Happy Birthday, Gerard Souzay!

Gérard Souzay

Every so often, we like to present historical bari-hunks to our readers. French bass-baritone Gérard Souzay is a singer who generates some controversy among lieder afficionados. He was criticized for having a smallish voice and for creating emotion through exaggerated phonetic dramatization, which critics maintained stifled the true meaning of the words and music. However, history has served him well, and he in now remembered fondly for his excellent musicianship, perfect diction, sense of style (particularly in French) and detailed interpretations. We're huge fans and have featured him regularly on the site.

Gérard Souzay was born on December 8, 1918 as Gérard Marcel Tisserand to a musical family in Angers, France. In college, he concentrated on Philosophy, which he continued to read widely after making his career as a singer. After graduating, he went to Paris to pursue philosophy, and to study voice with Pierre Bernac, Claire Croiza, Vanni Marcoux and Lotte Lehmann. Later, he entered the Paris Conservatoire (1940-1945), where he was a prize-winning student. 

Gérard Souzay sings Fauré mélodies:

Gérard Souzay made his professional debut in 1944, his New York debut in 1950, and his opera stage debut at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence in 1958, where he sang roles in Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. Since then, his operatic career developed parallel to his career as a recitalist and concert singer and specialist in little-known repertoire. In 1960, Leopold Stokowski invited Souzay to interpret the role of Orfeo in Monteverdi's Favola d'Orfeo at the New York City Center Opera. In 1962, Ernest Ansermet invited him to play Golaud in Debussy's Pellèas et Mèlisande at the Rome Opera. Souzay also sang Golaud at the Paris Opéra Comique in the same year, in a performance celebrating the centenary of Debussy's birth. In 1963, at the Paris Opéra, he sang Don Giovanni for the first time. In 1965, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro; he also made his debuts that year at the Vienna State Opera and the Munich Opera. Known for his phenomenal gift for languages and dialects, Souzay was also greatly respected for his master classes. 

 Gérard Souzay sings Ravel:

In a distinguished 43-year recording career that began with the recording of two duets by Blangini and Leguerney in 1944, Gérard Souzay, a remarkably versatile artist, recorded more than 750 titles in at least 15 languages. These recordings, appearing on nearly 50 labels (more than 535 different catalog numbers) on 78s, 45s, LP’s, prerecorded open reel tapes, 8-track cartridges, cassettes, and CD’s, earned Souzay numerous awards. Souzay won the prestigious French Grand Prix du Disque on three separate occasions for performances of a George Frideric Handel aria, Ravel songs, and classical arias with orchestra. Except for operas and cantatas, Souzay rarely recorded joint programs: his only recorded duets were with his sister, soprano Genevieve Touraine, Germaine Lubin, and Elly Ameling.

He died August 17, 2004.

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Werba makes Florence recital debut; Takes on Wagner in Salzburg

Markus Werba

If you're anywhere near Florence, Italy you may want to check out Markus Werba's recital debut at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on May 30th, accompanied on piano by Claudio Marino Moretti. He'll be performing lieder by Robert Schumann, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Tickets are only € 15 and are available online. 

Markus Werba sings Mahler's "Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht":

We've primarily featured Werba in his acclaimed Mozart roles, but he'll be moving into the music of Richard Wagner this summer. He'll be singing Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Salzburg Festival opening on August 2nd with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Celebrating Bastille Day. Vive la France!!!

Celebrating Bastille Day

We couldn't find a good baritone version of Le Marsellaise, so we'll break all of the rules and celebrate Bastille Day with a tenor. Here is the always entertaining Roberto Alagna singing the spirited anthem of France. 



What better way to celebrate than with some French barihunks singing French music. Let's start with Gerard Souzay singing Ravel's "Don Quichotte" and Gabriel Fauré's Après un rêve:

François Le Roux

Here is François Le Roux singing Henri Duparc's "Chanson triste"  and Charles Gounod 's "Le Soir":





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Craig Verm Showers on Stage

Here are some hot pictures of Craig Verm performing Tom Joad in Grapes of Wrath at the Pittsburgh Opera. It's nice to see the occasional shower scene in opera, especially when there are barihunks involved. I'm still waiting for an updated version of Billy Budd to the 1970s where all of the sailors are in short-shorts and no shirts. (Any German directors listening? Feel free to steal the idea).

Barihunks readers might remember Craig Verm as the guy who created a sensation playing Joseph Pitt in Peter Eötvös’ Angels in America at Fort Worth Opera. You can refresh your memory here: http://barihunks.blogspot.com/search?q=craig+verm. He shared the stage with the equally hot David Adam Moore, who is featured in the previous post.

Verm, who performs regularly in Pittsburgh, is next scheduled to sing the beautiful Faure Requiem with the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale on March 7 & 8, 2009. You can get more information here: http://www.pghconcertchorale.org/.

Also, don't forget to vote in our "Hottest Barihunk" poll to the right. I promise that Craig Verm will be in the next poll. Also, in response to a bunch of emails, Daniel Okulitch will also be in the next poll.

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