Reader Submission: Andrei Venczel

Andrei Venczel

We'll admit that 30-year old Romanian Andrei Venczel isn't the usual candidate for Barihunks. He bills himself as a baritone/countertenor and we're not quite sure how serious he is about pursuing a professional career...but, oh, that BODY. We took one look at his pictures and figured he was worth bending the rules for.

He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark where he's been studying with Danish soprano Nina Bols Lundgren. His interest in singing began with Romanian folk music from Banat region.

Andrei Venczel

Venczel, who also has a degree in Child Psychology, has performed throughout his native Romania, Hungary, Germany and Denmark. He has specialized in medieval and baroque music, as well as  lieder and Romanian folk music. He's also a gifted pianist who won second prize at the Carl Filtsch International Festival-Competition for Pianists and Composers.

Barihunks join in countertenor hunkiness in Pinchgut's Giasone (broadcast tonight)

David Greco as Oreste, David Hansen as Giasone & Nick Dinopoulos as Ercole (Photo: Keith Saunders)

Perhaps the sexiest opera performance in the world right now is the Australian premiere of Cavalli's 17th century classic Giasone at Pinchgut Opera. We posted this sexy promo video on our Facebook page last week featuring countertenor David Hansen, but we've been waiting for some barihunk photos. Although David Hansen is the center of the opera and the brilliant marketing campaign, the opera also features David Greco as Oreste and Nick Dinopoulos as Ercole, the latter who has appeared on this site before.

The sexy Argonauts and Alexandra Oomens as Alinda (Photo: Keith Saunders)

The updated production has created quite a buzz, as Hansen performs naked onstage, singing the post-coital aria "Delizie e contenti" in the bathtub. The opera was also cut from its 4-hour length to about 2 1/2 hours. Dinopoulos plays the Leporello-esque role of attendant to Giasone.

The opera will be broadcast tonight at 7 PM Australian time (3 AM EST/Midnight PST) on ABC Classic FM. There are two performance left, on December 8 & 9 at City Recital Hall in Sydney.

Pinchgut has a great history of producing sexy versions of updated operas. Readers may recall barihunk Hadleigh Adams' performance as Pollux with the company in Rameau's Castor & Pollux.

Zachary Gordin in "A Night of Barihunks"

Zachary Gordin is new to our site and he's part of what we're calling "A Night of Barihunks" at the Oakland East Bay Symphony on November 13th. The former countertenor will be joining barihunks Brian Leerhuber and Joshua Bloom in a night of operatic scenes (including tenors and sopranos, as well).

Bloom and Leerhuber have both appeared on this site before. Leerhuber was featured for his amazing chest and Gordin gives him some serious competition in that category. These are two guys who need to be featured in the shirtless barihunk roles that provide this site with content (i.e. - Pearl Fishers, Rape of Lucretia, Don Giovanni and Billy Budd).

Gordin has recently performed with the Oakland East Bay Symphony in a concert performance of “Otello." In August, he appeared as Wagner in “Faust” with the Festival Opera in Walnut Creek. If you miss him in "A Night of Barihunks," you can see him portray Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor” with North Bay Opera in March 2010.

We hope to see a lot more of Gordin in the future.

YOU CAN CONTACT THIS SITE AT barihunks@gmail.com

Subscribe to Barihunks by Email

Cuddling Up to Monteverdi

This bottom picture is from Den Norske Opera's production of Monteverdi's sublime opera "L'incoronazione di Poppea." We believe that the guy in the rear is bass Giovanni Battista Parodi and the guy in the front is countertenor Jacek Laszczkowski. Despite the fake blood, this looks like a wonderfully fun time.

The photo on top is definitely of barihunk Giovanni Battista Parodi, who we're desperately trying dig up more photos of to post on Barihunks.

Subscribe to Barihunks by Email