Play "Secret Santa" to a barihunk

Images from the Marco Vassalli calendar

Ever wanted to play Santa Claus for a sexy barihunk? Well, now is your chance to give the gift of an American recital debut for Italian-German barihunk Marco Vassalli. He is selling calendars to raise funds for his much anticipated U.S. debut with Musica Marin in a concert that includes the world premiere of two Clint Borzoni songs. The calendar is available HERE and $10.40 of every sale goes towards his expenses to come to America.

The texts of these songs were selected by and written for the singer and are written for string quartet and baritone. Vassalli chose Hermann Hesse's Stufen and Hilde Domin's Margere Kost. Borzoni and Vassalli have never met in person and worked on the songs together over Facebook video and Skype. San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter broke the news in a recent article, which you can read HERE.

Marco Vassalli discusses why he chose two poems for his US debut:

The premiere is being funded with an Indiegogo campaign that launched today. Some of the perks include having one of the songs dedicated to you, a signed page from the composer's notebook, copies of Vassalli's CD of Italian songs and access to numerous private events and concerts. All of the proceeds will also be used to fund the world premiere of the Borzoni songs.

Marco Vassalli sings Mendelssohn's "Es ist genug":

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can attend the concerts, which will be held in a private home in one of the City's most beautiful neighborhoods overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Tickets for the Friday, Janyary 22nd concert at 7 PM are available HERE and for the Sunday, January 24 matinee at 3PM you can click HERE.

What? Duncan Rock's U.S. debut part of "A Season of Unforgettable Leading Ladies"

Duncan Rock

A season that was dubbed "A Season of Unforgettable Leading Ladies" by the Boston Lyric Opera, ironically included one of the most anticipated US debuts of a male singer - in an opera named for a male singer. Fans of Aussie barihunk Duncan Rock have been watching his meteoric rise across the pond since 2012 when he generated international buzz appearing in the gender bending "Don Giovanni: The Opera" at London's Heaven. Those clamoring for his US debut were thrilled when the BLO announced a year ago that they were casting him as Don Giovanni. However, there were a few chuckles in the industry when the beefcake singer was lumped together in a marketing campaign with three leading ladies.

We have requested rehearsal photos from the company, but while we're waiting we have the above photos which were recently taken in New York and Boston.

U.K. fans have been enjoying The Rock at Glynebourne and English National Opera in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia and Billy Budd, Puccini's La boheme, Bizet's Carmen and Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. He also appeared as Billy Bigelow in Carousel at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Marcello in Leed's Rigoletto, Empleado inglés in Britten's Death in Venice in Madrid and Marullo in Rigoletto at the Royal Opera in London. In January, he sang Don Giovanni with the HET Sinfonieorkest in The Netherlands in an intimate production that placed the audience on the stage and around the orchestra.

Performances at the BLO will run from May 1-10, 2015 and tickets are on sale at the BLO website. The remainder of the cast includes the always entertaining Kevin Burdette as Leporello, David Cushing as Masetto, Jennifer Johnson Cano as Donna Elvira, Meredith Hanson as Donna Anna, Steven Humes as the Commendatore, John Bellemer as Don Ottavio and Chelsea Basler as Zerlina.


We recently shared a little bit of trivia about Duncan Rock, which was that he started his musical career playing the bagpipes. The HET Sinfonieorkest added that he played basketball and the bass. Let's see what we learn about him during his U.S. run.

Duncan Rock to make U.S. stage debut with Boston Lyric Opera

The highly-anticipated U.S. stage debut of British Barihunk sensation Duncan Rock will occur not far from another rock, Plymouth Rock. The Boston Lyric Opera has snagged the charismatic fan favorite to portray the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni next season.

Fans will have to wait a year, as the opera runs from May 1-10, 2015, but we assure you it will be worth the wait. To order a tickets, call 617-542-6772 or email boxoffice@blo.org. The remainder of their upcoming season includes Verdi’s La Traviata, Frank Martin’s The Love Potion and Janáček’s Kátya Kabanová.

At rehearsals of La bohème at English National Opera

We first discovered Duncan Rock when he was in Britten's Billy Budd at Glyndebourne and then as Moralès in a sexy production of Bizet's Carmen directed by Calixto Bieto at the English National Opera. In his young career, Rock has developed a reputation as both a gifted singer and riveting stage presence. His gender bending performance in Don Giovanni: The Opera at London's famous nightclub Heaven was a sensation. He followed that with an portrayal as an often shirtless Tarquinius in Benjmain Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at Glyndebourne, where Irish actress and theatre and opera director Fiona Shaw pushed him to new dramatic limits. His performance prompted Tim Ashley, of the Guardian to comment, "Rock undercuts Tarquinius's raffish allure with unnerving intimations of psychotic violence."
 
Duncan Rock recently finished a successful run as Marcello in Puccini's La bohème with the English National Opera in a production that was updated to 1950s Paris. European fans can catch him as the waiter in Benjamin Britten's Death in Venice at the Teatro Real in Madrid from December 4-23. The cast also includes the amazing countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as the voice of Apollo. Tickets are available online.