A barihunk trio in Opera Lyra's La Traviata

Benjamin Covey, Gregory Dahl and Jonathan Estabrooks (PHOTO: Sam Garcia)

We don't usually think of La Traviata as an opera where we would find three barihunks that have appeared on our site. In fact, it's rare to find it in Verdi, although his Attila has surely given us plenty of barihunk duos, who also happen to have some pretty exciting music. But Opera Lyra in Ottawa assembled three Canadian barihunks in their production of the Verdi masterpiece: Benjamin Covey as the Marquis, Jonathan Estabrooks as the Baron Douphol and Gregory Dahl as Germont.

Gregory Dahl as Jokanaan in Salome w

As much as we love seeing three barihunks on stage together, the big news from this production is actually the return of Opera Lyra. Like many opera companies during the Great Recession, the Ottawa-based company struggled and cancelled performances, never quite sure if they could fully recover. This concert version of Traviata was a sure-fire way to get opera audiences back in the door. They will follow up with completely staged performances of Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini's Madama Butterfly, as well as a family performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.

Traviata has one more performance tonight at 8 PM at Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Tickets are available online.

We love seeing Jonathan Estabrooks back at Opera Lyra since we began covering him when he was first appearing with the company. He has kept busy since moving to New York City, where he just completed his first performance at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the Oratorio Society of New York in Paul Moravec's The Blizzard Voices.

Check out Jonathan Estabrook's "A Singer's Life":

Estabrooks will also team up with fellow Ottawan Larry Edelson at the American Lyric Theater in New York City. Edelson has cast Estabrooks as  Alan Turing, the World Warr II computer genius who was persecuted for being gay.

Commissioned in honor of the Turing Centennial, The Turing Project is a historical fantasia based on the life of the English scientist Alan Turing. The opera explores Turing's extraordinary contributions to mankind, his county's disavowal of him because he was gay, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. The opera imagines the man inside the legend, the unique perspective he had on the universe, the public and unashamed view he had of his own homosexuality, and the impact he had upon the future of civilization.

Gregory Dahl will head to the Mannitoba Opera on April 13 for three performances as Amonasaro in Aida.

Ben Wager Declared King in Dallas

Ben Wager: In and Out of costume as the King

One of our greatest regrets is that we don't post more Verdi. The great Italian composer wrote many of his baritone roles for fathers, deformed jesters or old kings. Occasionally, we get a sexy Germont père like Dmitri Hvorostovsky, which actually makes sense. If Violetta is a young courtesan (say 24), then her father could easily be a handsome and distinguished late 40s guy.

Rarely do we get to post anything about his ever-popular opera Aida, even though it includes three roles for low voice: Amonasro (king of Ethiopia), Ramfis (the high priest) and the King of Egypt. We were thrilled when we saw Ben Wager would be singing the King of Egypt at the Dallas Opera (even though he's not listed on the cast list on their website - hint, hint).*

The dueling women will be Latonia Moore and Nadia Krasteva and performances will run from October 26 through November 11. Visit their website for tickets and additional performance information.

Grace Bumbry & Simon Estes sing the Aida/Amonasro duet in a 1992 telecast:

* Note: We rarely criticize anything on Barihunks, but omitting cast lists entirely or omitting singers is our pet peeve. Singers invest too much time, money and blood, sweat and tears to remain anonymous. Opera is about singing and opera companies should always post complete cast lists.

Marco Vratogna profiled: Next Great Verdi Baritone

Marco Vratogna

We've been touting Marco Vratogna as one of the next great Verdi baritones for some time now. He's in San Francisco performing the title role in Verdi's "Rigoletto" right now and local writer Sean Martinfield penned this wonderful and insightful profile of the singer for the Huffington Post, which we just had to share.

San Francisco Opera opened its 2012-13 season this month with Verdi's Rigoletto. Conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti, the final performances on Tuesday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 30 will feature Marco Vratogna in the title role, Albina Shagimuratova as Gilda, and Arturo Chacón-Cruz as the Duke of Mantua. In his third appearance with SF Opera, Italian baritone Marco Vratogna marks his debut as "Rigoletto," a role he began crafting years ago with Maestro Luisotti prior to either of them arriving in San Francisco. Still in his thirties, a lion-hearted Leo, Vratogna is that rare breed of natural dramatic baritone who owns the vocal prowess and seductive appeal of the alpha male so predominant in the Verdi repertoire.

"Maybe it's a side of me," he said during our recent visit. "I didn't choose anything. Maybe Verdi chose me." [Article continued HERE]

The Verdi Kings

Samuel Ramey as Attila and a young Sherrill Milnes

We're going to continue exploring Verdi this week with a look at the Verdi kings. We'll start with Verdi's first major success, Nabucco. This is the story of the Babylonian king Nabucodonosor, who assaults, conquers and drives the Jewish people from their homeland. Despite the story, it contains some of the most dramatically exciting and hair raising music in all of Verdi. The famous chorus "Va pensiero" is universally known and has become the unofficial national anthem of Italy. In a country filled with music, nothing stirs the heart of an Italian like this piece of music.

Not many barihunks have sung the title role of Nabucco, but we found this version of Ettore Bastianini from the San Francisco Opera in 1961.



Just for fun, here is the famous chorus sung by some of the greatest singers who were around in 1985, including Montserrat Caballe, Agnes Baltsa, Gwyneth Jones, Jose Carreras, Giuseppe di Stefano and baritones Christian Boesch, Renato Bruson (a great Nabucco), Sherrill Milnes, Giorgio Zancanaro and Juan Pons.



We now move to Amonasro, the king of the Ethiopians and father of the title character Aida. He plays a key role in the plot line and has been played by some of the greatest baritones in history. Here is the Act 3 duet between Aida and Amonasro "Ciel, mio padre...Rivedrai le foreste imbalsamate" with performances by seven of the greatest baritones and sopranos to ever sing the opera. We have a definitive favorite in this bunch, but we'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.



Verdi based his ninth opera on the Solera play "Attila, King of the Huns." Besides the title role, there is a another wonderful role for a more lyric baritone, that of Ezio, who sings the aria "E gettata la mia sorte." You can watch Sherrill Milnes perform the aria below. We've always wondered why more young singers don't audition with this show stopper. It's a sure winner if you can nail the ending.



No one has owned the role of Attila in recent years more than the great Samuel Ramey, who always sang it with barihunk swagger and his chest bared. Here he is singing the great baritone duet with the Ezio of Giorgio Zancanaro, followed by the thrilling aria "Or son libere i miei sensi."





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