Annual "Christmas in Vienna" concert to be broadcast LIVE!!!

Tenor Joel Prieto, Baritone Luca Pisaroni and tenor Pavol Breslik

The annual "Christmas in Vienna" concert will be broadcast live this year with an all-star quartet led by barihunk Luca Pisaroni. He'll be joined by Puerto Rican hunkentenor Joel Prieto, soprano Ursula Langmayr, mezzo Angela Kirschschlager and the famed Vienna Boys Choir.

The broadcast will start on ORF2 at 10:45 PM Vienna time (4:45 EST/1:45 PST) and can be accessed HERE.

Pisaroni will stay in Vienna to perform Beethoven's majestic 9th Symphony under Louis Langrée with hunkentenor Pavol Breslik, Susan Gritton and Serena Malfi. Performances are on December 30 and 31 and tickets are available online.

Time is running out for you to purchase your 2014 Barihunks Charity Calendar. We'll be announcing our latest grantee soon. Every penny of profit from the sale of these calendars goes to benefit young artists, so get in the holiday spirit and order one below.

Christian Van Horn takes on more Villains, Victims and Bearded, Unhappy Old Men

Christian Van Horn headed off to another role debut

The last time we featured American barihunk Christian Van Horn, he was all the buzz in Opera News. The running joke about Van Horn, is that despite his barihunk looks, he gets cast in roles that don't show off his assets. That's not changing any this summer, as he makes his role debut as Banquo at the Grand Theatre du Geneve opposite the unhappy and ambitious duo of Jennifer Larmore as Lady Macbeth and Davide Damiani as Macbeth. 

Performances of the new Christof Loy production will run from June 13-26. Additional cast and ticket information is available on the company's website. 

James Morris sings Banquo's aria "Come dal ciel precipita" from Macbeth: 

After Geneva, Van Horn will be singing with two of our favorite companies, the San Francisco Opera and the Dallas Opera. In San Francisco, he continues to show off his sinister side as he takes on the four villains in Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann" - Coppélius, Dapertutto, Dr. Miracle and Lindorf. The dream cast also includes Natalie Dessay as the four heroines Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, Stella; Alice Coote as Nicklausse; and, Matthew Polenazni as Hoffmann. We have a feeling that this is a performance that should be added to any opera lover's travel calendar. Also, don't miss the San Francisco Opera's amazing summer season that includes Adam's Nixon in China, Verdi's Attila and Mozarts Magic Flute with Nathan Gunn.

In Dallas, he continues the trend of playing unattractive old men, as he takes on Timur in Puccini's Turandot. The production opens April 5, 2013 with the amazing Lise Lindstrom as Princess Turandot. The ubiquitous Nathan Gunn will also feature in the Dallas Opera season, as he is cast in Dominick Argento's "The Aspern Papers" in another all-star cast that features Susan Graham, Carol Vaness and the stunning young tenor Joseph Kaiser.

If you want to see and hear Van Horn out of make-up, you'll have to head to Los Angeles, where he's joining the L.A. Philharmonic as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. The performance is on July 10, 2012 at the famed Hollywood Bowl and will be conducted by Leonard Slatkin.

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Andrew Foster-Williams: Mozart, Handel, Bach and More

With all of our focus on Mozart lately, we thought that it was a good time to introduce Andrew Foster-Williams to our readers. The British singer portrayed Leporello with the Washington National Opera, the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne and performed the Mozart Requiem with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has become particularly well-known for his performances of early music, including Handel's Messiah, Tamerlano, Rodelinda, Alcina and Rinaldo, as well as Purcell's King Arthur and The Fairy Queen. A recording of Flavio is scheduled for release next month.

For a great example of Foster-Williams' artistry you can download his stunning contribution to the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra's account of Beethoven's 9th Symphony played on period instruments at Magnatune.com.

Here he is singing Bach's "Komm, süßes Kreuz":



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