Barihunk Trio in George Benjamin's new opera about Edward II

Stéphane Degout prepares for Lessons in Love and Violence

The Royal Opera will present the world premiere of George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence from May 10-26 at the Royal Opera House's mainstage in London. Benjamin's second opera is a co-production with six other opera houses and includes the team behind his highly successful Written on Skin.

Written on Skin has become the second most performed new opera in the 21st century. 

The cast for Lessons in Love and Violence will feature French barihunk Stéphane Degout as the King, Hungarian-Romanian barihunk Gyula Orendt as his lover Gaveston and Icelandic barihunk Andri Björn Róbertsson as a Madman. The remainder of the cast includes Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan as Isabel, British tenor Peter Hoare Mortimer and British tenor Samuel Boden as the Young King.

The project began two years ago, when the Royal Opera House commissioned George Benjamin and librettist Martin Crimp to write a new work, following the huge success of Written on Skin, a medieval-set story in which the creation of an illuminated manuscript leads to adultery, murder and cannibalism.

Lessons in Love and Violence is a re-imagining of the life of Edward II and his doomed relationship with Piers Gaveston, the first Earl of Cornwall, and is presented as seven lessons seen through the eyes of the monarch’s two children. This is the second opera to be written in recent years based on the same topic, as Swiss composer Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini premiered his new opera about Edward II at the Deutsche Oper Berlin last year.

Lessons in Love and Violence will be performed at the Dutch National Opera in June 2018, Hamburg State Opera in April 2019 and at Opéra de Lyon in May 2019.

Stéphane Degout to be broadcast in world premiere of Pinocchio

Stéphane Degout

French barihunk Stéphane Degout is returning to the Aix Festival in Philippe Boesmans' Pinocchio, which was commissioned for this year's festival. Degout performs four key roles in the opera, the troupe director, the crook, a murderer and the circus director. Performances run through July 16th.

Joël Pommerat's libretto is based on his 2008 stage play, which returns the narrative to Carlo Collodi's original 1883 fable. In this version, Pinocchio escapes his maker Geppetto and is anything but a cute wooden figure. The villains are hardly what one would think of as characters in children's story.

The opera will be broadcast on July 9th on Arte Concert and France Musique.

In 2014, Degout also created Philippe Boesmans' Au Monde at La Monnaie in Brussels.

Sly in Dallas St Matthew Passion; Barihunk Quartet in Strasbourg's Troyens

Philippe Sly mock conducts the Dallas Symphony (left)

Barihunk Philippe Sly is joining an all-star cast for Bach's St. Matthew Passion, which opens tonight with the Dallas Symphony and runs through April 2nd. He'll be joined by baritone Matthias Goerne, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, tenor James Gilchrist, tenor Werner Güra, soprano Valentina Farcas  and conductor Jaap van Zweden. 

When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion in the 1720s, the passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by the standard of the Baroque passion, the Passion According to St. Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.

Musically, the score is of imposing length, and calls for double orchestra and double choir—three choirs, at one point. The musical textures range from complex counterpoint to simple hymns. Dramatically, the point of view shifts regularly, from the narrative of the Evangelist, to the actual words of Jesus and his disciples, to reflections that speak for the individual believer. But in Bach's hands, the effect that the Passion gives is not one of a brilliant collage, but a single, sustained, somber meditation—appropriate for a work that was first performed as part of a church service.

Philippe Sly sings Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen"

Scholars believe the first performance of the St. Matthew Passion may have been in 1727. It was certainly performed on Good Friday of 1729, and perhaps at several other Good Friday services during Bach's life. It then dropped from public view until 1829, when it was triumphantly revived by Felix Mendelssohn, crystallizing a revival of interest in Bach that grew throughout the 19th century and still continues.

The text of the passion was created by the German writer Christian Henrici, who wrote under the pen name of Picander. Like Bach, he lived in Leipzig, and it is believed that he and Bach worked closely together on the text.

There are three strands in the text: the actual text from the book of Matthew; Picander's own poetry; and the pre-existing hymns, or chorales, which Bach incorporates into the score, which would have been immediately recognizable by his first hearers.

Sly can next be heard as Panthée in Berlioz's epic Les Troyens with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg from April 15-17.  He'll be joined by another all-star cast featuring Joyce DiDonato as Didon, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Cassandre and a barihunk quartet of Stéphane Degout as Chorèbe, Jérôme Varnier, Nicolas Courjal as Narbal and Sly. 

   

Stéphane Degout and Cédric Tiberghien join forces at Wigmore Hall

Stéphane Degout and Cédric Tiberghien

Barihunk Stéphane Degout will join forces with equally sexy accompanist Cédric Tiberghien at Wigmore Hall on January 29th. The two will perform two of Ravel's epic song cycles, Chansons madécasses and the Histoires naturelles. They will also perform some of Poulenc's most notable songs, Le bestiaire, Montparnasse, Hyde Park, Calligrammes, Quatre poèmes de Guillaume, Apollinaire and Banalités.

The duo will be joined by Matteo Cesari on flute and Alexis Descharmes on cello for Chansons madécasses, a collection of three chansons written in 1925 and 1926 for voice, flute, cello and piano. They chansons were originally dedicated to the American musician and philanthropist Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. The composer combined twentieth-century musical experimentation and exoticism with the late nineteenth-century style characteristics present in the vocal elements and instrumentation.

Stéphane Degout performs Chansons madécasses with Alexis Descharmes on cello:

The 1906 song cycle Histoires naturelles is set to five poems by Jules Renard for voice and piano. The cycle was originally dedicated to the mezzo-soprano Jane Bathori, who gave the first performance, accompanied by Ravel at the piano, on January 12, 1907. The chansons are about a peacock, a cricket, a swan, a kingfisher and a guinea fowl. The unusual text of the pieces created a bit of a controversy at the opening performance.

Both song cycles are generally performed by either baritone or mezzo-soprano.

The French composer Francis Poulenc composed songs throughout his career, with his most prolific output in the 1930s and 1940s. He took most of his texts from his favorite poets, who included Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Éluard, Jean Cocteau, Max Jacob, and Louise de Vilmorin. His songs have been praised for how the melodic line perfectly matches the text.

Stéphane Degout shows his bod for Claude

French barihunk Stéphane Degout, who we have seen nude before on the opera stage in Thomas' Hamlet, is now back in his birthday suit for Claude Debussy’s only complete opera Pelléas et Mélisande at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. The opera is returning to the company after a 40-year absence and is available as video on demand for those in Europe.

Festival d’Aix-en-Provence's resident director Katie Mitchell provided a literal interpretation of the dreamlike piece. The opera starts with Mélisande in a wedding dress where she falls asleep and the story is her dream and a reflection of her reality.  Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra, with Barbara Hannigan and Mélisande and Laurent Naouri as Golaud completing the trio.

You can catch it live on July 13 and 17 and tickets are available online.

Degout will next be appearing as the Count in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the De Nationale Opera in Amsterdam and them as Olivier in Richard Strauss' Capriccio at La Monnaie in Brussels.

Watch Erwin Schrott & Stéphane Degout on the big screenErwin

Erwin Schrott

You'll be able to watch two of the most acclaimed barihunks in the world, when they appear together on the big screen in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro from the Royal Opera House in London. The worldwide broadcast to theaters on October 5th stars Stéphane Degout as Count Almaviva and Erwin Schrott as Figaro. The cast also includes Ellie Dehn as the Countess, Kate Lindsey as Cherubino and Anita Hartig as Susanna. You can find a theater near you HERE.

David McVicar directs the live performance under the baton of conductor Ivor Bolton. 

 

The acclaimed production sets the action in a French château in 1830 on the eve of revolution, amplifying the opera’s undercurrents of class tension. The entire household is drawn into the notoriously complex plot, which covers all shades of human emotion: from spirited playfulness to deep despair but affection and fidelity prevail in this most warm-hearted of operas.

Also, make sure to check out the feature on barihunks in Classic FM, which includes some of the top singers in the world, including Erwin Schrott.  

The 2016 Barihunks Charity Calendar is now on sale and available online. For the past four years, the calendar has raised money for young artist programs and young artist projects. Proceeds from this year's calendar will fund the creation of the Foundation for the Advancement of Baritones (FAB), which will fund baritone and bass cash prizes at song competitions, commission music for baritones and basses, and be used to fund other projects featuring low male voices.

 ORDER YOUR 2016 BARIHUNKS CHARITY CALENDAR TODAY!

 

Jérôme Varnier & Stéphane Degout in London Pelléas et Mélisande

Jérôme Varnier photographed by L'Oiseleur des Longchamps

Two of our favorite barihunks, Jérôme Varnier and Stéphane Degout, will share the stage in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London on Thursday, November 27th. Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the performance which also includes Felicity Palmer as Geneviève, Monica Bacelli as Mélisande and Laurent Naouri as Golaud. Varnier is singing Arkël, which has become somewhat of a signature role, and Degout is singing Pelleas.

Tickets and additional concert information are available online.

Pelléas et Mélisande appears a lot on Varnier's upcoming performances, including singing Arkël at l'Opéra National de Lyon, and the dual roles of Un Médecin and Le Berger at the Paris Opera. He'll be joined in Paris in Robert Wilson's famous production by Stéphane Degout, who is singing Pelleas. Performances in Paris run from Febuary 7-28 and tickets are available online.

We also wanted to share with you the newest photo of Jérôme Varnier [above] taken by fellow barihunk/photographer L'Oiseleur des Longchamps. The latter appears in our new 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar [below]. We hope to feature more of his amazing work in the future.

L'Oiseleur des Longchamps (left)

Order your calendar featuring L'Oiseleur des Longchamps today by clicking below.

Guillaume Andrieux & Stéphane Degout in premiere of La Dispute

Albane Carrère & Guillaume Andrieux

The last time that we featured French barihunk Stéphane Degout on this site, he was baring it all for a performance as Hamlet at the Theater an der Wien. Now he's in Brussels for composer Benoît Mernier’s second opera La Dispute, which was commissioned by the Théâtre de la Monnaie. The opera is based on the comedic play by the French dramatist Marivaux and explores the inconsistencies of love and wondering if they stem from men or women. Upon its premiere in 1744, the play was considered a funny, erotic and cruel masterpiece by critics, but received poorly by the public.

Degout is joined in the cast by a barihunk new to this site, French singer Guillaume Andrieux as Mesrin.

Stéphane Degout

The opera's plot centers around the burning philosophical issue of infidelity and a diabolical experiment that brings together four youngsters raised in isolation from the world. Before our eyes, they discover love and their first betrayals. For this work, the Belgian composer collaborated closely with the librettists Ursel Herrmann and Joël Lauwers. This gave him the opportunity to again grapple with the awakening of desire which was a theme in his first opera Frühlings Erwachen from 2007.

Performances run from March 5-19 and tickets are available online.

Stéphane Degout Strips Hamlet Bare

Add Stéphane Degout to the growing list of barihunks who have appeared nude on stage. The amazing French singer bares all in the Theater an der Wien's production of Ambroise Thomas' "Hamlet." His dispair and self-mutilation manifests itself in stunning scene in Act 3 when he is bathed by Gertrude.

The production is by Olivier Py who transformed the stage into a cavern of human debauchery and misery.

Degout last appeared on this site when he appeared in a dreamy cast of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande with fellow barihunk Jérôme Varnier. The two are reunited in this production, as Varnier appears the ghost. Stéphane Degout has become the leading lyric baritone in the French style since Francois Le Roux and Gerard Souzay, both of whom have appeared on this site.

The always intense and musically incisive Christine Schäfer portrays Ophelia, Phillip Ens is Claudius and Frédéric Antoun is Laërtein in this co-production with the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Now let's hope that someone brings it to the United States.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com