Birthday Interview with Samuel Ramey

Samuel Ramey as Attila (left)

He has been referred to as the original barihunk by some, for leading the way in sexy portrayals of the low voice repertory. His video of Boito's Mefistofele from the San Francisco Opera has become a cult classic with opera aficionados. He continued his sexy shirtless portrayals as Attila that were not only sexy, but set the vocal standard to this day.

His amazing vocal flexibility and range has allowed his to sing roles ranging from Argante in Handel’s Rinaldo to the title role in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle. His repertoire includes the florid pasages of Handel, the bel canto roles of Bellini and Donizetti, the great baritone roles of Verdi and Puccini, great American operas and even many of the great Russian and French bass roles.

Rather than post our annual birthday tribute, we asked the legendary bass to answer a few questions for readers.

1. You were considered a "barihunk" before Francesca Zambello coined the phrase, singing both Attila and Mefistofele shirtless.  Did you ever imagine that baritones and basses would become the sex symbols of opera? 

Ramey: Generally speaking, most baritones and basses are "sexier" than most tenors.  So I can‘t say I‘m surprised.

2. You're now singing two comprimario roles at the Dallas Opera. What draws you to the stage when most singers are enjoying retirement? 

Ramey: I feel that I still have something to offer as a performer and I still love being on the stage.  I‘ve been trying to reinvent myself but it‘s not easy.  I appreciate the Dallas Opéra for giving me this opportunity.

3. Your Attila and Mefistofele are considered definitive interpretations by most opera aficionados. Were these your favorite roles. Which other roles did you love?

Ramey: Attila and Mefistofele were certainly two of my favorite roles, but I have quite a few favorites.  Others would be Mephistopheles in Faust and Damnation de Faust, Mozart‘s Figaro and Don Giovanni, Nick Shadow in Rake's Progress, Filippo II in Don Carlo, Bertram in Robert le Diable, Boris Godunov.

4. What role did you never get to sing that you would have loved to perform? 

Ramey: I‘ve always loved the early Verdi operas.  One I always hoped to sing was Silva in Ernani, but the opportunity never presented itself.

5. Karita Mattila just posted on our Twitter feed that Placido Domingo was her best stage kiss. Who was yours?

Ramey: I didn‘t have many stage kiss opportunities but I‘d have to say that my best stage kiss was Marie McLaughlin.

 

Andreas Bauer Kanabas becomes Lucrezia Borgia's third husband

Andreas Bauer Kanabas as Méphisto and Osmin

Andreas Bauer Kanabas, who took the opera world by storm with his sexy portrayal of Méphisto in Gounods' Faust in Riga, will be starring as Alfonso d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara in Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia.

The performances at the Theatre du Capitole in Toulose runs from January 24-February 3 and the title role will be sung by the thrilling soprano Annick Massis. The remainder of the cast includes fellow bass-barihunk Jérémie Brocard as Don Apostolo, Eléonore Pancrazi as Orsini, Mert Süngü as Gennaro, Thomas Bettinger, Galeano Salas, François Pardailhé, Rupert Grœssinger and Julien Véronèse.

Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, was Lucrezia Borgia's third husband and the marriage was arranged by Pope Alexander VI in early 1502.  She had eight children during this marriage and was considered a respectable and accomplished Renaissance duchess, effectively rising above her previous reputation as a unfaithful wife and murderess,  and surviving the fall of the Borgias following her father's death.

Bass-barihunk Jérémie Brocard

After his run in Lucrezia Borgia, he will sing Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute in Australia and New Zealand, Escamillo at the Frankfurt Opera, the title role in Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle, and then a reprisal of Méphisto a the Latvian Opera in Riga.

He also returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2019 as King Heinrich in Wagner's Lohengrin, the role of his debuts at both the Vienna Staatsoper and the New National Theatre in Tokyo.  Berlin sees him again in 2020, as Zaccaria in Verdi's Nabucco. He will also perform Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute at Covent Garden.


He recently add "Kanabas" to his name after singing professionally as Andreas Bauer his entire career. He made the change to honor his Bohemian ancestors on my mother’s side of the family, who experienced the perils of Nationalism despite living peacefully in a multi-cultural area. They were supporters of theatre and the arts in Ceska Lipa and Prague, and later in Weimar and Erfurt, Germany and had a profound impact on the singer. Two of his most roles in his repertoire are Vodnik in Czech and Bluebeard in Hungarian.

Introducing Bass-barihunk Carlo Checchi; Belcore at Festspiele Immling

Carlo Checchi

Italian bass-barihunk Carlo Checchi is new to our site and was brought to our attention by a reader, Checchi is performing Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore through August 13th at the Festspiele Immling in Germany. The cast also includes Sergio Foresti (who we should also feature) as Dulcamara, Elisa Cenni as Adina, Chuanliang Wang as Nemorino and Anastasia Churakova as Gianetta. Tickets and additional information is available online.

Cecchi, who also has a degree in computer engineering, studied voice at l'Istituto Musicale Pareggiato "Vittadini" di Pavia. He was the winner of the VI Concorso ArteInCanto Competition.

Carlo Checchi

He made his debut at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa as Apollo in Mozart's Apollo and Hyacinth. His past roles include Figaro in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Teatro Valle in Rome, as well as in opera houses in Lucca, Pisa and Livorno; Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflote at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman; and, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Tirana.

Polish bass-barihunk Daniel Miroslaw joins Glyndebourne's La traviata

Daniel Miroslaw

Polish bass-barihunk Daniel Miroslaw will be appearing in two of the Glyndebourne Festival operas this season, beginning on June 12th when he takes over as Doctor Grenvil from Henry Waddington in Verdi's La traviata. The cast also includes Kristina Mkhitaryan as Violetta in her Glyndebourne debut, Zach Borichevsky as Alfredo Germont and Igor Golovatenko as Giorgio Germont. Miroslaw will also be performing on June 16 and 19.

You can see Glyndebourne's 2014 of La traviata with the thrilling tenor Michael Fabiano from June 8-15 by clicking HERE.

Daniel Miroslaw sings "It's just another Rumba":

On June 25, he takes the stage as Truffaldino in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos with fellow barihunk Björn Bürger as Harlequin. The cast also includes the legendary baritone Sir Thomas Allen as the Music Master, soprano Lise Davidsen in the title role, tenor AJ Glueckert as Bacchus and Erin Morley as Zerbinetta. Performances run through July 27.

Miroslaw is a member of the Frankfurt Opera, where he's slated to sing a number of roles this season, including Eustazio in Handel's Rinaldo, Ferrando in Verdi's Il Trovatore and Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto.  In April 2018, he will be making his debut at the Municipal Theatre of Santiago singing a title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Cody Quattlebaum only baritone to advance in Met semi-finals

Cody Quattlebaum

Bass-barihunk Cody Quattlebaum was the only low male voice to advance in the Metropolitan Opera Audition semi-finals on Sunday.

Other singers who advances were tenor Kyle van Schoonhoven, soprano Vanessa Vasquez, mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, soprano Natalie Image, soprano Kirsten MacKinnon, soprano Gabriella Reyes de Ramirez, and tenor Richard Smagur.

On March 19th, the nine finalists will perform in a concert on the Met stage. Tickets are available online. The judges will choose five winners who are awarded a grand prize of $15,000 each, and the remaining finalists will each receive $5,000.

Past winners include Thomas Hampson, Jessye Norman, Grace Bumbry, Teresa Stratas, Shirley Verrett,  Richard Stilwell, Frederica von Stade, Deborah Voigt, Stanford Olsen, Susan Graham, Eric Owens, Sondra Radvanovsky, Brian Asawa, Stephanie Blythe, Keith Phares, Lawrence Brownlee, James Valenti, Donovan Singletary, Jamie Barton, Michael Fabiano, Angela Meade, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Elliot Madore, Philippe Sly, Brandon Cedel and Heidi Grant Murphy.    

Reader submission: Bass-barihunk Christopher Besch

Christopher Besch

A reader alerted us to bass-barihunk Christopher Besch, who will be appearing as Nourabad in Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) with Opera in the Heights from February 3-12 in Houston, Texas.

Besch perviously performed with the company in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Opera and he created the role of Peter Gray in John L. Cornelius II and Janine Joseph's Wings They Were: The Case of Emeline with Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco, which commissions new chamber operas and song projects about contemporary life. He also portrayed Theseus in Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Rice University.

Besch is in his second year of studies for the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at Rice University, where he is the Malcolm W. Perkins Teaching Fellow. He was a semi-finalist for the 2012 Eleanor McCollum Competition at the Houston Grand Opera, one of the Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast Regional Finalists for the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, and placed in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition, and was awarded the Harold Norblum Award through Opera Colorado.

Besch has lots of Bach on his agenda this season, including motets with the Bach Society Houston in February, the St. John Passion with the Bach Society Houston in April, Herr Gott, dich loben wir (BWV 16) and Der Geist hilft (BWV 226) in June with the same ensemble and an appearance at the 2017 Leipzig Bach Festival in Germany in June.

Christopher Besch sings Hahn's A Chloris:

The Pearl Fishers will be directed by John De Los Santos, who staged the Fort Worth Opera's stunning production in 2014. The cast also features the real-life husband and wife team of Eric Bowden and Lindsay Russell as the romantic leads Nadir and Leïla, as well as Octavio Moreno as Zurga.

Tickets are on sale online. Opera in the Heights presents affordable, staged performances for emerging artists in the Greater Houston Area.

André Courville to perform at Fairleigh Dickinson University

André Courville (Photo: Opera News/Dario Acosta)

Bass-barihunk André Courville will perform as part of Opera at Florham's "A Cornucopia of Opera and Song" on November 6th at Lenfell Hall on the campus of the College at Florham of Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Courville will perform Gounod's “Vous, qui faites l'endormie” from Faust. He performed the role of Méphistophélès in Faust while at the cademy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he is a resident artist. He'll be joined by soprano Mia Pafumi and tenor Piotr Buszewski.

Tickets can be ordered by calling (973) 443-8620 or on the website at www.operaatflorham.org.

André Courville

Last season Courville debuted at Carnegie Hall in the Opera Orchestra of New York's acclaimed production of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux and as Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto with the Caramoor Summer Music Festival. Courville also recently won first prize at Opera at Florham’s 2016 Violetta DuPont Competition.

He'll also be performing at the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation 42nd Anniversary Gala Concert on October 23 at Rose Hall at Lincoln Center and will reprise Monterone with the Academy of Vocal Arts from November 5-15.

Don't forget to order you 2017 Barihunks in Bed calendar. Our 10th anniversary edition is the HOTTEST ever. Click HERE to order your copy now and enjoy 12 months of the hottest men in opera.

TRIFECTA: André Courville wins his third major vocal competition

Chloe Moore, André Courville and Marie Natale

Bass-barihunk André Courville, won his third First Prize when he took home top honors at the 28th Annual Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition. He previously won the 2015 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and the 2014 Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. The competition was held at Lenfell Hall in the Mansion at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey.

Courville took home $5,000 as the winner of competition. The $3,000 Second Prize went to soprano Marie Natale and the $1,500 Third Prize to soprano Chloe Moore. The winners were winnowed down from 114 candidates, which resulted in 18 finalists.

Each finalist performed an aria of his or her choice to be judged by a panel of renowned opera figures and jurists based on voice quality, technique, intonation, diction, interpretation, and stage presence. The judges included Gerda Lissner Foundation President Stephen DeMaio, Maestra Eva Quelar, Artist Manager Robert Lombardo, retired soprano Barbara Ann Testa, and arts patron James Thurmond Smithgall.

Last year's winner, tenor Alasdair Kent, performed "Fantaisie aux divins mensonges" from Leo Delibes' Lakme as the judges deliberated.
Courville can next be heard on May 6th as the bass soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with The Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall. The West Coast can hear him on May 22 in concert with the Opera Associates of Los Angeles at the 36th Church of Christ, Scientist in Studio City, California.

Brandon Cedel wins Annenberg Fellowship Fund career grant

Brandon Cedel before Met's Manon Lescaust & stretching before Barber of Seville

Bass-baritone Brandon Cedel was one of nine early-career artists awarded a grant from the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. The Fund  awards $50,000 a year for up to two years to help promising artists make a breakthrough in their careers, broaden their skills, and achieve professional success.

In addition to Cedel, fellowships totaling $450,000 were awarded to violinist Robyn Bollinger; actors Jeremie Harris, Miriam Hyman and David Pegram; cellist and conductor Nico Olarte-Hayes; visual artist Nyugen Smith; ballet dancer Devon Teuscher; and musician and musicologist Daniel Walden.

The Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund has paid or pledged more than $5.5 million in career-development grants to artists, including the current group, over the last nine years. The funding has enabled promising artists with world-class talent to film a movie, record new music, experiment in performance, afford studio time or training, buy materials, pay for living expenses and pay down student debt. The fellows, selected in consultation with partners such as The Public Theater, American Ballet Theatre, and the Perlman Music Program, work with mentors chosen by the partners and the Leonore Annenberg Fund.

Cedel just appeared in the Pittsburgh Opera production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville with his husband, fellow barihunk Jonathan Beyer. Upcoming performances include Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at Opera Philadelphia, Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Münchner Opernfestspiele, and Leporello at Glyndebourne.

Cedel will join Oper Frankfurt in 2016 when he completes his third year of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which sponsored him. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Cedel won a Grand Prize at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2013) and a Richard Tucker Career Grant (2015). The New Yorker's music critic Alex Ross wrote of Cedel: "Capable of singing anything from Cavalli to Wagner, he may be destined for stardom."  

NO JOKE: Barihunk Trio in Festive April Fool's Day Concert

Hadleigh Adams (Photo: Scott Wall/San Francisco Opera)

The innovative SF Opera Lab will be presenting their next Pop-Up concert on April Fool's Day with performances by barihunks Hadleigh Adams, Anthony Reed and Brad Walker. All three are alums of the prestigious Merola Opera Program who went on to become Adler Fellows with the San Francisco Opera.

The SF Opera Lab explores innovative programming that celebrates the power of the human voice theatrically in intimate spaces beyond the War Memorial Opera House. They are also intended to be informal and drinks are allowed at the performance. The concert will be performed at The Chapel, a converted mortuary that was built in 1914 and has been renovated into a live music venue. 
 

Bass-barihunks Anthony Reed and Brad Walker

The concert is on Friday, April 1st (doors at 8:15pm/show at 9pm) and there will be an after-party with a live DJ. Adams will perform and emcee the concert.  Tickets are $20 advance and $25 at the door. Seating is limited, so order tickets in advance.

Hadleigh Adams will be performing Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Cincinnati Opera in June. Anthony Reed can be seen this season at the San Francisco Opera in Jenufa, Andrea Chenier, Aida and Madama Butterfly. Brad Walker will be appearing with the San Francisco Opera this season in Carmen, Andrea Chenier and The Makropulos Case.

Barihunk André Courville featured in Opera News

André Courville (photo by Dario Acosta)

André Courville (photo by Dario Acosta)

Barihunk André Courville is featured in Opera News accompanied by two gorgeous photos from New York photographer Dario Acosta. Here is the feature from Sound Bites in Opera News:

ANDRÉ COURVILLE began to sing the “Air du tambour-major,” from Thomas’s Caïd, at Los Angeles’s Loren L. Zachary Society Competition last May, and suddenly there was no doubt who was going to take home the $12,500 top prize. It was one of those jaw-dropping moments when you sense a singer stepping into his own brilliant future. Courville’s basso cantante has both smooth richness and bite, and the Thomas aria was an inspired choice. “It has a fun melody, fast runs at the end, high notes and legato line,” says the twenty-nine-year-old Courville. “It has everything. I didn’t see it as a competition, though. I always have the same objective—to reach the audience and make them feel something. It’s a performance for me, whether or not I’m competing for a prize or a job.” This May, he is bass soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, with the Cecilia Chorus of New York at Carnegie Hall.

[Continue reading at OPERA NEWS. They do not allow for full article reprints]

Justin Hopkins recitals coast-to-coast

Justin Hopkins

On April 4th, bass-barihunk Justin Hopkins will perform the New York Premiere of Nolan Gasser's Repast and the World Premiere of James Matheson's Windows in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Accompanied by Bruce Livingston, he'll also perform songs by Philip Glass and Franz Schubert. Tickets are available online.

Gasser's Repast is an oratorio based on the life of the Mississippi civil rights figure Booker Wright with a libretto by PEN/Faulkner Award-winner Kevin Young. Booker Wright was a black waiter at Lusco’s, an all-white restaurant in Greenwood, Mississippi, who heroically spoke truth to power during a 1965 interview with NBC News. The oratorio tells his story of struggle and hope for the future during the height of the Civil Rights movement.

Watch Nolan Gasser's Repast in its entirety with Justin Hopkins:

After the two premieres, he flies to the opposite coast for a more traditional program of works by Brahms, Handel, Verdi, Rachmaninoff and African-American art songs and spirituals. The April 9th performance will be at the Berkeley Piano Club and tickets are available online.

From May 14-22 he'll return to the opera stage to perform the East-coast premier of Franco Faccio's Amleto at Opera Delaware.

Leonard Bernad joins Flanders Opera (and The Four Tenors)

Leonard Bernad

Last April, we introduced Romanian bass-barihunk Leonard Bernad in his scivvies performing Bohuslav Martinů's Mirandolina with the Bavarian Opera Studio. He's opening today in Rossini's Armida at the Opera Vlaanderen as Armida's evil uncle Idraote and the leader of Armida's spirits Astarotte. The opera is best known for requiring four quality tenors and for some stunning music for the soprano.

Bernad joined the young artist ensemble at the Flanders (Vlaanderen) Opera this season after two years with the Bavarian Opera Studio. Upcoming roles with the company include Pharnaces in Zemlinsky's Der Konig Kandaules, Colline in Puccini's La bohème, Lodovico in Verdi's Otello and Joe in Weill's The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. 

A complete performance of Armida from Venice in 1970:

Armida is one of the famous 'opere serie' that Rossini composed for Naples. The librettist took his inspiration from Gerusalemme liberata by Torquato Tasso, an Italian literary masterpiece from the 16th century that has served as inspiration for countless opera composers. It takes place against the backdrop of the first Crusade in which Godfrey of Bouillon liberated Jerusalem.

The ad for Verdi's Otello at the Flanders Opera

The opera tells the story of the extraordinarily beautiful sorceress and princess of Damascus, Armida, who wreaks erotic havoc in the camp of the Christian knights. At work here is a mature and unseen Rossini. He combines the martial air of the battle-ready knights with the incomparable bel canto songs by the mysterious Armida. An Armida who, at the end of the opera, in the midst of her vocal pyrotechnics, is consumed by her own daemonic sensuality. An opera in which heroism and languid sensuality alternate.

Performance of Armida run through December 4 and tickets are available online.

Enjoy 18 more barihunks in our new Charity Calendar, which is on sale now. 

Marco Vassalli & Malte Roesner

Reader Submission: Eric Broker

Eric Broker

Our latest Reader Submission is 21-year-old bass-barihunk Eric Broker, who is a senior at St. Olaf College and a Communications and Social Media Intern with the Minnesota Opera. He performed his senior recital on April 11th, which you can watch online. He performed music by Handel, Poulenc, Mozart, Bolcom and others.

Broker recently won the Minnesota National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition and was a finalist the Schubert Club Song Competition last year. He is currently a member of the Minnesota Opera Chorus and is preparing for graduate school.

While at St. Olaf,  he sang the roles of Voltaire/Dr. Pangloss in Bernstein's Candide, Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring, Carl Olson in Weill's Street Scene, and the title role in James McKeel's Fabrizio's Comet, a world premiere opera. He has also performed Handel's Messiah with the Canon Valley Orchestra and patriotic anthems with the Northfield Band.

Broker is also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, which is indicative of superior attainment in music, together with the personal qualifications pertaining to an outstanding exponent of the art. Membership acknowledges personal integrity, leadership, open-mindedness and intellectual stamina throughout one's time at St. Olaf College.

Introducing Danish Bass-Barihunk Simon Duus

 

Danish bass-barihunk will be sharing the run of Henrik in Nielsen's Maskerade at the Danish Royal Opera with Henning von Schulman. Also in the cast as the tutor is Palle Knudsen, who has been featured on this site. 

 

Simon Duus is currently finishing his last year at the soloist class at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. He's recently performed Colline in Puccini's La boheme at Danish National Opera, Vaughan Williams' "Songs of Travel" with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, a New Year's concert with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Haydn's Cäcelia Mass in Heidelberg.
 

Simon Duus sings Lascia amor from Handel's Orlando

 

In 2011, Duus graduated from The Opera Academy at The Royal Opera in Copenhagen where he honed his skills in many great Mozart roles. His performance as Nardo in La Finta Giardiniera was broadcast live on Arte TV. 

 

He is the recipient of the Léonie Sonning Music Foundation Scholarship and was the only opera singer to receive a talent prize at the annual Reumert Awards for his interpretation as Seneca in the København Musikteater's production of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. He has also performed Schubert's Winterreise and Schwanengesang, as well as many cantatas and oratorios.

 

Performances of Maskerade continue from April 8 through May 21 and tickets and additional cast information is available online.

Andrew Potter takes Handel to the Wild Wild West

Andrew Potter as the "mystic traveler" Zoroastro

The Boulder Opera Company, which sits at the foot of the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Colorado, has updated Handel's Orlando to the American Wild West.

In their re-imagining of the story the deputy Sheriff Orlando is desperately in love with Angelica, who is in turn in love with a cowboy, Medoro. In this hopeless situation, Orlando is driven to madness from which only the mystic traveler Zoroastro can save him. Zoroastro is being sung by bass-barihunk Andrew Potter, who we introduced to readers (with a shirtless selfie) last September when he was singing in Mozart's The Magic Flute with Opera NEO.

Performances are on April 4 and 5 and tickets are available online.

Introducing bass-barihunk John Paul Huckle

Bass-barihunk John Paul Huckle

It's not often that Angelotti in Puccini's Tosca catches our eye, but that was the case with American bass-barihunk John Paul Huckle, who looked pretty damn sexy with his open shirt at the Teatro Carlo Fenice in Genoa, Italy. He was performing in a rotating cast opposite the Tosca of Susanna Branchini, the Scarpia of Elia Fabbian, and Rubens Pelizzari and Rudy Park alternating as Mario Cavaradossi.

Huckle hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and looks like he could play fullback for the Steelers. He studied at Boston University Opera before completing his Master of Music at the Indiana Univerisity where he studied with the legendary bass Giorgio Tozzi. At Indiana University he performed the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Pistola in Falstaff, Friar Laurence in Roméo et Juliette, Hobson in Peter Grimes, Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro and the Count Des Grieux in Manon.

He went on to hone his skills at young artist programs at the Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera North, Brevard Music Center, and the Sarasota Opera. While at Sarasota Opera, he received the distinguished Leo Rogers Outstanding Apprentice award.

John Paul Huckle (right) and Tosca at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa (Photo: Marcello Orselli)

In 2007, he made his professional debut as Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto with the Cleveland Opera.
Since the 2010-2011 season, he has been singing in major European houses including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Verdi in Pisa and the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

John Paul Huckle sings Il lacerato spirito from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra:

He has become a regular at the Teatro Carlo Felice where he has performed Simone in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi opposite Rolando Panerai, the Second Guard in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Colline in Puccini's La bohème and Friar Laurence in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette opposite tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Barihunk Tom Forde in new Doritos commercials

Doritos Loaded and barihunk Tom Forde as "Omar" the 7-11 clerk

Doritos has a new ad campaign out for their Doritos Loaded product, which is a warm, nacho-cheese-filled, triangular cheese stick coated with Dorito powder?

A few weeks ago, the product was launched in Los Angeles before the nationwide July 2nd launch of the product. The is even a fan website and a hashtag on Twitter (#DoritosLoaded) where consumers can post their reactions to the new snack.

At 1:24 of the ad barihunk Tom Forde makes a hysterical appearance as Omar the 7-11 clerk.

For those of you trying to keep your barihunk figures, we should warn you that a box of four bites has 6 grams of fat, 360 calories and 1,080 milligrams of sodium.

You can catch more of Tom Forde on both television and in the theater. On August 16, he'll appear on the National Geographic show "Brain Games." He'll be appearing in two shows with the Madison Opera next year, Judge Turpin in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville. Sweeney Todd runs will be performed on February 6, 7 and 8 and the cast includes the amazing Meredith Arwady as Mrs. Lovett. The Barber of Seville will be performed on April 24 and 26. Visit the Madison Opera website for additional information.

Rare Hunkentenor-Bass/Barihunk concert in East Bay

Jonathan Blalock and Aaron Sørensen

One of the recipients of our proceeds from the Barihunks calendar was the team of hunkentenor Jonathan Blalock and Bass-Barihunk Aaron Sørensen, who came up with the novel idea for a concert with this rarely seen vocal combination.

The duo will perform music by George Gershwin, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Glen Roven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gioacchino Rossini. The performance will be at Duende on Wed., May 21 at 7 PM  in the heart of Oakland's burgeoning arts district, The Uptown. Duende has become a popular destination for aficionados of alternative jazz and they've been eager to expand their musical offerings to include classical music. This will debut what we all hope is a regular feature on their calendar. A stones throw away from Duende is the restored Fox Theater, which features some of the biggest names in the music industry.  Tickets for the Blalock/Sørensen recital are available online.

This recital will also be the West Coast debut for two of the most talked about young artists in opera. Jonathan Blalock received rave notices from the New York Times and Alex Ross in the New Yorker for his riveting performance in Gregory Spears' Paul's Case, which featured barihunk Keith Phares. Aaron Sørensen is the bass voice that the opera world continuously clamors for and he recently appeared as the French General in Fort Worth Opera's production of Kevin Puts' Silent Night.

Efrain Solis in an ad for West Edge Opera

Blalock will be returning to the East Bay this summer in West Edge Opera's production of Philip Glass's Hydrogen Jukebox, featuring barihunk Efrain Solis and bass-barihunk Kenneth Kellogg. You can watch a preview of their exciting and innovative upcoming season above and get more information on their website. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you'll want to add their summer festival to calendar.

Introducing bass-barihunk Michael Scarcelle

Michael Scarcelle headshot and in Hydrogen Jukebox (right)

In our recent post about Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox at the Skylight Music Theater in Milwaukee, we gave passing mention to bass-barihunk Michael Scarcelle in a post that focused on Dan Kempson, who role is particularly central to the drama. However, Scarcelle clearly needs to be added to the roster of barihunks and we wanted to wait until his birthday (which is March 24) to introduce him to readers.

Scarcelle  holds a Master of Music degree from Yale University and a Bachelor of Music degree from Hunter College. He also studied at the Catholic University of America and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy focusing on dancing and acting. He has distinguished himself in both musical theater and opera, as well as in recitals and concerts.

In 2007, he made his European debut as Crespel in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann and the Marchese in Verdi's La traviata at the Lyrique-en-mer Festival in Belle-Île.

In 2011, he made his debut with Munich Philharmonic performing Herrmann Augustus in Leaonard Bernstein's Candide, a role he's also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich. Last April, he appeared as the Pirate King in the Pirates of Penzance with the Anchorage Opera.

Performances of Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox continue at the Skylight Music Theater through March 30th and tickets are available online.