Spanish-language opera to be commissioned by a major American opera house. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera, and was subsequently performed at the Los Angeles Opera and the Seattle Opera. Daniel Catán died in 2011 at age 62, shortly after the premiere of his last opera, Il Postino, based on the popular Italian film. At the time of his death, he was at work on a new piece, Meet John Doe, inspired by Frank Capra’s classic film of the same title.

Andrew Garland sings Riolobo's invocation from Florencia en al Amazonas:

The two-act opera Florencia en al Amazonas is set on the steamboat El Dorado in 1910, where the famous opera singer Florencia is traveling down the Amazon to perform in Manaus. Florencia desires to encounter her lost love, a butterfly hunter who entered the jungle and never returned. The dramas aboard the steamboat weave love, conflict, loss, a violent storm, and ultimately a cholera epidemic that keeps the passengers quarantined and Florencia’s dream apparently dashed.

The Nashville Opera will present the opera on Friday, January 23, Sunday, January 25 and Tuesday, January 27, 2015. Single tickets are available online.

Nathan Gunn Names His "Top 5" Operas Where He Disrobed

Nathan Gunn as Billy Budd, at the Met on left (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) & in San Francisco (Darryl Bush SF Chronicle)

Nathan Gunn has become the über-barihunks of barihunks. Not only is he the reason that the phrase was first coined 15 years ago by director Francesca Zambeloo, but he has shown amazing staying power as one of opera's most popular sex symbols. After all, how many opera singers have had their workout routines featured in the Wall Street Journal?

WQXR 105 in New York City recently asked Nathan Gunn to name the "Top 5" operas in which he was asked to disrobe. Not only did he manage to come up with a great list and descriptions of each role, but he showed a great grasp of the history of the term "barihunk." Here is the list, followed by the video:

5. Daniel Catán - Florencia en el Amazonas (Riolobo)
4. Tobias Picker - An American Tragedy (Clive)
3. Péter Eötvös - Love and Other Demons (Father Delaura)
2. Benjamin Britten - Billy Budd (Billy Budd)
1. Gluck - Iphigénie en Tauride (Oreste)

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Latest Hot Photo of Buff Keith Miller

Keith Miller prepares for Florencia en el Amazonas (Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post)

The story about barihunk Keith Miller going from football fullback to full-fledged opera star has been covered extensively in the press. However, when we saw the latest article in the Denver Post with this photo, we figured it was worth covering again. After all, some shirtless pictures of Miller that we posted remains one of our most popular features.

Miller is opening in Daniel Catan's Florencia en al Amazonas on March 27 with Opera Colorado. 

If you haven't read about Miller's career change, you can read the article HERE.

You can learn about Miller's Puissance Fitness training HERE. 

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Keith Miller: Jock, Singer and now Youth Mentor and Professional Trainer

Keith Miller: From Buffaloes to Barihunks

We've featured American barihunk Keith Miller before and his story of "football player to opera singer" has been well-documented. He continues to draw attention and praise everywhere he goes. He was in the cast of Donizetti's Anna Bolena that featured Anna Netrebko and received international press coverage. He will return to that production in 2012. 

Miller will also perform in Billy Budd at the Met next year, with fellow barihunk Nathan Gunn in the title role.  Performances in other venues include a recital at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado and singing the role of Riolobo in the production of the late Daniel Catán's opera "Florencia en el Amazonas" at Opera Colorado.

When we first featured shirtless photos of Miller, it created quite the sensation and the photos remain some of the most popular with our readers. Because of his own athletic training and how much it has contributed to his success as a singer, Keith has also founded Puissance Training (Meaning “Power” in French), a progressive new way of looking at opera today that helps singers train for physically demanding roles and scenes. And in yet another sign of how football and opera can mix, he’s doing the training with the help of a business partner, one of his former football trainers.

Of course, at Barihunks we love the idea of singers looking fit, as well as believable, on stage. We hope that his new venture takes off as fast as his singing career. His press release said it best"

"He's a perfect fit in the new world of opera where singers are expected to look like movie stars and where fitness is a non-negotiable requirement."   

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com