Introducing Hungarian barihunk Attila Dobak

Attila Dobak in The Merry Widow (left) at Boston Lyric Opera

Jesse Blumberg and David McFerrin, two barihunks who we've frequently featured on this site, just performed in Lehar's The Merry Widow with the Boston Lyric Opera. Not featured in the credits was another barihunk, Attila Dobak, who was in a minor role, but has major barihunk chops.

Dobak was born in Budapest, Hungary and studied clarinet when he was seven and piano when he was twelve. He was inspired to study voice after watching the 3 Tenors Concert with Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo. He started studying voice at age sixteen and eventually was accepted into the Béla Bartok Conservatory of Music in Budapest, where he majored in Classic Voice and Opera. He also has a Masters Degree in Marketing & Communications from Corvinus University in Budapest.

He went on to study at the Longy School of Music at Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Longy and Opera North (where he was a young artist), he performed Bartolo and Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Raimondo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and Gideon March in Mark Adamo's Little Women.

In 2014, Dobak was invited to perform at the Miami Summer Music Festival by Michael Rossi, the conductor of the Washington National Opera, where he sang Figaro in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. He also appeared on NBC giving a solo opera performance with the Miami Summer Music Festival Orchestra.

He is currently based in Boston, where he is a member of the Boston Lyric Opera. In addition to The Merry Widow, he appeared in their production of Puccini's La boheme.

His goal in life is to become an opera/crossover singer and you can find examples of him singing opera on his YouTube page, as well as covers of Bruno Mars, Josh Groban and Broadway musicals.

Introducing Hungarian barihunk Marcell Bakonyi

Marcell Bakonyi

Hungarian barihunk Marcell Bakonyi, who is new to this site, will be starring in the world premiere of composer Zsófia Tallér's opera Leander és Lenszirom (Leander and Linseed). The fairy tale opera is the story of Leander the goblin and Princess Linseed. Librettist Barnabás Szöllősi based the story on Andor Szilágyi's fable with the intent to appeal to children. It will be performed at the Erkel Theater under the auspices of the Hungarian State Opera. Performances are on April 18 and 19.

Marcell Bakonyi was born in 1980 in Győr, Hungary and studied voice at the Leo-Weiner Conservatory of Music in Budapest, and later at the Hochschule für Musik in Stuttgart, Germany. He appeared in the Stuttgart Opera School’s productions of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Bastien und Bastienne, as well as in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

For the Young Opera series at the Staatsoper Stuttgart he took part in the world premiere of Matthias Heep’s Träumer. He also sang the role of Lord Sidney in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims at the Pesaro International Rossini Festival. From 2007-2008 he was a member of the ensemble at Theater Heidelberg. From 2008 to 2009 he was a member of the Zürich International Opera Studio, where he sang the role of the Steersman in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. In 2009 he appeared at the Schwetzinger Festival in Handel’s Ezio.

Marcell Bakonyi sings "Tardi s'avvede" from Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

Since 2009, he has been a member of the ensemble of the Landestheater Salzburg where he sang the roles of Bartolo and Figaro in Mozart`s Le nozze di Figaro, as well as Kaspar in Weber`s Der Freischütz, Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca, Dulcamara in Donizetti`s L'elisir d`amore and Leporello Mozart`s Don Giovanni.

In April 2011, he won the International Competition Rolando Nicolosi in Rome and received a Special Price at Marcello Giordani Competition in Catania, resulting in an invitation to make a major North-American debut. In the same year he has made his debut as Pietro in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at the Budapest State Opera House. In the Summer of 2012, he made his U.S. debut as the Speaker in Mozart`s Die Zauberflöte at the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado.

At the Budapest Opera House he has performed Colline in Puccini's La bohéme, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Masetto in Mozart`s Don Giovanni. In 2013, he made his debut at the Innsbruck Festival für Alte Musik as Publio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito.

In 2014, he performed Colline in a revival of the famous Stefan Herheim production of La bohéme in Oslo, as well as Leporello. On May 2, he'll sing Bach's Mass in B Minor in Turin, Italy.