John Brancy takes Britain by storm

John Brancy (Photo on right: James Bellorini)

The British are finally getting the chance to enjoy American barihunk John Brancy, as he tours in Glyndebourne's production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale as Malatesta. They are at the tail end of the tour with final performances in Plymouth and Woking running through December 4th. During the tour he's taken time to appear on BBC3 in Norwich (at 1:43:00) and Classicfm for a demonstration of bel canto and legato. (Check them out, as they are quite entertaining).

He'll be returning to North America after the run for a Christmas concert with his wife mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta They will join the Edmonton Symphony, the Greenwood Singers and the dancers from Shelley’s Dance Company for a program that includes Jingle Bells, Carol of the Bells, O Holy Night, Silver Bells, Sleigh Ride, music from The Santa Clause films and a Christmas carol sing-along.

On January 16, he'll join pianist Peter Dugan in Aiken, South Carolina to reprise their critically acclaimed program of WWI songs. The duo then heads to Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital hall on February 5, 2016 for a program entitled Fantasy, which includes music by Schumann, Sibelius, Grieg, Britten and Bridge. 

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

Malte Roesner

 

Cameron McPhail's beefy Rape of Lucretia

Cameron McPhail in The Rape of Lucretia at Yale

We recently included Cameron McPhail in a post about the nine baritones performing in the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions at Merkin Hall in New York City on November 18 and 19. After the post went up, we were told about some sexy pictures of him as Tarquinius in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia at Yale during the 2011-12 season. 

Of course, we had to find them and provide a better introduction to this fast rising Canadian baritone, who holds both an Artist Diploma in Voice and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from The University of British Columbia. He spent the 2011-12 season completing his Masters of Music at the Yale Opera Studio where he studied with American bass Richard Cross.

A 2014 winner of the George London Foundation Competition, McPhail joined the Canadian Opera Company for the 2012-13 season as a member of the Ensemble Studio where he made his company debut as the Premiere Officer in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites. During the 2013-14 season he returned to Canadian Opera Company with mainstage appearances as Schaunard in Puccini's La bohème, Guglielmo in Mozart's Così fan tutte, and Silvano in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera.

He just finished four performances of Orff's Carmina Burana with the Florida Orchestra under the baton of Danail Rachev. He returns to his native Canada on December 5th for Handel's Messiah with the Edmonton Symphony. On February 25, 2015, he'll create the role of Reverend Colgate in a world premiere concert staging of Gregory Vajda’s comic opera Georgia Bottoms with the Huntsville Symphony. The opera about the modern South, is based on the national best-seller by Alabama author Mark Childress.

If you want to enjoy 19 of opera's sexiest and most talented singers all year, make sure to order your own copy of the 2015 Barihunks Calendar by clicking below.

All-star "Three Barihunks" concert coming to Edmonton

Philippe Sly, Elliot Madore & Gordon Bintner (L-R)

We can't begin to tell you how often we're contacted because someone wants to put on a "Three Barihunks" concert, yet they never seem to come to fruition. It looks like the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Edmonton Opera are going to beat everyone to the punch and they're appropriating the name "No Tenors Allowed" from the 1999 concerts and recording by Thomas Hampson and Samuel Ramey. [The funniest barihunk concert proposal we heard about was going to be called "No Shirts Allowed" and it was supposed to be an AIDS fundraiser in New York].

The Edmonton team has managed to bring in three of the hottest and most vocally gifted baritones singing in the world today and they all happen to be Canadians. Gordon Bintner, Elliot Madore, and Philippe Sly will join forces with conductor Bill Eddins for a program of from music from Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Macbeth, Rossini's Barber of Seville, and Wagner's Tannhäuser.

The concert will be on Monday, March 24, 2014 at 7:30 PM at Enmax Hall in the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. For lovers of barihunks, we have to think that this is the hottest ticket of 2014! We've heard all three singers live and we can pretty much guarantee a night of visual and aural bliss. You can listen to six audio selections from Elliot Madore on his website.

Phillipe Sly sings Gustav Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen":

 Gordon Binter performs at FestiVoix:

This season, Elliot Madore continues as a member of the ensemble at Opernhaus Zürich where he made his role debut as Valentin in Jan Philipp Gloger’s new production of Gounod's Faust. The title role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni will serve as his return to both Oper Philadelphia and the Glyndebourne Festival in the summer of 2014. Future seasons will see him at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zurich, Glyndebourne Festival, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse.

Philippe Sly continues as an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera in the 2013 – 2014 season. He will make his debut at Opéra de Lyon in Laurent Pelly’s production of Rossini's Le comte Ory as Raimbaud and will be seen as Bartolo in San Francisco Opera’s Barber for Families. He also opens the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s season as Méphistophélès in concert performances of Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust under Kent Nagano. In concert, Sly makes his Philadelphia Orchestra debut in Fauré’s Requiem and with Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, both under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.  

In the past few months, Gordon Bintner made his debut in Berlin with the role of Bill in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place with Ensemble Modern and Lescaut in Massenet’s Manon at l’Opera de Montreal. He made his European debut singing the role of Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème with Angers-Nantes Opera in France. Other appearances included the role of Nardo in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera at the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco. Operatic performances in 2014 include the role of Don Alfonso in the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.