Nicolas Courjal in live cinecast of William Tell

Nicolas Courjal rehearsing William Tell (left)

Opera fans in the U.K. will be able to check out barihunk Nicolas Courjal as the evil Gesler in Rossini's William Tell live from the Royal Opera House in London on July 5th. The all-star cast also features Gerald Finley as Tell, John Osborn as Arnold and Malin Byström as Mathilde. The production is directed by Italian  Damiano Michieletto, who is making his debut with the company.

Guillaume Tell had its premiere in 1829, when Gioachino Rossini was 37. He wouldn't write another opera in the remaining 39 years of his life. Rossini's letters suggest he knew Guillaume Tell would be his farewell to opera – an idea that seems to be confirmed by the magnificent music he was inspired to produce. The score – harmonically daring and fiercely difficult for the singers – has an opulent architectural grandeur, heightened with vivid evocations of the soaring Swiss landscape and an incisive dramatic interpretation of Schiller's heroic play.

Christian Van Horn sings Gesler with the Netherlands Opera:

The opera contains many great musical pieces, including Tell's Act III aria "Sois immobile," Mathilde's Act II aria "Sombre foret" and the Act II trio "Quand l'Helvétie est un champ de supplices."

You can see the opera live from June 29-July 17. Tickets and additional information is available online. Locate a cinema showing a performance HERE.

Watch the Glyndebourne Don Giovanni online

Gerald Finley and Luca Pisaroni at Glyndebourne

You will be able to watch the acclaimed 2010 production of Mozart's Don Giovanni from Glyndebourne online. It features three of the greatest low voices around today, Gerald Finley in the title role, Luca Pisaroni as Masetto and Guido Loconsolo as Masetto. Also not to be missed in this production is the Don Ottavio of William Burden and the Donna Anna of Kate Royal.

The video will go live HERE at 3pm London time (10 AM EST/7 AM PST) on July 6 and remain online until Sunday, July 13.

Critic Rupert Christiansen, writing about Gerald Finley as Don Giovanni and Luca Pisaroni as Leporello, wrote: "Suavely ruthless, Finley was both steely monster and molten charmer, singing with a firmness, clarity and stylistic elegance that I can’t easily imagine surpassed. Pisaroni made a delightfully goofy but treacherous Leporello, both his master’s alter ego and his rival." 

Trio of Barihunks in new Glyndebourne Don Giovanni

Elliot Mador, Brandon Cedel and Edwin Crossley-Mercer

If you followed any of the press around Tara Eraught's treatment by British reviewers concerning her appearance as the Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier at Glyndebourne, you can rest assured that no such criticism will be hurled at director Jonathan Kent’s updated production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. The company has assembled an ensemble of great singers who also look like they were cast for a Baz Luhrmann blockbuster Hollywood film.

Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Elliot Madore (photo: Robert Workman)

In the title role is the rising Canadian star barihunk Elliot Madore, who is joined by Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Leporello and Brandon Cedel as Masetto. Madore returns to Glyndebourne after his successful 2012 Festival debut in Ravel's L’heure espagnole. Madore joins a distinguished roster of Don's that dates back to the legendary performances of John Brownlee in the 1930s and includes Giuseppe Valdengo, Kim Borg, Enest Blanc, Ruggero Raimondi, Benjamin Luxon, Brent Ellis, Sir Thomas Allen, Richard Stilwell, Olaf Bar and Gerald Finley.

The current cast also includes the sensational young British tenor Ben Johnson as Don Ottavio,  Canadian soprano Layla Claire reprising her 2012 appearance as Donna Anna, Italian soprano Serena Farnocchia as Donna Elvira, Lenka Máčiková as Zerlina and Andrés Orozco-Estrada making his Glyndebourne debut conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Lenka Máčiková, Elliot Madore and Brandon Cedel

If you can't make the performance, you can watch their 2010 production featuring Gerald Finley as Don Giovanni, Luca Pisaroni as Leporello and Guido Loconsolo as Masetto on July 6th. Later today, you can watch the aforementioned production of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier live from Glyndebourne, starring Kate Royal, Teodora Gheorghiu and Tara Erraught, and conducted by Robin Ticciati. The broadcast begins on Sunday June 8 at 4.30pm GST/11:30am EST/8:30am PST. Click HERE to watch.

Luca Pisaroni on BBC before Covent Garden debut; Upcoming US dates

Luca Pisaroni on BBC's "In Tune" singing Schubert

Luca Pisaroni appeared on BBC's "In Tune" to talk about his Covent Garden debut as Figaro in David McVicar's "Marriage of Figaro." You can listen to the interview and hear him sing Schubert's "An die Musik" on BBC Radio 3 until September 19th.

Performances of the opera will run from September 16-October 7 and include fellow barihunk Christopher Maltman as the Count. The opera will be conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. The opera will be revived in May 2014 with barihunk Alex Esposito as Figaro and the sensational Gerald Finley as the Count. Tickets for all performacnces are available online.

Pisaroni actually made his opera debut in 2001 as Figaro in Klagenfurt, Austria after completing his studies at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan, and later in Buenos Aires and New York. He'll be reprising the role again at the Wiener Staatsoper in January 2014 opposite the Count of fellow barihunk Simon Keenlyside.

San Francisco's restored Nourse Theater, site of April 1, 2014 Luca Pisaroni recital

His fans in the United States will have to wait until 2014 to hear him live. He'll be performing recitals on opposite coasts, beginning in Washington D.C. on January 31 with the Vocal Arts DC series and then at the beautifully restored Nourse Theater in San Francisco on April 1. In between those recital, he will return to the Met as Caliban in The Enchanted Island from February 26-March 20. 

Commemorating Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910-January 23, 1981)

Samuel Barber and Thomas Hampson

The great composer Samuel Barber died on this day in 1981 and we figured it was appropriate to commemorate him. After all, he gave us some of the most beautiful music ever written for baritone (as well as other voices).

Samuel Barber's music, masterfully crafted and built on romantic structures and sensibilities, is at once lyrical, rhythmically complex, and harmonically rich. He was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania and died on January 23, 1981. Barber wrote his first piece at age 7 and attempted his first opera at age 10. At the age of 14 he entered the Curtis Institute, where he studied voice, piano, and composition. Later, he studied conducting with Fritz Reiner.

Giorgio Tozzi sings "For ev'ry love there is a last farewell" from Vanessa:

Samuel Barber wrote numerous songs set to some of the world's greatest poets, including James Joyce, Matthew Arnold, Rainer Maria Rilke, A.E. Housman, James Agee and James Stephens. Some of Barber’s greatest music stemmed from these poetic inspirations, including the Hermit Songs, Knoxville: Summer of 1915, the three powerful James Joyce settings and Rilke's texts for Mélodies passagères. His writing is lyrical with expressive and nuanced shadings and a keen connection to the text. Songs like "Sure on this shining night" have become standards on song recital programs.

Thomas Hampson sings "Un cygne" from Mélodies passagères: 

At Curtis, Barber met Gian Carlo Menotti with whom he would form a lifelong personal and professional relationship. Menotti supplied libretti for Barber's operas Vanessa (for which Barber won the Pulitzer) and A Hand of Bridge. Barber's music was championed by a remarkable range of renowned artists, musicians, and conductors including Vladimir Horowitz, John Browning, Martha Graham, Arturo Toscanini, Dmitri Mitropoulos, Jennie Tourel, Thomas Hampson, Gerald Finley and Eleanor Steber. His Antony and Cleopatra was commissioned to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966.

Gerald Finley sings "St. Ida's Vision":

Barber was the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including the American Prix de Rome, two Pulitzers, and election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His intensely lyrical Adagio for Strings has become one of the most recognizable and beloved compositions, both in concerts and films ("Platoon," "The Elephant Man," "El Norte," "Lorenzo's Oil").

 Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sing "Dover Beach":

For more information about Samuel Barber's songs, visit Thomas Hampson's Hampsong site dedicated to promoting the art of the American song.

Perhaps his greatest piece is Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which was written for Eleanor Steber and performed here by Leontyne Price.

Big Name Barihunks to Perform at Richard Tucker Gala

Erwin Schrott

Baritones and barihunks will play a major role at the 37th annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation gala on November 11th at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Barihunks Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Erwin Schrott and Ildar Abdrazakov will all have major roles at the gala. They will be joined by two other outstanding baritones - Gerald Finley and Quinn Kelsey. Other singers this year include mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina, tenor Marcello Giordani, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Stephen Costello, mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, tenor Giuseppe Filianoti, tenor Marcello Giordani, soprano Ailyn Pérez and soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska.

Conductor Patrick Summers, Artistic and Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, will be joined by members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society. They will be performing music by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, Mascagni, Handel, and Wagner.

The gala will be recorded for delayed national broadcast in the United States as part of PBS’s Emmy Award-winning “Live From Lincoln Center” series on Thursday, December 13th. Hosted by five-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress Audra McDonald, the telecast will feature mini-documentaries in addition to the musical performance.

Tickets are available at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation website or at the Lincoln Center website.

Luca Pisaroni featured in Opera Now

Luca Pisaroni (photo by Marco Borggreve)

Luca Pisaroni is featured in the new issue of Opera Now. The magazine has recently featured barihunks Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Christopher Maltman on the cover. This month Pisaroni didn't make the cover, as that went to the equally hunky tenor Juan Diego Florez. If you're an opera fan and don't read Opera Now,  you're missing a world of great opera writing, reviews and photos. We never miss and issue and travel with the iPad version of the magazine. Barihunks readers can get a free introductory offer by clicking on the link to the right and entering the code BAR12.

Here's a teaser from the article entitled "Leader of the Pack," which refers to Pisaroni's love of dogs and being a social animal:

Luca Pisaroni is shaping up to be one of the most successful baritones of his generation. He talks to Louise Flind about his growing recognition in major opera houses around the world, and how his trusty dogs help to keep him grounded.

There may be a handful of opera singers as tall, dark and handsome as Luca Pisaroni, but few are as adorable, funny and ambitious. He and his American wife Cate (petite, blonde and foxy, if you're asking) were at Glyndebourne last summer where Pisaroni stole the show in Robert Carsen's new production of Handel's Rinaldo. 

[Read the entire article by accessing your free trial offer].

Pisaroni can next be seen on April 29th in Heidelberg, Germany where he will be performing a gala concert with his father-and-law and fellow barihunk Thomas Hampson. The two singers will perform  arias and duets by Verdi, Rossini and Mozart. In May, he performs Figaro opposite the Count of barihunk Simon Keenlyside in Munich. In June, he performs the same role opposite Gerald Finley in Vienna.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Happy Birthday, John Adams!

Composer John Adams

 John Adams is one of the best known and most often performed of America's composers. Adams was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 15, 1947. During his youth, growing up in Vermont and New Hampshire, he was strongly influenced by the intellectual and cultural institutions of New England. He received both his BA and MA degrees from Harvard University, where he was active as a conductor, clarinetist, and composer. His principal teachers included Leon Kirchner, David Del Tredici and Roger Sessions.

Gerald Finley sings the aria "Batter, my heart"from Doctor Atomic:

In 1971, Adams began an active career in the San Francisco area, teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (1972-83) and serving as new music adviser and composer-in-residence for the San Francisco Symphony (1978-85). 

A number of his pieces have leading roles for baritones, including J. Robert Oppenheimer in Dr. Atomic, Nixon in Nixon in China and the critical roles of the captain, terrorist (Rambo) and Klinghoffer in The Death of Klinghoffer. He also wrote the Walt Whitman-inspiredpiece The Wound-Dresser, which is scored for baritone voice, 2 flutes (or 2 piccolos), 2 oboes, clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet (or piccolo tpt), timpani, synthesizer, and strings.

Thomas Hampson sings John Adams's The Wound-Dresser:

His creative output spans a wide range of media: works for orchestra, opera, video, film, and dance, as well as electronic and instrumental music. Such pieces as Harmonium, Harmonielehre, Shaker Loops, and The Chairman Dances are among the best known and most frequently performed of contemporary American music. In these works he has taken minimalism into a new and fresh terrain characterized by luminous sonorities and a powerful and dramatic approach to form. He was the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer prize.

Joseph Maddalena sings "News, news, news..." from Nixon in China:

Ad for "Nixon in China" at the Eugene Opera

Upcoming performance of operas by John Adams include Nixon in China at the Eugene Opera on March 16 and 18. The role of Nixon will be played by barihunk Lee Gregory.

From March 10-18, the opera will be performed at Lyric Opera of Kansas City with James Maddalena reprising his definitive performance as Nixon, and barihunk Daniel Belcher playing Chou En-Lai. 

Nixon travels to France in April as the Théâtre du Châtelet  produces the opera with barihunks Franco Pomponi in the title role and Kyung Chun Kim as Chou En-Lai.

Sidney Outlaw and Franco Pomponi singing John Adams

The Death of Klinghoffer opens at the English National Opera on February 25th with Alan Opie as Klinghoffer, Christopher Magiera as the Captain and rising young talent Sidney Outlaw as Rambo. If you haven't heard Outlaw perform yet, he is not to be missed.

CONTACT US AT Barihunks@gmail.com

Reader Submission: Aussie Morgan Pearse

Morgan Pearse

We're still not over the loss of Aussie Sam Roberts-Smith, who crossed over into the realm of the tenor repertory. So we were thrilled when a reader brought another Aussie barihunk to our attention, Morgan Pearse. Our reader heard him perform in the Australia Singing Competition, which is sponsored by the International Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Pearse sang a rousing rendition of Leporello's "Madamina, il catalogo è questo" from Mozart's "Don Giovanni," which seemed to be an audience favorite. There is already chatter Down Under that he is the heir apparent to New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes, with whom he shares movie star looks, golden locks and unlimited charisma.

Pearse is finishing his Masters at the Royal College of Music, where he is studying on a Joan Sutherland scholarship. After the Australia Singing Competition, Pearse headed back to London where he is covering the role of Splendiano in the Royal College of Music's production of Bizet’s Djamileh and participating in a master class with baritone Gerald Finley.



Pearse will be singing Handel's "Messiah" on December 13 and 18 at the Sydney Town Hall. You can click HERE for tickets and additional information. 

Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Don't forget that you can support young artists like Morgan Pearse by purchasing our 2012 Barihunks charity calendar. All proceeds go to benefit young artists. The calendar features the hottest singers from six countries. Click HERE to purchase your own calendar or make it the perfect holiday gift. 

"Hurricane Irene" Forces NY Cancellations

Hurricane Irene from space

Hurricane Irene is blowing more wind than a Wagnerian soprano at the end of the Ring Cycle and she's wreaking havoc up and down the eastern seaboard. A number of performances have been canceled because of the storm, including all of today's performances on Broadway. The Metropolitan Opera has delayed the start of its Summer HD Festival. The two opera screenings scheduled for Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28 have been canceled. The festival will open on Monday, August 30 at 8:30 p.m. with Gluck's "Iphigenie en Tauride," which had been scheduled to start at 8 p.m. that evening. The festival runs through Sept. 5.

The closing night of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Avery Fisher Hall, scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday, has also been canceled.

We can't think of many operas that have natural disasters in the plot other than Catalani's "La Wally," where the heroine dies in an avalanche. Unfortunately, the well-known arias are for soprano and tenor. The closest we could come was John Adams' masterpiece "Doctor Atomic" where there is a nuclear explosion. Here is Gerald Finley singing the great baritone aria "Batter my heart" from the end of Act I:



Contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com

Enjoy Luca Pisaroni for Christmas from Anywhere

Luca Pisaroni and Kate Royal in Don Giovanni

Can you imagine a better way to spend the holiday than to have Luca Pisaroni singing in your ear?

Fans of the Italian barihunk can listen to his Leporello opposite the Don Giovanni of Gerald Finley on Christmas Eve. The broadcast will be on the BBC Two on Christmas Eve at 2.45 pm GMT.  If you're busy with family or church, the broadcast will be available to watch on the BBC iPlayer afterwards for a limited period of time.

In addition to Pisaroni and Finley, the cast includes Kate Royal as Donna Elvira and Anna Samuil as Donna Anna.

You can contact us at Barihunks@gmail.com. Keep sending us those Messiah listings. 

Erwin Scrott: Figaro on BBC4 Today

Erwin Schrott's Figaro in Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" can be heard today on BBC4 at 7:30 PM GST (2:30 PM EST and 11:30 AM PST). Schrott has become famous for his portrayal of Mozart's Figaro and Don Giovanni and he will be joined by and all-star cast. Gerald Finley will star as Count Almaviva, Miah Persson as Susannah and Dorothea Roschmann as the Countess.



Schrott has also announced that his next album will be dedicated to tango music. Schrott started performing them as encores in his recitals and they have become something of a sensation. No release date has been set.

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